Loyalty. We long for it. I cannot think of an instance where someone does not wish to be loyal. To sports teams. To our families. To our companies. We long to be loyal.
If following a sports team was as addictive as drugs, we would never watch sports. But what a half-hearted hypothetical that is. If anything were as addictive as any hardcore drug, only a handful of people would even consider doing it. So why offer that hypothetical to a crowd of rational human beings? Because most are afraid to share the truth.
The truth is that we all long to be loyal to the point of obsession. We denigrate athletes because they fail to live up to our expectations. We blast politicians for every imperfection. We give our lives to objects, individuals, and organizations that should not affect our daily lives; however, we define ourselves over things we can't control.
Why do we invest in concepts that can only lead to our destruction? Our teams will lose, our organizations will suffer financial hardship, our politicians will lie, and our families will make mistakes. Humans have an uncanny way of redefining their circumstances as if their future is void of historical constants. Then what inevitably happens? We lose ourselves. We cram ill-fitting objects into gaping voids and question why we are in such constant pain. We judge the heroin addict, but put holes in our wall over an interception in the third quarter. We leave relationships because of imperfections and put our self-worth in our job titles. And yet, despite all our obsessions, we all end up back where we started. As a pile of dirt.
Why not dive into the pool of the self-obsessed? Where our social media accounts present a hyperbole of our real lives and the things we enjoy never have a terrible ending. Where two imperfect people commit to one another and fit together like puzzle pieces without any effort. Where we vote for something, and it is put into practice exactly as we expected. Where it all goes as perfectly as we pretend it does when we are on Instagram.
The problem is the pool of self-obsession only has room for one. We would drown in someone else's pool. Why? Because they don't want us there. Just like we want everybody to be subject to our rules, they expect the same in their world. Our self-interest not only blinds our partiality but captivates us like a dog chasing its tail. We run for hours, but we make no progress.
How easy is it to turn your head and notice someone else driving poorly but miss that you have veered into a different lane? We expect forgiveness in our imperfection, but we judge who will make it to the resurrection. How void we are of sound understanding.
The truth nobody wants to share is simple; sometimes the drug addicts are the lucky ones. Why? Because we notice them. We have defined drug addiction as a problem. We intervene to find solutions. Drug addiction is perhaps the most accurate representation of where worldly obsessions lead us. We see death, so we run to stop it. But what happens when an obsession goes unnoticed?
What happens when the porn addict is forgotten? When the athlete is encouraged to have sex with his girlfriend? When the high school girls start sending nudes? When the typical college student gets drunk? When the sinner is unwilling to forgive himself because He finds himself to be a harsher critic than God? When the teenager spends all his free time on video games? When the fan cusses out another fan about a playoff game ten years ago?
Our obsessions lead to death. Sadly, we are overwhelmingly loyal to the world. Like a deer that visits the same river, little does it stop to think the hunter is waiting on the other side. We are habitual, thinking only about surviving happily rather than thriving eternally. We let screens dictate our lives, and we struggle to move away from what we know. We touch our toe in the water, but we are afraid to get in.
Although many of us are not on drugs, our untimely end is merely prolonged. Nevertheless, our end remains the same. Our obsessions will lead to death, death to judgment, and judgment to hell. The only difference between addicts is the addiction, but the final destination remains the same.
So why are we so divided when our loyalties are the same? The way of the world is the way of death. Whether porn addict or sports fanatic, our loyalties will drive us into the ground. But we cannot ignore our desire to be loyal. So why bother changing?
Because there is a loyalty that gives us control in our lives. A loyalty that offers us a future and a hope. A loyalty that binds us together in sickness and in health. A loyalty that ends where our selflessness begins. One that grinds through eternity and has ultimate victory. One that strives to be harmonious in imperfection. One that fights for the resurrection.
Why be loyal to something that leads to ultimate misery? I have spent so long desiring evil things that hinder my desire to be loyal. But in restoration, there is hope I can set aside my worthless obsessions for the pursuit of the one true resurrection.