Yesterday, I had the privilege of watching my wife become a Canadian citizen. Strangely, the entire oath swearing ceremony occurred on Zoom (video call ceremony). That was a little disappointing, but it was still very interesting in many ways.
At one point in the ceremony, the judge presiding over the event got all those online to recite the citizenship oath. Here was the first line from that oath: “I swear (or affirm) / That I will be faithful / And bear true allegiance / To His Majesty / King Charles the Third / King of Canada.”
I don’t know why, but that statement caught me off guard. I don’t suppose as a Canadian-born citizen, I ever remember pledging allegiance to the monarch of Britain. I remember singing God Save the Queen in school, but nowhere in that song is there a swearing of allegiance to the Crown.
I asked myself afterward, “What does it mean to swear allegiance to King Charles (or any sovereign for that matter?” That line of thinking led me further down the path to ask, “What does it mean to pledge allegiance to Jesus Christ? Are those things the same? If not, how are they different?”
I looked up the definition of allegiance. It reads, “The loyalty of a citizen to their government or of a subject to their sovereign” (Dictionary.com). Loyalty’s a strong word. I am definitely loyal to Jesus Christ. I would go anywhere for Him or do anything He asked of me unconditionally.
Would I do that for King Charles? Probably not.
In fact, I am not a huge supporter of our connection to British royalty. I think our status in the Commonwealth needs to be seriously rethought. But I digress.
Now, I understand that the practical significance of my wife swearing allegiance to King Charles has little to do with undying loyalty. This is more a symbolic statement of heritage than it is true subjection of oneself.
But Jesus does say, “Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King” (Matthew 5:34).
But Christians from time to time go into a courtroom and place their hand on a Bible and “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God.” Are they disobeying Jesus when they do that, then? Did my wife do wrong by Christ?
So, let’s settle two matters, then. First, when a person enters the courtroom and swears to tell the truth and places their hand on a Bible, they are symbolically calling on “the holiness and power of God” in that moment. This is an appropriate way to deliver your truthfulness, in my opinion. However, if you feel convicted not to swear in that way, then you should follow your convictions (James 4:17).
Second, did my wife do wrong by swearing allegiance to King Charles?
I found myself awake too early this morning and ended up reading through the first eight chapters of the Book of Daniel. What I was taken by is how Daniel demonstrates a great reverence for and loyalty toward the earthly kings to whom he is bound. In fact, the only times that Daniel ever demonstrates a disloyalty toward those kings is when they try to compel him to behave in a way that is counter to how God wants him to live. The same is seen by Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They demonstrate conditional loyalty. Their allegiance to God trumps their earthly allegiances.
So, the matter of swearing allegiance to an earthly king in a citizenship ceremony really comes down to the condition of one’s heart. If my wife swears to bear true allegiance to King Charles, I think it’s well established that it isn’t at the expense of her true allegiance to God.