A Scout is…Loyal

I was a Cub Scout for 3 years, and a Boy Scout for 7 years, earning my Eagle Scout award in 1979.  At the beginning of every Boy Scout meeting, we recited the Boy Scout Oath and Boy Scout Law.  It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized the connection between the values of Scouting and the Bible.  Lord Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Scouting movement, based the Scouting movement on Biblical principles.

This is part of a series of blogs examining the connection between the values of Scouting and the Bible.

A Scout is loyal to those to whom loyalty is due.

The second point of the Scout Law is, “A Scout is loyal.”

Loyalty is often equated with loyalty with allegiance and faithfulness.  Webster defines the word “loyal” is thusly:

1: unswerving in allegiance: as

             a : faithful in allegiance to one’s lawful sovereign or government

             b : faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due

             c : faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product

The Bible has many examples of each of these kinds of loyalty.

Faithful in allegiance to one’s lawful sovereign or government

For the Christian, we must be faithful in our allegiance to our lawful sovereign – God.  In Exodus 20:3-5a, God spoke to Moses saying, ““You shall have no other gods before Me.  You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.”  Here, God commands our faithful allegiance to Him, and to Him alone.

Faithful to a private person to whom fidelity is due

In 1 Corinthians 4:17, Paul writes, “For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church.”    Who was Timothy, and how was he loyal to Paul?  Paul met Timothy at the time of Paul’s second visit to Lystra in Anatolia.  Timothy became a disciple of Paul, and went with Paul on his journeys through Phrygia, Galatia, Mysia, Troas, Philippi, Veria, and Corinth.  Timothy’s loyalty to Paul is evidenced by his remaining with Paul throughout most of Paul’s travels, and by his ministering to Paul while he was imprisoned.  In 1 Timothy 1:2, most likely written shortly before Paul’s death, because of Timothy’s longtime loyalty, Paul refers to Timothy as “a beloved son.”    Throughout the book of Acts and Paul’s epistles, Timothy’s loyalty to Paul is extolled as virtuous.

Faithful to a cause, ideal, custom, institution, or product

 The Bible contains many references to faithfulness toward such things.  In 2 Chronicles 31:11-12, faithfulness and loyalty to the Temple was commended.  In Nehemiah 13:13, faithfulness to the task of distributing provisions is applauded.  In Proverbs 14:5, loyalty to the truth is encouraged.  In the parable of the talents, the master praises the loyal servant for faithfully investing money.

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When the Scout Law declares, “A Scout is loyal,” it builds upon the concepts of faithfulness and loyalty that are celebrated in the Bible.  The ultimate example of loyalty is God’s faithfulness towards His people.  Psalm 117:2 summarizes God’s loyalty and faithfulness:  “For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!”  In one of my favorite passages, God’s loyalty and faithful love toward those who have received Jesus Christ as Savior is concisely stated:  “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

A Christian is to model his or her loyalty after the loyalty and faithfulness of Jesus Christ.  The loyalty that a Scout is to demonstrate should imitate the loyalty and faithfulness that is commended in the Bible.