Guest Blog by Jeremy Roberts

I have asked Jeremy Roberts, the Senior Pastor at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Lenior City, TN, to be my guest blogger today. I’ve asked the guest bloggers for this week to write about what is on their hearts.

Razorbacks and Volunteers: The Bifurcation of Loyalties

I hopped in the car to drive to my church in suburban Knoxville for my first day in the office. During my commute, I scanned the radio for a local sports radio station, and then the first statement I heard across the airwaves came, “Arkansas will drop down a level because of the loss of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones.”

An immediate impression that the sportscasters disliked all things Razorback ensued. Not only were the sportscasters putting down the University of Arkansas, but they were praising the football program at the University of Tennessee. At this moment, I was reminded of the interesting aspect of rivalries and loyalties. One cannot root for both the Red Sox and Yankees, Duke and North Carolina, the Cowboys and Redskins, or the Razorbacks and Volunteers.

After having served churches within a thirty-minute drive of University of Arkansas, Virginia Tech, University of Texas, and now University of Tennessee, I watch football on a Saturday afternoon in the fall and am confused as to who deserves my loyalty. On Saturday afternoons, I feel as confused as Mike Tyson in a spelling bee.

Just as a Razorback looks at a Volunteer as the enemy and vice-versa, we as Christians must realize that we cannot root for both God’s team and the team of the Devil. In fact, Jesus states in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”

God hates people who bifurcate their loyalties between Himself and the Devil, so much so that God says in Revelation 3:16, “Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

Where do you stake your loyalties? Are you hot, or are you cold? Catch the heat and be an on-fire champion for Christ today!