The walk you can trust versus the talk that’s wanderlust

Being shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves, as Jesus commends us to do, there is something strikingly different about two completely different people — one you can trust in a heartbeat, the other you cannot — the trouble is these two completely different people usually evoke the wrong responses in us.

We trust the one we should be wary of,
and we’re unimpressed with the one who’s safe.

The first person has the language, they’re suave, they have the nous, the je na sais quoi that charms all comers. They have the words, the body language, the essence of what we think we need. They’re the movers and shakers of the world. They’re super confident, and they can even appear to have mastered humility (more on this further down). They, like many ‘deals’ that sweep us off our feet, are too good to be true. We’re impressed!

They are also usually quite narcissistic. It can just take a year or two to discover this!

The other person is unimpressive. They appear to be overly honest and can even be self-deprecating. They see all their flaws. Perhaps too much. Sometimes you’re tempted to be weary of them. They can appear to lack confidence in themselves or be boring. But they may also be seriously authentic, even to a point of being somewhat a threat to people about how comfortable in their flaws they appear to be.

These are the trustworthy ones. They not only see all their flaws — maybe too readily — but they also see their own contributions to conflicts and they have the capacity to sincerely apologise… you know, to the point where that’s where they leave it; a fully grounded and landed apology, unmistakably genuine.

We must be careful of the person who looks to be the humblest of them all. Whether they know it or not, such a concept is a trick. There is no such thing as humility mastered. It’s an oxymoron. Never does any human being, knit together in the fabric of sin, ever arrive at a perfected version of humanity. Human beings are always contingent on many daily factors. The heart of the human problem, as Canon J. John says, is the problem of the human heart.

The person you can trust is the person
who is least likely to impress you,
whereas the person that sweeps us off our feet
can so often be our snare.

Not always, it’s true, but it’s a reliable rule.

Trust the walk, be wary of the talk.

Trust the walk — when someone proves by their actions that they’re sincere, personable, relatable.

Be wary of the talk, though the temptation to be swooned is real. Be wary of the person who talks an impressive game — look for their sustained actions of humility, of ongoing personability even when things go against them, and their capacity for delivery.

Let everyone’s actions speak and have less regard for everyone’s words, for we all like to make a good impression.

It’s not talk that feeds hungry mouths;
it’s the walk that secures food that satisfies bellies.
It’s not talk that brings water to thirsty souls;
it’s the walk to the well and back again that satisfies dryness.

~

Love walks in the way of action;
it doesn’t talk and then fail to deliver.
Talk has a way of winning instant appeal;
but it’s the walking in the love of action
that satisfies the longing of our souls.

Photo by Andrea Tummons on Unsplash