Trust and Discipleship

In looking through some church-related material that had magically piled up over the last few years, I ran across a photocopy out of a book by Brennan Manning called Ruthless Trust. My pastor probably handed out copies to our staff at one point and asked us to read it, but I had filed it away unread [sheepish grin], just one more casualty of the time-management wars.

But today, I had the time. So I read it. And now I want to buy the entire book and read it.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the chapter:

...childlike surrender in trust is the defining spirit of authentic discipleship. And I would add that the supreme need in most of our lives is often the most overlooked--namely, the need for an uncompromising trust in the love of God. (4)

[Ethicist John Kavanaugh asks Mother Theresa to pray for him that he might have clarity.] She said firmly, "No, I will not do that." When he asked her why, she said, "Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of." When Kavanaugh commented that she always seemed to have the clarity he longed for, she laughed and said, "I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God." (5)

We often presume that trust will dispel the confusion, illuminate the darkness, vanquish the uncertainty, and redeem the times. But the crowd of witnesses in Hebrews 11 testifies that this is not the case. Our trust does not bring final clarity on this earth. It does not still the chaos or dull the pain or provide a crutch. When all else is unclear, the heart of trust says, as Jesus did on the cross, "Into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). (6)

Though we often disregard our need for an unfaltering trust in the love of God, that need is the most urgent we have. It is the remedy for much of our sickness, melancholy, and self-hatred. The heart converted from mistrust to trust in the irreversible forgiveness of Jesus Christ is redeemed from the corrosive power of fear. (7)

Wallowing in shame, remorse, self-hatred, and guilt over real or imagined failings in our past [or present?] lives betrays a distrust in the love of God. (15)

I could go on. Granted, sometimes Manning is a bit saccharine for me, but this message of trust is exactly what I need to hear. And I suspect I'm not the only one...