Wayne Jacobsen at Lifestream has some interesting articles on church life.
In one of these, he says that Jesus never calls us to trust people…not even other believers. He writes this:
Sara and I had spent almost a week among them. Invited to teach, we were also learning as we watched the simplicity of fellowship, worship and growth that this group of believers shared together. Finally, late one evening while sitting by the fire with some of their key people we got to ask our questions about the life they shared together.
“How do you teach believers to trust each other?” Sara asked.
By the facial reactions around the room, you’d have thought Sara might as well have asked them if they sacrificed animals. They glanced at one another, and shook their heads as if to say, “You really don’t get it, do you?” I was taken back. We had witnessed their honesty, their openness, their service to each other. Surely they worked on trust.
One finally spoke, “Where does the Word teach us to put our trust in men?”
I started probing the deep recesses of my mind whirling through every Scripture I could recall. I couldn’t come up with any Scripture to answer the question.
To read the rest of the article, click here. He does not have a way to comment on that article, so we can discuss this here. Does Jesus want us to trust one another…especially in church? How can you have community and friendship without trust?
Maybe we are to see Christ in one another, trust in God, and always be ready for unexpected circumstances. By the way, your links don’t work.
I think you are right. That is a great way to live.
And thanks for the notice that the links didn’t work. Wayne Jacobsen changed his link structure, and I wasn’t aware of it. The links are fixed and working now.