Trust No One

You might be scratching your heads, but let me assure you, you read that right.

Call me a nerd, but I've watched all six Star Wars movies, read the books for them, and read a heap of in-between episodes literature as well. Yeah, okay, I'm a nerd. And happy for it.

One quote that has stuck with me from Star Wars (admittedly, not many did) was Jango Fett's motto - "Trust no one." While you might call that drastic at first (and I would certainly agree), hold the rum and let's ask a question...why not?

The world we live in is chock-full of lies, deceit, and people primed and ready to lead you around by the nose until you hit their trap. Advertising is, perhaps, the foremost perpetrator of deception; the entire purpose of the industry is to make a product look appealing, sound like a deal, and feel good, so that you will spend your money on it. Without fail, the product in question is always not as good as in the advertisements, by whatever margin.
A second glaring example is politics. Dictionary.com defines 'politician' as a seeker or holder of public office, who is more concerned about winning favor or retaining power than about maintaining principles. (Italics are mine for emphasis.) Politicians will lie, cheat, steal, do whatever it takes to keep their position, and there are numerous scandals and examples, stretching throughout all of history. In fact, 'politician' and 'professional liar' have almost no difference in meaning in our society today.

The two abovementioned examples are the most obvious reasons why 'trust no one' might be a good dictum. But it's not only they who are the problem.
Media is, in my opinion, the giant among these causes of evil. No matter where you look, there is always a subliminal message wanting to squirm into your mind; its mission, to slowly wear down your morality and destroy your sense of good and evil. Nowhere is this object more seeded than the movie industry, where producers use the emotion and situations available in the movie to present their point in the most appealing way possible. Music is also this way; though its gambit for corruption is a bit more obvious than movies, given that most popular artists and their songs are complete and utter trash.
And, lamentations upon lamentations, books are also filled with lies, messages, evil waiting to wrench the principles out of your heart and take their place. I often wish I could spend hours in the library, but now my reasons have changed; I just can't find a good book, so I have to look longer and harder. Even when I do find one, it's usually only passable.

The common denominator to all of this, of course, is people. (That's why this is 'trust no one' instead of 'trust nothing'.) People are born in sin, and to sin they cling. From that sin is spawned all assortments of evil; it's why the entire world has a crust of lies covering it, barely concealing the sin trying to hide beneath. As Christians, we cannot, ever let down our guard, not when surrounded by such evil. We are constantly in a war, constantly fighting for righteousness, supported by our brothers and sisters around us in the battle line, drawing on the power of the Word of God.

As I said in the beginning, 'trust no one' isn't something to be taken literally. That would be a bit extreme. We cannot help but give trust. I am trusting in this seat to hold me. I am trusting in this house to shelter me. By that trust, I am extending my faith to the builders of these materials, trusting they did their job. But in our personal relationships, from heart-to-heart, we cannot let down our guard, not for a moment. Even with other Christians, we must always be aware; while we love and support one another, we must be wary of sin that has perhaps infiltrated the life of one of our companions, and help them eradicate it.

Oh be careful little heart, what you love.
Oh be careful little mind, what you think.
For world all around, with sin always abounds;
Oh be careful, little heart, what you love.