Trust No Man

There is a misconception in the Church that we should place our trust in our fellow man. Sermons abound about loving your neighbor, and forgiving those who harm you. But the relational divide between us and other disciples, and even disbelievers is gaping. It may surprise you that there is no one you can trust by Jesus Christ. The prophets, kings, and the King of Kings himself testify that there is no one in whom you can put your faith and trust in but God. King David said, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man." (Pslams 118:8). The Prophet Micah said, "Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.." (Micah 7:5). The Prophet Jeremiah speaking for the Lord said, "Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord." (Jeremiah 17:5). King Solomon the wisest man said, "Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe." (Proverbs 28:26). Jesus Christ Son of God, and God in the flesh, "But Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew human nature." (John 2:24).


Incredible! From kings to prophets to the King of Kings and Prince of Peace, the same warning is written. We see that David urges us to take refuge in Lord alone, and trust no man. The Prophet Micah gives us a list of people to not trust including our neighbors, closest friends, and even our lover or spouse! Jeremiah tells us we are cursed if we trust in man. King Solomon swears by wisdom to not even trust yourself! Finally, the Author and Finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ did not trust even his disciples because He knew the hearts of man, " The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" (Jeremiah 17:9). We want to believe in a band of brotherhood, the Round Table of King Arthur, the Fellowship of the Ring, and that "we will all stay true to each other." (Aragon, LOTR The Fellowship of the Ring). But alas it is a trap! It is our fear of losing a friend, being banished from the Round Table, and breaking our fellowship that we do not speak the Truth, stand up for Christ, and more. King Soloman says it is snare, "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe." (Proverbs 29:25), and the Apostle John remarks about believing Pharisees, "Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue.." (John 12:42). Friendship and trust in friends, family, and fraternity can become an enemy of faith. This is why Jesus promises he will cut you from them, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. a man's enemies will be the members of his own household." (Matthew 10:34-36).

We desire community, we crave to be with other people, but this craving stems from a divided heart. It is not wrong to enjoy being in presence of brothers and sisters in Christ, what is wrong is the unsatiable desire for companionship. We want to be with people to the point that we believe that if we are with others, we will feel less lonely, and be cured of an aching soul. But we are going to wrong source, for only our Savior has the means to mend our maimed heart. There is great benefit in assembling together, and fellowshipping, (see Hebrews 10:25). However, we must beware of putting too much stock in one another, for soon we will discover that no one can understand the depths of your deeply wounded soul, save Christ; and giving pearls to even the most trusted person can prove fatal (Matthew 7:6). I am not advocate of hermits, isolation, and self protection; but I recognize no other human being can heal me, help understand my pain, or holistically know who I am. This place of omniknoweldge and omnicloseness we desire can only come from Alpha and Omega, Jesus Christ. Only God who is Triune can understand you, because He designed you, He made you, and through Him you were created (John 1:3).

We want another person to be able to connect with the very depths our soul, and some come close, a spouse, a parent, a child, and dear friend. But inevitably they all fall short, none of them can know you fully, because they do not live in you, but God does, "Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you" (1 Corinthians 3:16). We are meant to feel despair at not feel a closeness with our fellow man. No organic, no flesh, no person with body can be as close to us as we want, save for the God Man who is Jesus Christ (1 John 4:2). This craving to connect in body, can only find its satisfaction in connecting, being close, and communicating with Christ Jesus. The community of Christians is good, at times Christ shines forth through each of us, speaking to on:e another, but so does the egos and evil one. Diedtrich Bonehoffer once said something that broke me: 

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“[Jesus] stands between us and God, and for that very reason he stands between us and all other men and things. He is the Mediator, not only between God and man, but between man and man, between man and reality. Since the whole world was created through him and unto him (John 1:3; 1st Cor. 8:6; Heb. 1:2), he is the sole Mediator in the world...The call of Jesus teaches us that our relation to the world has been built on an illusion. All the time we thought we had enjoyed a direct relation with men and things.

This is what had hindered us from faith and obedience. Now we learn that in the most intimate relationships of life, in our kinship with father and mother, bothers and sisters, in married love, and in our duty to the community, direct relationships are impossible. Since the coming of Christ, his followers have no more immediate realities of their own, not in their family relationships nor in the ties with their nation nor in the relationships formed in the process of living. Between father and son, husband and wife, the individual and the nation, stands Christ the Mediator, whether they are able to recognize him or not. We cannot establish direct contact outside ourselves except through him, through his word, and through our following of him. To think otherwise is to deceive ourselves."

There is no way from one person to another. However loving and sympathetic we try to be, however sound our psychology, however frank and open our behavior, we cannot penetrate the incognito of the other man, for there are no direct relationships, not even between soul and soul. Christ stands between us, and we can only get into touch with our neighbors through him. That is why intercession is the most promising way to reach our neighbors, and corporate prayer, offered in the name of Christ, the purest form of fellowship.”  (Diedrich Bonehoffer, The Cost of Discipleship).

"But Jesus didn't trust them, because he knew human nature." (John 2:24). Dietrich Bonhoeffer's words cause despair. It shatters the illusion we can have this relationship with Christ and community apart from each other, that we can find the solace for our soul on Sundays with the Savior and with other saints and secular people Monday thru Saturday. Christ stands between us and all other relationships with a sword, ready to cut out anyone whom makes you violate the first commandment, "Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first (chief) and greatest commandment." (Matthew 22:37-38). The second commandment is "And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:39). Loving our neighbor, and even "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another," (John 13:34) come second to loving the Lord Jesus Christ who is One with the Father, and Holy Spirit. The Lord says of Himself, "Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God," (Exodus 34:14). We can make another god or idol out of our fellow man or woman, "so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman." (Deuteronomy 4:16, cross ref Romans 1:23). This is what our Savior Jesus Christ prevents with His sword, that will inevitably cut the wicked to pieces, "Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (Revelation 19:15-16).

We shall never find what we desire in another human alone. Christ is the mediator between us and God (1 Timothy 2:5), and as Bonhoeffer said between man and man. God gave Adam a wife named Eve, and she with serpent (Satan)'s help lead man astray, though Adam is guilty for partaking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Eve played a part with peer pressure. This does not make woman evil, but it leads to an interesting though, "The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him," (Genesis 2:18) but as a result mankind falls because of Adam not contesting Eve and leading her towards righteousness (Proverbs 29:25). Again this does not mean woman is evil, for it was through a woman named Mary, that Jesus Christ, Savior came via being sent by the Father (John 3:16) and Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18). What we do understand is that Micah is right, "Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms." (Micah 7:5). Put no trust in man, but in the Son of Man who is Jesus Christ. We should not be isolated, or alone, we should be with other believers, but enjoy community only in so far that it is part of God's wish for you to be with other sojourners seeking Him (1 Peter 2:11), but be reminded that you will not find the answer for your deep loneliness, brokenness, and desire for connection in mankind alone, it must be found in Messiah Jesus Christ.