Category Archives: Trust

Trust no one!

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You listen to one person, and they’ll tell you not to trust the media. You talk to another, and they say not to trust the government.

The messages fly in from everywhere. Don’t trust the World Health Organization! Don’t trust the CDC! Don’t trust local health authorities.

Don’t trust the military. Don’t trust corporations. Don’t trust non-profits. Don’t trust foreigners. Don’t trust rich people. Don’t trust people who ask you for help.

Don’t trust Facebook! Don’t trust Google! Don’t trust Apple!

It’s really sad. And the worst of it is, they are all right. At least partially.

I was reminded of this when reading an article about Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram years ago. Here’s the quote that jolted my memory:

But in wartime, loyalty to the cause became a more valuable trait than the acquired founders’ iconoclasm. And the No. 1 cause at Facebook has forever been the continued existence of Facebook.

The easy thing to say is “Yeah, Facebook is evil. They’re only thinking about themselves.”

The truth: All human organizations have a tendency to focus on their own existence. Choices are made to further their own chances of survival. Compromises are made; corners are cut; good things are left undone. At some point, the organization becomes more important than the mission. This happens with governments. It happens with businesses. It even happens with churches.

My mind didn’t stop with that bit of pessimism. It went a bit further to remind me not to put my trust in anyone. Except God. Even good people, wonderful people are capable of sin. The best people out there still make mistakes.

I shouldn’t fully trust myself. Not as far as honesty, though I guess we’re all capable of some self-deception. I mean as far as resisting temptation, making wise choices, putting others’ interests ahead of my own… things like that.

I needed the reminder this morning that I need to trust in God. Wholly. I will seek the best in others, yet recognize that the worst is in there as well. I will try to spot what’s praiseworthy in society, yet keep in mind that there is much evil at work. I will resist conspiracy theories and generalized accusations, yet know that the thirst for power will lead people to do the unthinkable.

Forgive the rambling nature of this post. In the end, I hope you’ll take from it what I found again:
Trust in God.

Jeremiah 17:5 This is what the Lord says:
Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.

Psalm 146:1 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.

Conspiracy theories and the Bible

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On Monday, I was talking about trusting and not trusting. Part of what got me to thinking about this was the whole idea of conspiracy theories. I have friends who see conspiracies everywhere, right down to the idea that there is a small, powerful group that pretty much controls all world affairs. I just can’t fit those sorts of views into my overall worldview. I know that there are conspiracies, large and small, but I’m not going to spend my life looking around every corner to try and find them.

In the same way, I typically reject conspiracy theories regarding the Bible. I don’t buy into any of the ancient conspiracy theories about the authorship of the biblical books. I don’t accept conspiracy theories about the canon. And I don’t think that the majority of Bible translators have conspired to hide truths from us.

Could any of these people along the way have acted to promote a certain agenda? Certainly. I think all of us are influenced in one way or another by the things that we believe. But I believe that the checks and balances of community, time and divine intervention have helped to keep the impact of those personal agendas to a minimum.

It’s my opinion that our job, as people of the covenant, is to study and seek to understand the Bible in the form that we have received it. I’m not willing to play the game of “Maybe this writer wasn’t inspired” or “maybe this book doesn’t belong” or “maybe this passage isn’t original.” That’s where I am right now.

What about you?

Can We Be Too Trusting?

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“It is better to trust a person who should not be trusted than to distrust a person who should be trusted.” I heard that proverb years ago, and the long I live, the more I agree with it.

I’ve chosen to believe the best about people as long as I can. That’s gotten me into trouble several times, including the two times I was robbed at gunpoint. I’m sure that I’ve been swindled and cheated, scorned and ridiculed for that very trait. And I’m sure it will happen again.

But I don’t want to come to mistrust everyone. It’s not worth it to me. I see the people who are always looking for the other person’s angle, and I don’t want to be like them. All that you miss out on by not trusting people is not compensated by whatever amount of money and heartache you might save.

I’ve come to suspect, and here’s where I’m very open to correction, that we tend to assume people will act the way that we would in their very same situation. That is, the one who expects the other to try and take an unfair advantage is the one who would take that advantage, given the chance. We naturally exaggerate the negative traits of others, so someone who thinks everyone is a robber isn’t necessarily a robber himself. But he is someone who is willing to promote his interests (or those of his groups) ahead of those of others.

Does any of that make sense? There are verses that seem to urge us to be more “astute” in our dealings with others (Luke 16:8; Matthew 10:16) How trusting should we be? In what ways can we be too trusting?