Hello my friends,

I hope this finds you well.

One of the clear trademarks of our time is the demand for allegiance. Especially unquestioned allegiance. Whether it is towards a political figure, a nation, or a belief system, we are witnessing, and have been for sometime now, a constant demand to conform. So today, I wanted to focus on this topic, how the Bible navigates this, and how we might go about opposing this practically as well, beginning with ourselves.

Recommended Resources:

​-The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs by Peter Enns Many of you have probably heard of this book, if not have already read it. However, with it being relevant to our topic today, I wanted to recommend it here again, in case you've not yet had a chance to read it.

​-Political Potatoes Podcast. I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Gregory Graf, host of the Political Potatoes podcast, which focuses on Idaho politics and beyond. We discussed topics from Christian nationalism to religious hierarchies and how Idaho is often the testing ground for things that soon go national. This episode drops Tuesday, so be sure to subscribe if you'd like to listen in.

​-Revealed: documents shed light on shadowy US far-right fraternal order. If you haven't yet heard of the Society for American Civic Renewal (SACR), you'll want to read this article. It not only details the movement itself, with links to read more about it within, but shows its ties to figures here in Idaho as well. It paints a clear picture of some chilling things that are happening behind the scenes.

​-For and by Christians: How Idaho’s influential Christian Nationalist group wants to reshape the state This article highlights the work of the Idaho Family Policy Center and details the aggressive work it is doing to remake Idaho in its own image.

I recently released a 30 day devotional in hopes of providing a daily source of encouragement and practical steps on navigating our faith in our world today. You can read more about it through the link below.

$20.00 Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires: 30 Days of reclaiming the hope, compassion, and justice of Jesus. Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to... Read more Get it now!

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Not Even God Demands Unquestioned Loyalty. Beware of Those Who Do.

As many of you know, I consider myself a recovering fundamentalist. Christian fundamentalism was my first introduction to Christianity. It shaped my view of God, of others, and even of myself. It provided me with rigid either/or certainty, clear dividing lines between good and evil with zero gray areas in between (hence my newsletter title Into The Gray). It gave me clear pictures of who was right and who was wrong. Who was righteous and who was evil. Who was in and who was out. Who was a neighbor and who was an enemy.

Along with this worldview, it called for unquestioned and uncritical support of those in authority. It gave me a picture of a wrathful God just waiting for me to slip up even slightly in order to punish me. This is the God I would warn others about regarding their sin and would be equally harsh towards them to “repent” as I would be on myself in order to save us all from such wrath.

This unquestioned loyalty was transferred to those in authority over me, especially in the church structures in which I served. Unquestioned obedience was directly linked to righteousness and any perceived deviation from that was linked to disobedience.

It's hard to explain to those who haven't experienced religious fundamentalism the kind of mental anguish you experience daily as you attempt to remain faithful to the "truth" you've been told to abide by. I just turned 40 this year and my body still shakes with fear of messing up when someone I see as authoritative asks me to do something. On my weaker days, I will be so anxious over “messing up,” fearing the possible wrath to come that I will inevitably mess up the task at hand, fulfilling those fears. While the people I see as authoritative in my life respond with nothing but kindness and compassion, I am still caught in the habit of self shaming for “messing up,” fearing retribution, and will question my own ability to be faithful at all. It has been a continued, life long struggle to untether myself from this kind of fundamentalist thinking. As it is for many.

Unquestioned Loyalty Is Not A Virtue.

It is from this experience as well as my theological and historical studies that I can tell you with deep conviction that uncritical support, whether for a leader, a nation, or a belief system is not at all a virtue. It is a liability. It may feel like loyalty, conviction, or faith, but both the Bible and our history tells a different story. Again and again, it is uncritical allegiance, not thoughtful commitment, that has paved the road to devastation.

The most dangerous ideas in history were not merely born from evil intentions; they were sustained by people who refused to question them. Wars, genocides, and atrocities have not required entire populations to be wicked, only willing to look the other way, to silence their doubts, or to elevate allegiance over truth.

Nationalism, for instance, turns patriotism into idolatry. It shifts love of country into the worship of power. When any nation is followed without question, any critique is treated as betrayal, and accountability is dismissed as weakness. Empires have risen and fallen on the backs of those who convinced themselves that their country could do no wrong.

The same is true of uncritical support of leaders. When we place any leader (religious, political, or cultural) above examination, we hand them dangerous levels of power. History is full of charismatic figures who promised salvation, only to deliver destruction. They thrived not just because of their manipulations, but because they were surrounded by people unwilling to challenge them. Accountability became impossible because admiration was no longer an act of free will, but simply demanded.

Even belief systems, including religious or political convictions, can become tools of harm when they are followed without self-reflection. When beliefs are held so rigidly that they no longer allow for growth, correction, or compassion, they can justify almost anything. Inquisitions, crusades, slavery, colonization, terrorism, genocides, and more all were carried out in the name of belief systems that people refused to question.

For The Bible Tells Me So Too.

As I said at the beginning, this isn’t only a political or historical concern, it’s a theological and Biblical one too.

There are some who claim that God is worthy of uncritical allegiance. But that claim doesn’t hold up to the witness of Scripture. The profound beauty of God is not the demand for unquestioning loyalty, but the invitation to honest relationship.

The Psalms are filled with protest, complaint, and lament. They model for us a faith that argues with God, not to reject God, but because of trust in God’s justice. The prophets regularly held God’s people and sometimes God’s actions accountable to God’s own promises of mercy, justice, and compassion. Abraham bargains with God over Sodom. Moses pleads with God to spare Israel. Job demands answers. And God doesn’t strike them down, God listens.

Even Jesus, the embodiment of God, shows openness to being challenged. When the Syrophoenician woman challenges him, he listens and changes course. When the woman at the well confronts his assumptions, he engages her with respect. The God we meet in Jesus is not a fragile authoritarian. This is a God who welcomes questions, invites critique, and remains committed to love in the midst of disagreement.

This is part of the ancient Jewish theological tradition too. The name “Israel” literally means “one who wrestles with God.” That’s not a metaphor, it’s a theological orientation. It suggests that to be faithful is not to obey without question, but to wrestle honestly.

The rabbis and sages throughout the centuries took this further, encouraging generations to argue with Scripture, challenge inherited assumptions, and even debate God’s actions. The Babylonian Talmud is full of imagined arguments with God because real relationship includes confrontation, protest, and change.

I’ll never forget what a seasoned pastor friend of mine told me after returning from an interfaith panel, before which they opened with prayer. They were all very close friends on this panel and after prayer, the rabbi who was present jokingly said, “You Christians are always way too nice to God. You approach God so timidly, unwilling to get in a wrestling match. You could learn a thing or two about how to argue with God from your Jewish siblings.” I think he is right. Especially as one who never felt permission to be my full, broken, flawed self before God, including all my doubts and questions.

When we speak of God being “worthy,” we must be clear that we are not talking about a being who demands mindless allegiance. We’re talking about a God who is so secure in love, so infinite in compassion, so committed to covenant, that we are invited to bring our full selves, our praise, our protest, our pain, our questions, all before this God in worship.

As we can clearly see in history and in our present time, uncritical support breeds extremism. It silences dissent. It turns communities into echo chambers. It encourages a shallow kind of unity at the cost of truth, justice, and integrity. But the God revealed in Scripture calls us to something deeper, a courageous, honest, discerning faith that seeks justice and walks humbly with God (Micah 6:8).

To love a leader, a country, or even our own faith tradition is not to protect it from critique, but to hold it accountable to its highest ideals. True loyalty is not unquestioned, it is courageous. It is brave. It speaks up when things go wrong. It asks hard questions. It resists manipulation. And it knows that the refusal to question is not a sign of strength, but of fear.

While authoritarianism and fundamentalism certainly try to give us a spirit of fear, we must hold fast to the truth that God does not, so that we can know how to tell the difference.

So how do we avoid falling into uncritical support ourselves?

• Practice self-examination. Ask not just what you believe, but why. Be willing to confront the parts of your tradition or ideology that cause harm.

• Stay rooted in community. Surround yourself with voices who challenge you, not just those who agree with you. Remember the difference between being challenged in good faith and being interrogated in bad faith. The first focuses on the problem while the second makes you the problem. Engage in the former. Refuse to engage in the latter.

• Read history. Learn from those who lived through moments when uncritical allegiance led to destruction.

• Listen to the vulnerable. If your beliefs harm the marginalized, that’s a red flag. Jesus always centered the forgotten, not the powerful.

• Pray with honesty. Let your spiritual life include lament, questioning, and even anger. That’s part of biblical faith.

History has shown us what happens when people stop asking questions. Scripture shows us a God who invites us to keep asking them.

Let us not repeat the former and let us not misrepresent the latter.

Let us be known as a people who are willing to wrestle with God and our neighbors, whom we deeply love, for the blessing of the truth together.