Where Has Loyalty Gone?

It’s a fair question. Look around. Does anyone even know what loyalty is anymore? The word loyalty will gain you 13 points in a game of Scrabble. Nowadays, that’s about the extent of the societal knowledge of the word’s deep meaning and application. Merriam / Webster defines loyalty accordingly:

“Loyalty: adherence to something to which one is bound by a pledge or duty”

This same source lends the following synonyms to the subject:

Allegiance, Devotion, Commitment, Fidelity, Dedication, Faithfulness, Steadfastness, Dependability, Devotedness, Resolution, Trustworthiness, Faith, and Consistency.

After researching the word intently through several sources, I found one word missing from the list of synonyms and definitions attached to the meaning of loyalty. I’ll explain that missing word in just a minute, but first I need to convey why this topic is so critical in today’s society.

Take for instance, what is happening in College Football. Back in the day, a gifted athlete could choose a College or University to express his or her God-given gifts in whatever sport they excelled. In the case of sports such as football, basketball, or baseball, excelling further at the college level could lead to a professional career, above that of your average work-a-bee job. It was an avenue or a springboard for the advancement of lifestyle, that otherwise might not be offered. I think we all understand this concept well.

That said, I think it must be noted, that there was a backbone to the choice made concerning which College or University any given athlete brought his or her services to. At 18 years of age, such a selection would shape the fabric of a person’s DNA for the rest of his or her life. In most cases, this decision would be in the very infancy of their adult life, and while future professional opportunity certainly was at the forefront of any given athlete’s mind, there once was a higher consideration factored in.

Removing the subject of scholarship from the equation, knowing full well that collegiate sports have long since lost anything to do with a scholastic foundation, there was still a fragment of character remaining that fashioned the fortitude of a young person’s life. That characteristic was loyalty to the institution of his or her choosing, to which they would pour out their proverbial blood, sweat, and tears toward the success gained for the collegiate enterprise.

Question for those that are in the know… Is loyalty even in the equation today? It doesn’t take anyone with eyes to see very long to answer… No way. All vestiges of University loyalty have just recently disappeared. The college and/or university experience for the modern athlete is now little more than recruitment centers for professional suiters at the next level and the money is enough to last a lifetime. The exorbitant amounts of money now being paid to college athletes as well as professionals at the next level is enough for a lifetime. The question arises… Is this good for the athlete and is it good for our society?

In other words, why does it matter?

Well, consider another institution within our society where loyalty no longer matters… Marriage.

Thinking critically concerning the fidelity of marriage will most certainly lead to the conclusion that the children grow up with some sort of foundational knowledge of loyalty seeing it firsthand in their parents. Children are far more attentive to such things than we adults are willing to give them credit for. With that fact established, the opposite is also established. Grown children entering adulthood, reason away the concept of loyalty via the avenues they were forced to live in far more than young adults who were so blessed to view the aspect of faithfulness throughout their childhood. In both cases, the child’s DNA was fashioned accordingly.

The conclusion most psychologists can agree on is, that anti-loyalty begets more treachery, further demoralizing society to no end.

So, why does it matter? When you consider what is happening in society concerning just college sports, not to mention the breakdown of the family structure today, it doesn’t take an educated psychologist to ascertain our nation is morally bleeding profusely. The very soul of the Western World has abandoned all forms of devotion to anything higher than personal interest, dedicated to self-preservation. The concept of self has become the higher authority to which all loyalty is given.

A wise woodworker once said:

“Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.” Luke 17:33 New English Standard Version of The Bible

You don’t have to prescribe to any religion to recognize the solid ground this statement hails from. Selfishness leads to death and most certainly even the death of the society that uplifts such a mindset. Selflessness leads to life. It also leads to the strength of society. Just examine a colony of ants to learn that lesson. Again using critical thought, the above quotation has a synonym of its own.

Whatever a person fears is that person’s higher authority. If a person is selfish, you can be assured that person fears death. A selfless person is concerned with matters other than death, even to the point that he or she is willing to lay down their life for others… A rare quality nowadays.

The subject of fear is an interesting one to consider. At the heart of the meaning of the word fear is death. Fearing the things that lead to death. Worry, apprehension, dread, terror, bondage, and outright natural phobias written on any given person’s DNA, are all aspects of fear.

Fear lays a solid foundation for disloyalty to be built upon. Our society has been corrupted by the idea that material wealth and/or technology can dissolve anything that leads to death. This concept of Western Modernity has always been around, but never so prevalent as what we see today. Another wise man once said:

“A feast is prepared for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but MONEY is the answer for everything.” Ecclesiastes 10:19 English Standard Version of The Bible

So material wealth is something to strive for, however, as with everything in life, there’s always more to the equation. This same wise man also said:

“Why should the fool have MONEY in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?” Proverbs 17:16 English Standard Version of The Bible

In other words, our society which is playing the fool, should seek to educate its youth in the ways of wisdom and righteousness before money is introduced as the goal. Otherwise, money is wasted on buying righteousness through hard lessons learned.

You might ask, where does such an education come from? Or, who is letting our society falter in this way? In other words, who has dropped the ball?

Well, as I have already alluded to, the breakdown of the family certainly plays a major role in the lack of edification toward any form of loyalty engrained in the youth today. However, the buck doesn’t stop with the family. The critical thinker would ask, who has failed the family?

And, it must be noted, there are certainly upstanding young men and women who hail from broken homes that have been repaired by second and even third marriages that succeed. Divorce and remarriage have always been a part of any given society. Lessons learned from shortcomings in life are always the ones that last a lifetime.

Maybe our religious institutions need to be considered. I can think of no greater corruption of truth than the spiritual bankers, selling salvation to the masses, based upon the concept of saving one’s soul, as they state… “Get with our denomination and you will be saved.” It’s never, come be a part of our denomination and we will train you on how to lay down your life for others.

It is here that I wish to convey the missing synonym of the word loyalty, I mentioned earlier. It is in my opinion the true definition of loyalty. That word would be perfection… Or better said, loyalty defines perfection.

That same wise woodworker summed up the sermon on the mount with these words.

“Become you perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

The majority of the Western world would define perfection as sinless, never missing the mark. A level never obtained if you have to work at it. In other words, it is impossible to BECOME perfect. either you are perfect or you are not. If you have to proceed toward perfection, you have already sinned in the process, being imperfect from the beginning. Thus Christ’s definition of perfection fails to meet the Western expectation of the word.

A lifetime of reading and studying critically the words of Our Creator in The Bible and other extra-Biblical texts has caused me to conclude, that the goal of perfection is best defined as loyalty toward His ways laid out in scripture. It becomes an affair of and the intent of the heart.

Intent and effort are everything. If a person gives the effort the results will come. Practice does make perfect.

The problem today is that society has basically done away with the whole practicing process. Loyalty has gone the way of every other aspect of The Almighty’s instructions leading to life. Our society and our nation are fast approaching death for we have allowed ourselves to buy into nothing short of the betrayal of perfection.

Joey Thompson

JoeyThompson777@aol.com

PrayAndFastForOurNation.com