Easy allegiance - when true obedience is too much trouble

I'm reading each morning this month in the book of 1st Kings - that season in Bible history when the formerly united nation of Israel is divided into two separate kingdoms - the kingdom of Judah in the south and the kingdom of Israel in the north.

The big split happened when Solomon's son, Rehoboam, was too arrogant to take advice from those older and wiser than himself; despite their counsel, he announced his intention to be a harsh taskmaster over the nation of Israel. Most of Israel rebelled and proclaimed a new king for themselves instead of Rehoboam. Only the tribe of Judah remained faithful to him. And thus began centuries of the nation being divided into two kingdoms, each with their own king.

The northern tribes chose a man called Jeroboam to be their king. In fact, this had been foretold by a prophet, quite a number of years earlier. While King Rehoboam of Judah still had the Palace and the Temple in Jerusalem, King Jeroboam of Israel began to centre the northern kingdom's political and religious life around historically significant locations such as Shechem, Peniel and Bethel. The problem was that Jeroboam was ambitious, and therefore a bit concerned that people's going to the Jerusalem temple to worship God might renew their allegiance to Rehoboam and weaken his own position as king.

And so Jeroboam begin to establish some alternative forms of worship. First, he had two golden calves made and he set these up at either end of his kingdom, one at Dan in the north and the other at Bethel in the south. It's unclear whether his original intention was for them to represent the Lord or whether he was knowingly promoting idolatry from the beginning. He said to the people, "Here are your gods that brought you out of Egypt." Of course, that's how a lot of idolatry and compromise begins; it starts with something familiar and true (there's a God that brought our ancestors out of Egypt) but adapts it to suit our own convenience.

Jeroboam may have been doing this in his own interest, but his steps also offered the people an easy allegiance. He even said to the people, "It's too much trouble for you to go down to Jerusalem and worship the Lord Yahweh there." Instead, here are your friendly neighbourhood gods, all within easy travelling distance, whether you live in the north or the south of the country. (1 Kings 12: 28 - 29)

Such blatant idolatry may be shocking to us on a superficial reading of the text, but it's not so very different from the easy allegiance that can creep into some churches nowadays. Whenever it becomes "too much trouble" or too costly to worship and obey the one true God, we will inevitably slip into easier alternatives to true obedience.

When it's "too much trouble" to get out of bed on Sunday morning, we'll opt to watch a service on TV instead, and only go to church when we feel like it.

When it's "too much trouble" to welcome people of different backgrounds and cultures into our church family, we'll tend to huddle in our middle class, well dressed, monocultural congregations.

When it's difficult to have victory over our invisible sins - like criticism, gossip, pride or materialism - we'll focus instead on condemning those with more visible failings - like smoking,   drinking, wearing "unsuitable" clothes or having an ugly tattoo.

When it's costly or feels awkward for us to share the gospel with our neighbours, friends or workmates, we'll slip into an unremarkable form of Christianity that never takes a stand for the claims of Christ.

When it's "too much trouble" to spend time studying the Word or listening in silence to hear God's voice or battling in prayer for that lost family member... when following Jesus requires difficult steps of obedience or perseverance or faith... we'll back off and say that this may work for some, but not for me.

And so, little by little, we slip into an easy allegiance that is no allegiance at all. Or, as Paul described it when writing to Timothy, a religion that has an outward appearance of godliness but lacks the power of real faith. (2 Timothy 3: 5)

Very soon, modern day idols will have crept in. For the Israelites in 1 Kings 12, it was golden statues, pagan priests and an alternative festival to the feast of tabernacles. For church folks today, it might mean giving unbiblical importance to how we dress, the type of music we sing or the way we do communion. Like the Pharisees in Jesus' day, our own preferences and traditions become idols and are given more allegiance than biblical truths.

Where is there a danger of "easy allegiance" in my life?