{"id":21419,"date":"2019-12-27T06:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-27T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/?p=21419"},"modified":"2025-03-07T18:54:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T22:54:56","slug":"how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHow is it that other people, who seem to have their {bleep} together, don\u2019t seem to notice that there is pain in the world, or if they do, they can manage. But me, I see nothing but pain in the world and can only deal with it by getting high and numbing myself?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I had just recently met the guy when he asked this question. I\u2019ve had the privilege of connecting with many neighbors in recovery and seem to find my way into these kinds of conversations.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When my friend, let\u2019s call him John (not his real name), asked this question, it was coming from a place of deep pain. He was just a month or two into another round of sobriety and trying, maybe grasping, for an understanding of why he couldn\u2019t seem to find hope in a hopeless situation. What might you say in response?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Sharing the allegiance gospel<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

While there are plenty of great and faithful ways to answer this question, my attempt in this article is to share one that is informed by the idea of gospel allegiance. Much has been written on what gospel allegiance is and how it is deeply rooted in the Bible, but as someone who is less of a scholar and more \u201can on the ground practitioner,\u201d I offer how I find the allegiance model to be exceptional for how we are present with people, noticing and naming the presence of God, and participating with Jesus.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cJohn,\u201d I replied, \u201cI\u2019ve come to believe that people in recovery have the clearest view of reality of anyone I know. The reality is there is great pain and suffering around us. Some can avoid it because of income or privilege, others avoid it by numbing themselves from feeling the effects.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

“But it\u2019s only when we recognize that we, in ourselves don\u2019t have the power to do much about it, that we might surrender our illusion of autonomy and consent to the one who truly has power and authority to renew all things. His name is Jesus. He is the King who loves people and desires for his peaceful rule to begin in your life.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u201cGino,\u201d John replied, \u201cI always thought that God was angry with me because I\u2019m a {bleep} up. I never thought I may be seeing the world the way he does. I know that I can\u2019t run my life well on my own. I\u2019ve proven that. I don\u2019t know if God loves me or even tolerates me, but I know I can\u2019t continue to trust myself in everything.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

It’s about who you trust<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

To me, \u201ctrusting myself\u201d is an allegiance issue. Who does John believe is the most faithful and true leader for his life? Himself or someone else? Well, the last decade has proven to himself that he is not a good and wise leader for himself. He is impatient, impulsive, fearful, and selfish \u2014just like me.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The way I see it, John is beginning to switch allegiances out of necessity. He believes that if he stays \u201ctrue to himself,\u201d he will end up dead. So that isn\u2019t an option for him anymore. The question now is to whom does John pledge his allegiance?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A sponsor? A trusted friend? A local pastor? While any or all of these people may have a better plan for John\u2019s life than he does, John will eventually find that the weight of responsibility for managing his life can\u2019t be held up by other people.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I can\u2019t \u201cfix\u201d John nor would it be loving to try and control him. What I can offer him is to be present with him and create space for him to see the faithfulness of Jesus on his behalf. To begin to explore with John how Jesus\u2019s faithfulness to and for John, is why John can pledge allegiance to Jesus as his hope in this world and beyond.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Proclaiming the gospel is a process<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Please notice that I said \u201cbe present with him and create space for him.\u201d This is a process, not an event. In this space and through presence, the Spirit of God does work without coercion. This is often a slow process and doesn\u2019t always end with a conversion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

And here\u2019s some beautifully good news for us: Our \u201cpledge of allegiance\u201d to Jesus is participating in his mission, not enacting it. If the changing of allegiance (from self to Jesus) is a spiritual conversion, then you and I can\u2019t convert a single person (it\u2019s not our role).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

We’re not in control of the outcomes<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So our faithfulness to Jesus can\u2019t be measured by the number of conversions we see. However, part of our faithfulness to Jesus is demonstrated by being present and making space for the faithfulness of Jesus to potentially take root in other\u2019s lives.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Faithfulness, allegiance to Jesus, informs not just what I might say but how and why I would find myself in situations where I could even have a conversation in the first place.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHow is it that other people, who seem to have their {bleep} together, don\u2019t seem to notice that there is pain in the world, or if they do, they can manage. But me, I see nothing but pain in the world and can only deal with it by getting high and numbing myself?\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":30097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lead-like-jesus"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story - Gravity Commons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The gospel is about allegiance (not just mental assent), but how do you actually, practically PROCLAIM this allegiance gospel? Here's an example.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story - Gravity Commons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The gospel is about allegiance (not just mental assent), but how do you actually, practically PROCLAIM this allegiance gospel? Here's an example.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gravity Commons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-12-27T11:00:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T22:54:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/conversation.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gino Curcuruto\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gino Curcuruto\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gino Curcuruto\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a477239b7701f82881772e6d19c79c0d\"},\"headline\":\"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-27T11:00:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-07T22:54:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":864,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/conversation.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Lead Like Jesus\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story - Gravity Commons\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/conversation.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-12-27T11:00:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-07T22:54:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a477239b7701f82881772e6d19c79c0d\"},\"description\":\"The gospel is about allegiance (not just mental assent), but how do you actually, practically PROCLAIM this allegiance gospel? Here's an example.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/conversation.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/conversation.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Gravity Commons\",\"description\":\"Following Jesus in the Chaos\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a477239b7701f82881772e6d19c79c0d\",\"name\":\"Gino Curcuruto\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/57093a561264dd45b186ef73abceaadfa4c7d87caa634eebb26387d5fbeaa233?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/57093a561264dd45b186ef73abceaadfa4c7d87caa634eebb26387d5fbeaa233?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/57093a561264dd45b186ef73abceaadfa4c7d87caa634eebb26387d5fbeaa233?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gino Curcuruto\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gravitycommons.com\\\/es\\\/author\\\/gino-c\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story - Gravity Commons","description":"The gospel is about allegiance (not just mental assent), but how do you actually, practically PROCLAIM this allegiance gospel? Here's an example.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story - Gravity Commons","og_description":"The gospel is about allegiance (not just mental assent), but how do you actually, practically PROCLAIM this allegiance gospel? Here's an example.","og_url":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/","og_site_name":"Gravity Commons","article_published_time":"2019-12-27T11:00:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-07T22:54:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/conversation.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gino Curcuruto","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gino Curcuruto","Est. reading time":"4 minutos"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/"},"author":{"name":"Gino Curcuruto","@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a477239b7701f82881772e6d19c79c0d"},"headline":"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story","datePublished":"2019-12-27T11:00:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-07T22:54:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/"},"wordCount":864,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/conversation.jpg","articleSection":["Lead Like Jesus"],"inLanguage":"es"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/","url":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/","name":"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story - Gravity Commons","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/conversation.jpg","datePublished":"2019-12-27T11:00:09+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-07T22:54:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a477239b7701f82881772e6d19c79c0d"},"description":"The gospel is about allegiance (not just mental assent), but how do you actually, practically PROCLAIM this allegiance gospel? Here's an example.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es","@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/conversation.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/conversation.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/how-to-proclaim-the-allegiance-gospel-a-story\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Proclaim the Allegiance Gospel: A Story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/","name":"Gravity Commons","description":"Following Jesus in the Chaos","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a477239b7701f82881772e6d19c79c0d","name":"Gino Curcuruto","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57093a561264dd45b186ef73abceaadfa4c7d87caa634eebb26387d5fbeaa233?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57093a561264dd45b186ef73abceaadfa4c7d87caa634eebb26387d5fbeaa233?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/57093a561264dd45b186ef73abceaadfa4c7d87caa634eebb26387d5fbeaa233?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gino Curcuruto"},"url":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/author\/gino-c\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gravitycommons.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}