Why We Shouldn't Trust People
Focus Scripture: John 2:23-25 “Because of the miraculous
signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust
in Him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because He knew all about people. No one
needed to tell Him about human nature, for He knew what was in each person’s
heart.”
My Struggle
My whole life I’ve struggled with
unforgiveness and resentment toward others. Little did I know, this struggle
wasn’t hurting anyone as much as it was hurting me. It ruled almost every part
of my life. It made me unfriendly at times. It made me closed off and quiet. It
made me bitter and it fueled my already difficult struggle with pride. It made
me a coward. It truly became a stronghold in my life.
Recently, within this past year,
the Lord has decided to deal with me in this area now more than ever before.
And I have been so exceedingly grateful for His mercy and His grace towards me.
So when I first read the focus scripture,
it really shook me. I thought, But Jesus didn’t trust them? I thought we
were supposed to trust each other? What does this really mean?
Being very aware of my trust issues
with people, this baffled me. For a moment, I felt relieved because I thought
this was my permission to continue in my paranoia and bitterness toward others.
But I knew that when I really broke the scripture down, I would find that there
was much for me to overcome in my faulty thinking.
The Character of
Jesus
First, let’s think about the character of Jesus.
As far as I recall, this same Jesus still died on the cross for the sins of the very people He did not trust.
So, Jesus knew all about being hurt
and betrayed by people, but why wasn’t He bitter towards them? Or paranoid? Or
resentful? Or unforgiving?
The scripture has the answer to this difficult question, and
here it is:
…“because He knew…”
He knew that they were merely
people, and were inherently faulty – that they would not only let Him down, but
would fail Him also. He knew that they weren’t capable of being completely
trustworthy. And so, He didn’t trust them completely.
I like the way the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)
puts it:
“But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because He knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man.”
The version here uses the word “commit”
instead of “trust.” Another word for commit is “entrust.” Here this must mean
that Jesus did not depend on them. He could love them, and be open with them,
He could die for them, He could teach them His ways, but He knew that their
shortcomings would not allow for Him to always depend on them, or commit
Himself to them or entrust them with the responsibility of being and doing
right all the time to everyone, including Himself. And this was proven even in
Peter’s example. Of course Peter loved the Lord Jesus, but even He denied
Christ when it mattered. He was imperfect. And so are we, and those around us
too.
What Jesus was
demonstrating in His mindset was essentially Grace
He knew that people were wicked,
even those He had come to save. He knew that their nature needed to be washed
and purified. And He committed to understanding this, even when His
interactions were positive. If Jesus had believed that people could be perfect –
IF HE PUT HIS WHOLE TRUST IN THEM –
He would then have a reason to be resentful or bitter, because He would know
that they could be perfect on their own and ALWAYS do what was right and NEVER what
was wrong. He could hold them to the standard of the law, and expect them to
obey in their own will.
But He knew.
He knew they were not. That they, His chosen people, His
bride, would daily and continually be refined BY HIMSELF until He took her
home.
So He never held her to unrealistic expectations, as if she
were perfect to begin with.
This is what perfect
love looks like through Grace.
Instead, He understood her imperfections and did not trust and depend on her
every thought, word or deed. He understood that she was “finicky.” One day
she would be happy, the next sad. One day she would be content, the next not.
One day she would be here, the next absent.
His aim was not to
judge His bride that He knew was already imperfect – His goal was to make her perfect.
This Same Grace
Should I Give to Another
Grace created a buffer between
Jesus’ feelings towards others – His
overwhelming love for them – and how He should treat and interact with them.
His love was perfect because of His grace.
Though we should do right all the time, we are not able to. And this is because of sin; it wages a war in us. But Christ’s power working in us creates the struggle in us against sin so that we are able to fight when temptation to sin arises.
If we acknowledge these truths, we
can’t expect each other to have already attained, just as we have not attained. We should offer the same grace
that Christ gives to us on a daily basis when we fall to sin to others too.
And one way to do this is by not
placing our complete trust in others, as
if we are not going to fail one another.
As long as we are alive and breathing,
we must fight this flesh. We don’t always win, but Christ uses our failures to
grow us so that we can overcome in order to move onto the next area.
Yeah, you’re more
messed up than you think. But His grace is sufficient.
When we come to understand this, that we all have weaknesses and are being
perfected, we will better understand each other.
So no matter how much you love and
adore your brother or sister, allow grace to buffer your love so that you may
also understand your brother and sister when they let you down.
In other words, let grace perfect your love so that you may
love them wholly even when they
let you down, talk about you, disappoint you, lie on you, hate you and turn
against you and you're still able to be there to help them and desire good for them.
Let me include a snippet from my daily devotional here as well as my notes
that day that really drove this point home!
“If I put my trust in human beings first, I will end up despairing in everyone; I will become bitter, because I have insisted on man being what no man can ever be – absolutely right. Never trust anything but the grace of God in yourself or anyone else.”
-This right here!! My trust should only be in the grace of God working in a person’s life – not them or their limited abilities. I wouldn’t want anyone thinking that I can’t mess up, so who am I to think of another in that light? No. No one is perfect and I should leave room for them to mess up…Because the Lord does that with me every day and still gives me grace. This same grace should I give to another.”
Finally
We have
enough pastors and leaders and saints who are hurt and disappointed and bitter
and resentful, I don’t want to add to that number.
So I urge you too, let grace rule
how you interact with others, especially how you love others. Yes, it’s true
that Sis. Smiley is just the sweetest person alive, and yes Bro. Wise is just
the most awesome bible scholar you’ve ever met, but calm down a little bit and
understand that they aren’t perfect – just as you aren’t. They’re going to fail
you, as great and sweet as they are. Don’t
put your whole trust in their imperfect nature. They are growing just as much
as you are. Love them in spite of this and serve them in spite of this; that
is echoing the character of our perfect Lord Jesus in your life.
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