Do Unto Others

Loyalty, it has been observed, is the chief characteristic of love.  Acts of apparent disloyalty, then, one might surmise, always exhibit a lack of love.

To early Christians, the first and great commandment was to love God.  Because He is perfect, we can love God and be loyal to God without any reserve.

The second great commandment was to love others as we love ourselves.  But naturally, we are "brutish" in knowledge, according to Jeremiah, and "children", according to Christ.  So we love ourselves and others with some reserve and we love God without any reserve.  Our absolute loyalty must be reserved for God and truth as revealed by Him.

We tend to misunderstand loyalty.  For the sake of friendship, understanding, mutual affirmations, and shared benefits, we often compromise.  Giving our self away is a good thing--if we don't give up on God.  But some would require our absolute devotion.  Some would require our devotion to darkness, to deceit, and to dominance of others.  They would have us put our loyalty to them before our loyalty to God.  Like sticks, their prestige, power, wealth, or fame, might make us fear to do what might appear to be disloyal to them (ie. to speak out).  Like carrots, they might give us opportunities, honors, and riches for our acts and professions of loyalty to them--however secretively.  But we hazard our souls and our civilization on loyalty to such persons and causes.  It is disloyal for others to induce us to do what is wrong.  It is disloyal for them to expect us to follow them in error.  When courageously, we correct them, if they love God and others more than money and power, they will amend their ways and we should embrace them.  If not, the Golden Rule suggests that we should do unto them as we would have them do unto us if we were in error--we would want them to work to reconcile us to God (and not to brutish men).

It is loyal for us to oppose misdirected persons and false ideas.  Our loyalty to the best in them and to the truth causes us to oppose error.  We do it with their best interests in mind, for God, for ourselves, for our children, and for others--sometimes at our own expense.  Can we do otherwise and still be loyal to God?