The Gods We Trust: Why our Faith In Institutions Is Failing
- Kerry Morris
- Mar 10
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 10
“Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices.
But when it’s absent, everybody notices.”
- Warren Buffet (1)
If trust is the air we breath, then as a society we are pretty much suffocating right now. Pew Research Center tells us that only 22% of U.S. adults trust the federal government, down from 77% in the 1960s. Trust in the medical system has fallen from 80% to 36%. Trust in churches has dropped from 65% to 32%. (2) The chart below tells the tale. It’s not that trust is shifting from one thing to another. Trust is down for every institution (3). Increasingly, we trust nothing.
As a person who tries to live his life according to the teachings of Jesus, this begs a question: What did Jesus say about who should I trust?
Jesus certainly taught caution as it relates to trusting people. “But Jesus, for His part, did not entrust Himself to them, because He knew all people [and understood the superficiality and fickleness of human nature]” (4). Jesus advised his followers to be cautious as they travelled and told people about his teachings. “I am sending you like lambs into a pack of wolves. So be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (5).
He advised against trusting political leaders. “Do not trust in princes, In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).” (6). Jesus suggested taking special caution with those who appear to be on your side, especially those who claim to speak for God. “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you dressed like sheep, but inside they are vicious wolves.”(7). A passage in the Book of Proverbs even says we should not fully trust ourselves, that we should “…not rely on your own insight or understanding.” (8)
While this can seem pretty bleak, Jesus did not want his followers to be paranoid and cynical. Consider the quote above, where he told his followers to be “wise as serpents, but innocent as doves.” The original Greek word, translated here as ‘innocent’ meant harmless, with no mixture of evil, free from guile. Doves were often used as sacrificial animals. The connotation is having no self-serving agenda, despite understanding the risks of trusting. In other words, sometimes in our pursuit of good we need to be mindful of the risks, but trust anyway. Jesus did not instruct his followers to avoid any risk of being taken advantage of. He even acknowledged that, as his followers worked to bring good news to the world, they would be “…handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips...” (9). Mistreatment, or at least disappointment, can be unfortunate costs of trust. But, trust is usually a cost of progress.
Jesus modeled this with his own behavior. Jesus knew that Peter, one of his closest followers, would betray him. But Jesus still kept him close before that betrayal, and afterwards even made him the leader of his followers (10). Great crowds of people celebrated Jesus as the messiah sent from God, then a few days later turned on him and demanded his death (11). Yet he still showed love, he still made efforts to help those who were sick and in need.
How is this possible? How could Jesus choose to trust people, knowing they would likely fail him? Perhaps there is a clue in something else Jesus said. “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God...” (12). God is something that is bigger than any particular circumstance, still true in the face of any human failure. Jesus challenged us to focus on something bigger, something that is true even even if people fail us.
Dr. Martin Luther King said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” He expressed a faith in the inevitability of justice, and this made it possible to take so many risks in the pursuit of that end. Having complete trust in the ultimate end of path makes it easier to trust the twists and turns along the way. Perhaps our trust of individual people and institutions is measured in scale to that which we trust the most. Trust in an all-powerful, all-loving God provides a cosmic safety net into which I fall if others fail me. Trust in God who will not fail me provides the margin I can use to risk trusting others.
But, what if there is no God that cares about me? What if the government really is the most powerful force impacting my life? What if the U.S. President really is the most powerful living thing in the universe? What if organized religion really is my only connection to the world beyond my senses? What if the Supreme Court really is the most powerful arbiter of justice? What if doctors and pharmaceuticals are my greatest hope for physical health?
If these institutions really are the most powerful things in my world, then they are essentially my gods. And if these are my gods, then the level of perfection I require of them is incredibly high. But these institutions are just amalgamations of imperfect humans, destined to disappoint. On the scale of humanity they may excel, but on the scale of the divine they are destined to fall short. And if they themselves buy into the myth of their sovereignty, as the powerful so often do, then they are doubly doomed to failure.
Perhaps the institutions we used to trust have all become dramatically less competent over the decades. But, perhaps the lack of trust in human institutions is also a symptom of a lack of trust in the divine arc. The most powerful things we know are not nearly powerful enough. The most just are not nearly just enough. Our gods have proven unworthy. So, frozen by the fear of inevitable betrayal and disappointment, we trust nothing and no one. And in so doing, we block the path to our own progress. Because no one moves forward alone.
So should we just give up on the idea of trust, of being able to rely on others? The example of Jesus tells us not to give up on trust. He demonstrated that making progress requires working with others while holding ourselves and others to a high standard. He taught that sometimes this approach would leave us disappointed, but that occasional betrayal was a reasonable price to pay for working to make earth more like heaven. And we can afford to trust others only when our ultimate trust lies in something that will never fail.
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/trend/archive/fall-2024/americans-mistrust-of-institutions
Gallup annual Confidence in Institutions Survey
John 2:24 AMP
Matthew 10:16 CEV
Psalms 146:3 AMP
Matthew 7:15 CEB
Proverbs 3:5 AMP
Matthew 10:17 NLT
Luke 22:54-62
Matthew 21:9, 27:20-23
John 14:1 NLT
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