14 December 2022
England’s victors France, will play Morocco in the world cup semi-final tonight. Football, perhaps unlike almost anything else has the power to bring people together, to create meaningful comradery and shared kinship – a kind of fierce loyalty whose bonds withstand even the most severe disappointments and failures. That’s why the pain of England’s exit from the competition is so acute for many.
And yet there will be those England fans who now transfer their loyalty elsewhere. For the remainder of this world cup at least, they’ll be backing another team, hoping for some kind of success, celebration and belonging via a different route. So loyalty, whilst it can appear unshakeable, is in fact often less than clear cut. Indeed throughout the world cup tournament there will have been those for whom watching some games was uncomfortable; those with a dual heritage, for example, or those with a spouse or partner from a different part of the world.
The very concept of loyalty, though, is one that some people view with suspicion. I’ve spoken with those who see it as suggesting a kind of blind and uncritical allegiance. Certainly, I’d agree that loyalty can be misused or even abused but at its best, loyalty is a beautiful virtue that has nothing to do with coercion or cruelty. Rather, it can create the strongest of bonds for it can grow out of trust, devotion, faithfulness and reliability. Indeed, the Judeo-Christian tradition is predicated on a Covenant of loyalty between God and God’s people, which forms a pattern for human relationships also.
But even the loyalty which God demands of human beings can be rather complex – not quite as hard and fast as some would suggest. In Mark’s Gospel a group of religious leaders try to trick Jesus by asking him whether taxes should be paid to the emperor, for surely this might suggest greater allegiance to the emperor than to God. But recognising that humans are complex beings with split allegiances and responsibilities that must be honoured, Jesus replies: “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God, the things that are God’s”.
It is possible, then, (sometimes even necessary) for different, apparently competing, loyalties to be held in tension. But to do so well, the complexity needs to be acknowledged, with transparency, honesty and integrity.
