March 12thAllegiance, Freedom and Bearing One Another’s Burdens
- Anthony G. Siegrist, Executive Minister
Over the last weeks, news of trade wars and threats of annexation has echoed back and forth across the border. Many of us reacted in disbelief. Why would a political leader choose such a destructive path?
I hold citizenship in both Canada and the United States. I have spent years on both sides of the border. It has always seemed to me that cooperation benefits the people of both countries. While I am ambivalent about the obsession of most political leaders—economic growth—the ease of trade and travel has promoted mutual understanding. It has allowed many of us the joy of exploring new parts of this beautiful continent. Clearly, we have taken many things for granted.
Being citizens of heaven, however, does not mean that we are aloof from earthly politics.
At a time when so much is made of our national citizenship, it’s important to remember the line from Philippians chapter three, which states that “our citizenship is in heaven.” It’s from there, not from Ottawa or from Washington, that our true salvation comes. Salvation rooted in any regime other than the kingdom of God will inevitably be compromised by self-interest and imperial ambition. We give our allegiance first to Jesus Christ, and only secondarily to any other powers.
Being citizens of heaven, however, does not mean that we are aloof from earthly politics. If we love our neighbours, the core of the law according to Jesus in Matthew 22, we will stand against forces that intend to harm them. There is a gross form of patriotism, a nationalistic pride that cannot question one’s country and traffics in the hollow rhetoric of ‘greatest’ and ‘best’. That type of patriotism is a recipe that inevitably leads to harming others. There is another type of patriotism, though, one rooted in a love for place, for neighbour and for the history that has generated the opportunities we enjoy. It is not wrong for us to love our neighbours, to raise our voices and to vote with our dollars in favour of their wellbeing.
The risk is that our love for our neighbours degrades into a hatred of others. The fact that the governing authorities of another nation appear intent on harming our own, need not lead inevitably to the citizens of that nation becoming our enemies. We would do well to continue to invest in relationships that cross borders, cultures and even boundaries of political ideology. We must remind ourselves that all people of all places and all nationalities present the creator’s image (Gen. 1).
True freedom, is the capacity to move toward the telos of human life, to fulfill the reason for our existence, to love as God loves.
Finally, at a time when much has been made about the concept of freedom—free trade, free press, personal freedom—it is important for us to recall these verses from Galatians 5:
For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become enslaved to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
The political movement that spawned the chaos we are now experiencing is built upon a negative concept of freedom, a barren and directionless absence of limits. True freedom, according to Galatians 5, is the capacity to move toward the telos of human life, to fulfill the reason for our existence, to love as God loves. Biblical writers like Paul knew that what limits our freedom is often not some external rule or obligation but an internal self-obsession, the self turned in on itself manifesting as a brutish lust for power.
For all the potential goods toward which some leaders gesture—including economic stability, the on-shoring of manufacturing, greater bureaucratic efficiency, adjusting to the new poles of global influence—this brutish lust for power appears to be the true goal. In this there is much danger. If we are not bound to one another with ties that cross borders and cultures, we will lose the ability to perceive the destruction that this misguided view of freedom is creating.
Near the beginning of Galatians chapter six, Paul encourages his readers to “bear one another’s burdens.” We sometimes read this as an encouragement to economic sharing. While that is not necessarily wrong, a more direct reading of this passage is that it encourages a moral sharing, a mutual carrying of the burden of temptation and the testing of allegiance. May this encouragement to bear one another’s burdens shape our prayer in these moments. May we, along with siblings across borders, uphold each other at a time when our allegiance and our love are being tested.