ON THE VANGUARD

ALLEGIANCE
“And everyone will hate you because of your allegiance to me. But those who endure to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 10:22 NLT

Moving from Tunisia to the north, and traveling back about 87 years, we set the stage for our next stop in our journey of fire. This time we find ourselves landing on November 9, 1923 in the streets of Munich, Bavaria. A hatter by trade, Andreas Bauriedl was part of the unsuccessful Nazi Beer Hall Putsch that worked for the power of Munich to be given into the hands of Hitler. However, in a standoff with Munich police, Bauriedl was fired upon and hit in the abdomen, killing him and thus causing him to fall upon the Nazi flag later named Blutfahne. He and fifteen others were deemed as the first ‘blood martyrs’ and were remembered by Hitler. The stains of blood from these martyrs that soaked the flag left an incredible impression on the uprising leader, and it was this same blood stained flag that Hitler would later use for the swearing in of new recruits in front of the Feldherrnhalle. It was also this same flag that became visible at annual party rallies at Nuremberg, where the touching of other Nazi banners with the Blutfahne was an act of allegiance.
Allegiance, the word carries weight. As Americans, we ‘pledge allegiance’ to a flag. We give our sole devotion to an item or person that we strongly believe in and support. The New Living Translation of the Bible uses this word in Matthew 10:22, speaking about an allegiance given to God. This word for allegiance is HUPOMENO in the Greek, and means to abide, endure, preserve in the face of misfortune and trial. I wonder if we have given our allegiance to God. The men of Hitler gave their allegiance to him, as they purposefully stood on the vanguard against the police of Munich over a person they believed in. And they made a point to share their devotion to their leader by touching their city’s flag to that stained with the spilled blood. America has done the same, as we have fought in wars over freedom because we so strongly pledge to the principle of a free person or nation. We have proven this in the Civil War in the fight over slavery. We have proven this more recently as well in our fight to defend our own nation in a battle against terrorism. But have we purposefully and strongly pledged to our God personally? Or, have we talked it up all this time but have a backup plan should life get hard?
In order for us to be on fire for God, we must come to a point where we are willing to pledge our allegiance to Him. Not some little half-hearted allegiance, but rather full allegiance, ‘no backup plan’ allegiance, ‘no matter what’ allegiance. Yes, as Matthew says, we will be hated, we will be mocked, and we will be humiliated by others, but those who endure will know salvation. In some ways we have to weigh the benefit package. Is the jesting and ridicule and hatred worth the prize? It is if you want to burn, and I want to burn. I grow tired of wimpy Christian life, lip service, peer-pressured altar calls, and stagnant sermons. I want us to burn. I am sick of Christian rationalization, of us personally thinking that we are the exception to God’s rules, of believers who would rather hide sin than confront it. I want us to burn. But the burn starts with allegiance, and I can only choose that for myself.
I know where I stand. I know who I have given my allegiance to in the past, and who I give it to now. I know that at work I may be to butt of people’s jokes because I am a little different, I believe a little different, I act a little different. But I do not care. All I know is that I want to be used; I want to be a flame for God. I cannot do that until I give Him every part of me, submitting my whole self to Him, and pledging my full allegiance to Him. I then state it once more, I pledge allegiance to my God.