Are you a good friend?
You know that thing where you only learn about someone after a major public news event? That’s how I met Sam Bankman-Fried. He was once the 41st-richest American, but today he is serving a 25-year term in prison for financial fraud. I’ll leave you to do your own research if you are interested. One of the things that stood out to me the most about his trial was his parents. Both law professors, they stood by him throughout the case and even insisted that he was innocent. This is someone who prosecutors eventually proved had laundered billions of dollars.
My fascination stems from a question I’ve always had: where do we draw the line between loyalty and truth?
We want loyal friends, we want our family members to stand by us, we want the people we love to always take our side, but when does loyalty cross the line? If your son was Sam Bankman-Fried, what would you have done?
When you talk highly about someone you know isn’t as great as you describe, what does that say about you? I think blind loyalty has been the cost of so much pain. The people who were loyal to Hitler or those who kept silent when they saw people abusing power, like churches reassigning pastors who have committed offences instead of removing them totally from their positions.
I want to be a loyal friend, I want to be loyal to the people who have poured into my life, but I also want to be truthful. I think the solution isn’t that either one has to be true; I think what matters most is who you think you owe the most loyalty to.
If my highest allegiance is to God, it means I will uphold His truth no matter the situation. I will squelch the fear of offending someone by being ‘disloyal’ if it means I’m being loyal to God. Jesus said, Don’t be afraid of the person who can kill the body; instead, be afraid of the one who can both kill the body and cast the soul into hell. (Luke 12: 4 – 5)
If our loyalty to men means sinning against God, then we must draw rank. We must prioritise our loyalty to God. I know this can be difficult but Hebrews 13:6 says; The Lord is my helper, I will not fear, what can man do to me?
Choose loyalty to God, choose truth.
Photo credit: Markus Winkler on Unsplash.
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