I think this is a simple issue that causes a lot of confusion.
In the Bible, we always see God prescribing a "balanced" and "prudent" approach to things.
Every day, we trust people in different ways, and to different degrees.
We find this quite simple, and quite natural.
Yet if we make "trust" a philosophical issue... suddenly we can no longer understand it!
It really is as silly as it sounds.
Trust is a matter of DEGREES.
We trust people to different degrees... according to how they have PROVEN themselves to be trustworthy
We do this very naturally, every day.
We have no problem with this until we THINK ABOUT IT TOO MUCH.
- You trust your car mechanic with your car, but you don't hand him your wallet for safe keeping.
- You trust a teller at the bank with your money, but you DON'T hand them the keys to your house.
- You trust your parents with this thing or that thing, but you probably don't share every secret on your heart.
- A new employee at a company is trusted with some things, but not others.
We trust people to different degrees... according to how they have PROVEN themselves to be trustworthy.
Do you realize we are never actually told in scripture to TRUST ANYONE?
Why?
1. Because SOME people, in a fallen world, are clearly untrustworthy.
2. Because ALL people in a fallen world, because of sin, are at least untrustworthy A LITTLE.
So HOW MUCH should we trust people?
1. We trust them to whatever degree they have shown themselves to be trustworthy.
2. This aligns with scripture, where God tells us to PROVE (test) all things.
1Thessalonians 5:21
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."
(The word "prove" here is sometimes translated "test", and it means "to prove by testing"... kind of like you would do in science.)
3. God wants us to be wise, and intelligent.
A. We aren't to TRUST everyone. (We can't, we live in a fallen world.)
B. We CAN trust people who have PROVEN themselves to be trustworthy... and ... to the DEGREE they have proven to be trustworthy.
4. We shouldn't make this complicated... we do this every day.
(You never go to the supermarket, hand the cashier your wallet, and ask him to hold it for you all day.
But you DO hand the cashier some money for groceries, knowing you can TRUST him to give the change back.)
Now, if we want to go against THE BIBLE, and also go against COMMON SENSE, and just trust people for no reason...
we can do that, but we will often pay the price.
So, we already trust people to different degrees... according to how they have PROVEN themselves to be trustworthy.
- We don't need to "struggle against" this common sense thing we already do.
- We need to SHARPEN this common sense thing we already do.