The Terrible Loyalty

She wasn’t one of our group, but came from what we suspected as a liberal church. She didn’t quote Scripture, at least not from any version we could recognize, and that made her suspect. Besides, she had too much make-up on; she wore a mini skirt and a tattoo on her left arm.

Scripture tells us that “a tree is known by its fruit” (Matt. 12:33). We busy fruit inspectors couldn’t place a definitive tag on her, and that made us nervous.  Nevertheless, we invited her to participate with our group of women from church who were meeting to discuss possible outreach projects. Our little-known friend added no commentary on the subject.

Talking about outreach

At lunch time she and I walked downtown to grab a quick lunch before going back to our deliberation. As we approached the local McDonald’s, a young girl about the age of my youngest daughter stepped out from a run-down building. She was the perfect example of the type of troubled youth we’d been talking about helping with our outreach project.

A skimpy denim top and leather mini skirt barely covered the essentials. Dyed platinum hair slipped over her forehead and spiked above ears from which gaudy bangles. She walked unsteadily, bulging purse banging her bare thigh. Her puffy eyes made her look as though she’d been up all night. She glanced our way briefly.

I remember my quick revulsion and relief as I thought about my own children, who were responsible and active in our church. How terrible if this creature coming toward us now with a half-smoked cigarette in pouting red lips were my own child. Didn’t this rebellious girl realize she was exposing herself to lung cancer?

Intimidated by sub-cultural appearance

I turned to say something to that effect to my companion, but saw her step falter and her eyes darken in profound sadness. Her forehead wrinkled and her lips trembled slightly. She pressed ahead as though she would run to her and then hesitated as the girl gave a toss of her head and disappeared into a video store.

We stood bewildered on the street, not sure what to do. Then my friend said wistfully, “Now there’s a girl who could really use a hug!” I got the message.

We had seen the same girl, but I had been intimidated by her sub-cultural appearance and the way her demeanor affected me. My friend had embraced this lost girl in her heart. I realized which one of us had a true spirit of caring, a servant heart that “loved without hypocrisy” (Ro. 12:9).

Love from the center

“We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty,” G.K. Chesterton wrote. The “terrible loyalty” we owe is love because of the debt of our own unloveliness. Jesus said, “He who has been forgiven little loves little” (Luke 7:47). He didn’t mean that some have little need for redemption, but that too many do not sense their own desperate need of God’s forgiveness.

To Jesus, the self-righteousness of the rich young ruler must have been repulsive, for God hates sin. Yet “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21). That is the kind of love we need–not a calculated, frugal expense of our borrowed selves, but love from the center occupied by our Lord Himself, the true Shepherd.

Marlene Chase is a retired minister in the Salvation Army and formerly editor in chief and literary secretary for Salvation Army publications in the United States.