信心與忠誠 Linking Faith and Loyalty
[每日靈修] 9/10/2018, 駱鴻銘編譯
忠誠（loyalty）是一種與聖經的信心相關的美德。我們傾向於將我們對信心的理解限定為或侷限為一種相信的行動，對某個命題真理在理性上的一種認同。然而，我們知道，使人得救的信心不僅僅包括認同，它更包括個人的信靠。
當我們探究這種信靠的深度時，我們發現它有許多的面向。在信靠的本質中，我們會看見信心和忠誠之間的關聯。信心和忠誠一起產生忠貞（fidelity）。在我們的日常用語中，忠誠度和忠貞度基本上是同義詞。
有一次，我在飛機上坐在舊金山49人隊的企業家和老闆愛德華•德巴托洛（Edward
DeBartol）身邊。我問他，在員工和球員中最看重的是什麼。他毫不猶豫地回答：「忠誠！」從表面上看，這可以被解釋為領導者想要被「唯命是從的人」，或一群逢迎拍馬者所包圍的願望。但「唯命是從的人」並不是真正的忠誠。他們更多是受到自我保護所驅使，而不是受忠誠的驅使。
忠實的朋友不會表現出盲目的忠誠，拒絕承認他或她的朋友或老闆的錯誤或缺點。相反，他或她會表現出合乎聖經的、會掩蓋許多罪的愛，即使是在失敗和缺點中，仍然保持忠誠。
活在神的面光中（在神面前禱告）：
儘管朋友有失敗和缺點，你是否仍然是他們忠實的朋友？
進一步研讀：
箴十12 恨能挑啟爭端；愛能遮掩一切過錯。
彼前四8 最要緊的是彼此切實相愛，因為愛能遮掩許多的罪。
箴廿七6 朋友加的傷痕出於忠誠；仇敵連連親嘴卻是多餘。
箴十七17 朋友乃時常親愛，弟兄為患難而生。
箴十八24 濫交朋友的，自取敗壞；但有一朋友比弟兄更親密。
Linking Faith and Loyalty
Loyalty
is a virtue that is linked to the biblical concept of faith. We tend to
restrict or limit our understanding of faith to an act of believing, a kind of
intellectual assent to the truth of a proposition. We know, however, that
saving faith includes more than assent; it includes personal trust.
When
we probe the depths of this trust, we discover that it is multifaceted. It is
within the nature of trust that we see the link between faith and loyalty.
Together, faith and loyalty yield fidelity. In our language, loyalty and
fidelity serve as virtual synonyms.
Once,
on an airplane, I sat beside Edward DeBartolo, the entrepreneur and owner of
the San Francisco 49ers. I asked him what he valued the most in his employees
and players. He answered without hesitation: “Loyalty!” On the surface, this
may have been interpreted as the desire of a leader to be surrounded by “yes
men” or a band of sycophants. But “yes men” are not really loyal. They are
driven more by self-preservation than fidelity.
A
faithful friend does not exhibit a blind loyalty that refuses to recognize the
errors or faults in his or her friends or bosses. Rather, he or she exhibits
the biblical love that covers a multitude of sins, remaining faithful in the
midst of failure and shortcomings.
Coram
Deo
Are
you a faithful friend to others, despite their failures and shortcomings?
Passages
for Further Study
Proverbs
27:6 Proverbs
17:17 Proverbs
18:24