CAN ANYONE BE TRUSTED? by Robert Soto

March 20, 2010

CAN ANYONE BE TRUSTED? by Robert Soto

I Corinthians 16:13-14 "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love."

Our people wandered around the desert, prairies, mountains and forest in fear of not just the whites and the Mexicans who were out to annihilate us as a people. No one could be trusted. For our people, all outsiders were the same. They came with many promises and lofty words but in the end their words were not kept. Most of them had the power to stop the slaughter of our people but chose not to. While people like Lincoln and Sam Houston were good people and did some good for our people, in the end they chose to ignore the needs of the people, making them just as guilty. For our people, no one could be trusted. Even today it is difficult to trust. There are forces around us that are doing all they can to destroy who we are as a People. People like the government, political officials and others who just as in times past came with good words but in the end they were all meant to destroy. So our people walked deserts, prairies, mountains and forest with fear and a lack of trust in those whose deep desire was really to destroy what we as a people were trying to accomplish.

So as our people in times past walked the desert, prairies, mountains and forest with great caution, so today we walk with the same caution knowing that there are people who come with lofty words but at the end they come to harm and destroy. This is why Paul warned us and encouraged us to walk with our eyes open, always looking out for those who are out to destroy. While we try to do everything in love, we walk like the enemy is just around the corner. Paul said, "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong." While we have learned from history not to trust anyone, we also learn that God our Creator can always be trusted. We are always on our guard, we stand firm in the faith we have in God our Creator and carry the courage and strength that our ancestors had as they strove to survive. We might not be able to trust any human, but we can always trust God our Creator.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church