From my weekly article at WorldMag.com:
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| photo credit: Anamorphic Mike via photopin cc |
A friend of mine has been going through a hard time lately, the kind of difficulties that come from being stabbed in the back. He has found friends and family alike turning against him, leading him to conclude that he can no longer trust anyone. Sadly, many of us can empathize. Everyone will hurt him. So he’ll no longer open himself up to anyone, and it’s hard to blame him.
It is impossible to trust someone without exposing yourself to harm. The nature of trust is to believe you will be caught if you fall, so you fall willingly. That is risk. Sadly, those risks often end up hurting us. When it comes down to it, people aren’t trustworthy, even the trustworthy ones. We expect to be caught and instead we find an unbroken fall with all its bumps and bruises and broken bones. It’s the brokenness of sin in us. We who were once noble creatures are marred by unreliability and selfishness.
Obviously, we should protect ourselves from harm, right? No more making ourselves vulnerable. No more risk. No more expecting to be caught only to fall flat. We should trust no one.
Wrong.
. . .
