Faith Is More Than Belief — It's Allegiance

What Does Faith Actually Mean?

What if everything you thought you knew about faith was only part of the story? Faith is one of those words we throw around constantly — in church, in conversation, on bumper stickers — but if someone pressed you to define it, really define it, what would you say?

"There are certain words that we use around here that are on repeat. I can think of things like Jesus and prayer and scripture and grace. But near the top of that list is the word faith. It's a word that we say, but I would imagine that we all add our own meaning."

And here's the thing — your lived reality impacts the way you think about faith. For some, faith is nonsense. It's irrational, unprovable, wishful thinking, or some kind of magic. For others, faith might be an intellectual agreement — a list of religious facts picked up along the way that will guarantee a spot in heaven someday. But it's more than that.

What the Bible Says About Faith

Across the pages of Scripture, we see a picture of what faith actually is. The Apostle Paul, writing to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 2:8-9, puts it this way: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast."

The writer of Hebrews makes it more practical in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see."

And then in Romans 10:17, we get a picture of how faith is built: "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ."

These all give us different perspectives. But the question still remains: What, exactly, is faith?

The Red Ferrari Moment

Irish mathematician John Lennox describes faith with a helpful picture. Imagine someone told you there is a red Ferrari parked outside and it's yours for the taking. You could consider the possibility until the cows come home, but you would never know if it's true unless you went and looked.

Most of us approach faith this way. We know the offer and consider what could be, but we do so with a degree of skepticism. Interestingly, the word skepticism comes from a root meaning "at a distance." If we want to see whether something is true, we have to act. We choose to close the distance.

"Faith begins with choosing nearness."

Abiding and Allegiance — The Order of Things

When we are near to Jesus, he begins to rub off on us. And that leads to the second key word: allegiance.

If faith begins when we move nearer to God, faith is in action when we demonstrate our allegiance to him. Abiding is about proximity. Allegiance is about priority. Putting these two things at the forefront helps us to live a life of faith.

"Faith in Jesus is abiding in him and pledging our allegiance to him. Or to say it another way, closing the distance gets you close enough to see who Jesus is, but seeing who He is forces a choice about who calls the shots."

What "Faith" Really Meant in the First Century

The word we read as faith in our Bibles is almost always translated from the Greek word pistis. And when that word was used on the streets in the first century, it wasn't warm and fuzzy. It was an official word — think constituent or precinct. In the first century, pistis was used for loyalty, particularly allegiance to a King.

With that in mind, Paul's opening words to the church at Rome hit hard. In Romans 1:5, Paul writes: "Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name's sake."

Swap in the original meaning and it reads: "the obedience that comes from allegiance for his name's sake."

In Rome, the king wasn't just a political leader — he was also deified. Citizens, soldiers, even slaves were expected to affirm their loyalty to the king. When the early church pledged allegiance to Jesus, they weren't just making a statement about Jesus — they were saying something about Caesar as well. They were choosing Jesus over Caesar. And that cost them something. In the first century, choosing Jesus over Caesar could cost you your business, your social standing, and, in some cases, your life.

Who Is Your Caesar?

"Today, our Caesar rarely wears a crown and rarely threatens our actual life. Our Caesar is status, financial control, personal comfort. Or maybe you are like me and your Caesar is being in charge of your life."

The pledge of allegiance that early Christians often made was simply: Jesus is Lord. A lord is in charge. A lord is the owner. Being loyal, pledging allegiance to a lord means something.

"Allegiance isn't just about what you believe in your head when you sit in this room on Sunday. It's about who gets the final say on Monday morning."

Agreement, Trust, and Allegiance — Three Very Different Things

Let's go back to that red Ferrari. There are three very different ways to respond to it.

Agreement means you walk outside, see the car, and say, "Yep, that's a Ferrari. It's real, it's red, it exists." You agree with the facts, but you're still standing on the pavement. Nothing in your life has actually changed.

Trust means you close the distance, open the door, and sit in the driver's seat. You're enamored. You take a selfie. But you're sitting still.

Allegiance — this is where it gets good. "This is where you slide over to the passenger seat, hand Jesus the keys, and say: 'You drive.' That 'Jesus is my co-pilot' bumper sticker taught us some seriously bad theology. A life of faith is sitting in the passenger seat."

Every other driver you hand the keys to — your career, your status, financial control, or being your own boss — will eventually crash. They will demand everything from you, burn you out, and leave you stranded when life gets hard.

But when your faith is in Jesus, when you pledge your allegiance to him, the Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:7, 16-18: "We now have this light shining in our hearts…That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever."

Putting It Into Practice

So the answer is coming into focus. What, exactly, is faith? Faith is pledging allegiance to Jesus.

Here are a few honest questions to sit with this week:

• If you've never pledged your allegiance to Jesus — not just agreed with facts about him, but actually handed him the keys — today could be the day. Instead of pledging allegiance to something or someone else, what would it look like to say for the very first time that Jesus gets first place?

• If you've already made that choice but are still trying to work out what it looks like to follow Jesus daily, ask yourself: What is one thing I can do this week to make it clear that Jesus is first? Maybe it's reordering priorities. Maybe it's a complete overhaul.

• Consider what's driving your life. Who — or what — currently has the keys? Career? Status? The need to be in control? Name it honestly, then consider what it would look like to slide over and let Jesus drive.

"How can you close the distance between you and Jesus? The closer you get, the better he becomes."