Before I get too far into this blog post I want to apologize for my absence. I had been sick, and for a while I was not too sure what it was that I should be writing on. There are all kinds of story in the world today. With the election coming up I'm sure many people will be doing a lot of writing about why they think the candidate they are promoting should be President.Today however I want to focus on something that I have been thinking about for a while now and that is the apparent lack of trust in culture. I don't know about you, but trust is not a word I hear often. It is a concept that I am seeing less and less. The big question is in today's world who can trust? There just doesn't seem to be the same kind of trust today that there was in days past. You have probably heard or told stories of people talking about how they use to leave their doors unlocked, and how they use to trust their kids with people they did not know as well, and yet nowadays we would look at these people and say that they are foolish. We have learned through the power of communication that some people who may seem nice are not and that even are neighbors could be bad people with the intention to harm us, or our family. This lack of trust has extended to news sources. When was the last time you read an article that did not appear to trying to get you think a certain way or have a certain worldview attached to it. We have learned how preachers can fail us and instead of trying to teach the word of God, they are instead wanting to rob us, and trick us, or control our minds. With the rise of psychology we have learned that we may not even be able to trust ourselves, because of past experiences that cause us to think certain ways. Now life is not as bad as I am painting it. of course there is still a great deal of trust that many people have in the world, but I wonder if that trust is more from ignorance or just not thinking. For example how many people really think about or know all the ways their accountant could get them into trouble with the IRS? We also have seen this in relationships. Marriage seems endanger of becoming a relic of past as more and more people are not getting married. The current generation has seen the failures of the institution and no longer trust it to be the life long journey that it once was. Along with that there seems to be a sense of distrust among men and women in general. Women are told that all men are potential rapists and would rape them if given the chance. At the same time men are told that many women are just wanting them for their money and stuff and want to take it if given a chance. Children doubt their parents. They doubt that parents actually know what is best for their children rather than not wanting what is best for their children, although with all the stories of abusive parents, there is also a case for that as well. Surprisingly many parents do not think they know what is best for their children past a certain age. To say that we live in uncertain times would be an understatement. There is a lack of trust between government and people, and there is a lack of trust in schools, and there is a lack of trust in just about every area of life. To be honest it is easier not to trust. You don't make yourself vulnerable, and you don't risk looking like a fool. As someone who struggles with trust this is the reason why I do not like to trust, because I do not want to feel the sting of humiliation for trusting when it turns out that I shouldn't have trusted. This lack of trust is a problem, because trust is vital for relationships and trust is vital for communication. This is a big problem that I see today, and that problem is people do not believe the words that are coming out of someone's mouth. When they say something like, "I like pizza because it taste good." For some reason they don't hear that and instead try to think about what the person really said. While there is a sense of reading between the lines with people's words, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and to try and make into something more leads to confusion and miscommunication. A harmless example of this is all those theories about movies that float around the internet. The theories that take simple things in movies and make these complicated theories based around one or two things. They don't trust the film makers that what they put in the movie is just what they put in the movie. Of course we see the problem of a lack of trust but what is the solution? How do we trust others knowing that they can and perhaps will abuse that trust? To be honest I'm not sure how to answer that question. I believe the answer lies in the gospel where we understand that just like ourselves everyone else is a sinner and so at one point will let us down, or betray us, and yet we forgive just as we are forgiven, and if the person repents then we can trust again. We are told that trust is something that is hard to build but easy to loose, I would also like to point out that trusting someone can be hard too. It's easy to set things up to where you don't need to trust someone, and yet I think there is something noble about trusting other people. especially those who are particularly important to us. I think we can also learn something about trusting Christ about our salvation and the fact that we are in him, even though we still deal with being sinners, and we don't like we have been saved by Christ, but we are to trust in his word. I'm going to keep thinking about this, and perhaps I can come up with a better answer in time. What do you think? Do you think our culture has a problem with trust? What do you do to help you trust others? Comment below and let me know!
1 Comment
Delanie
4/17/2015 10:33:06 am
Whereas we may have difficulty trusting others, as Christians we can always trust in God, who will never let us down or betray us. We may not always understand the path He is leading us down, but we know and can trust that it is the way that is best for us. People will always fail us and God never will. That is the eternal glory of Christ and His sacrifice for us.
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