Loyalty vs. Non-partisanship

One of the tensions that God-fearing people face is how to be loyal to our primary relationships, while still treating all people (including our enemies) fairly, with love and godly concern.

By primary relationships I mean family, close friends, the company(ies) and society(ies) we belong to (which would include our congressional affiliations), the nation(s) we are citizens of and the cultural and ethnic group(s) of which we are apart.

We have a certain kind of responsibility towards these primary relationships that we don't have to the wider world. At the same time, the call to be loving and fair to all will create a conflict with these relationships.

Some people resolve this conflict by always choosing one over the other. There are those who will always stand by their family or country no matter what. Others are quick to break relationship when they perceive unjust attitudes or actions arising.

I don't think we need to choose one over the other. In fact I don't think that these two things are mutually exclusive. The biblical prophets are a good example of how we can be both loyal to our primary relationships and yet not play favorites. God gave the prophets the task of speaking his word to the nation of Israel. There is no doubt that they were loyal to their own people. In fact it was partly due to their loyalty that they were able to speak the difficult thing they did.

Even more than their loyalty to their people, it was their loyalty to God, which enabled them to do what they did. When we lose our focus on the Lord, our personal loyalties will blur how we see those closest to us. What we think is love becomes misguided and our well-meaning support can actually lead us to keep our loved ones from the very truth that would most help them.

Our loyalties should help make us sensitive to the needs of those closest to us. None of us can fully care equally for everyone and every issue. But unless we take a step back and see all people through God's eyes, our loyalties, instead of being opportunities to love and care, will become obstacles to the good things God actually wants to do in their lives.