Assume the Best in Everyone

• Most people are generally good.
• Stranger danger doesn’t apply, necessarily, to adults.
• Crime is way down. You grew up in a more dangerous society than your kids.

In yesterday’s post, Impending Doom, I shared about a segment of our society whose entire  life narrative is built around the hope they find in a world headed to hell in a hand basket, praying for and even seeking to manipulate world events to usher in the imminent return of Jesus.

To them the world is evil. But that’s good in their eyes. The more evil it is the sooner Jesus comes back on a white horse and starts restoring His millennial Kingdom.

Not So Fast

For me… I just can’t buy that. Actually, I just can’t live like that. I don’t think the world is evil, out to get me, and I need to always be on my guard.

I simply cannot nor will not walking around assuming the worst of everyone.

Jesus called me to love my neighbors, not fear them. Jesus called me to be good news in the neighborhood, but that doesn’t mean that everyone else is bad news or that good news can’t happen without me. 

I’ve got too much life experience to believe otherwise. I walk around assuming that most people are generally friendly, helpful, and good.

There is a difference between believing in the total depravity of man as a theological construction and walking around thinking that every single person literally has the capability/desire/intent to steal, gossip, lie, deceive, or destroy me.

I don’t think most people are out to get me. I think nearly every person aspires to be  fundamentally good.

Lost Items

Normally when I travel, I’m absolutely tight with my gear. I always know where my stuff is and every single thing has a proper place. I can be nearly neurotic about this. 

Well, I got tired.  Worn out and exhausted from the travel, (plus, a nasty cold was coming on, I’ve been fighting now for more than a week.)

I started forgetting stuff. I don’t mean small stuff… I mean big stuff. 

On Monday, I left my camera bag in a rural Haitian church near Jacmel… hours and hours away from Carrefour. I realized it about 20 minutes after we left but wasn’t sure if it was somewhere else in our truck until we stopped. I had the camera with me but inside the bag was about $4000 in lenses, recording equipment, and accessories. In a country where the average per capita income is $400/year… this was literally a fortune left on a pew in a church left open to the public. 

I didn’t freak out. I actually never thought for a minute that it wouldn’t be there or that everything wouldn’t be fine. Sure enough, the pastor found the bag right where I’d left it and he was able to bring it to town as we drove through later in the afternoon. I inconvenienced him, but no worse.

On Tuesday, in Fort Lauderdale, I forgot my roller bag in line at customs. I was one of the first people off the plane and stopped to quickly fill out my customs forms. I had my camera bag over my shoulder and just proceeded to clear customs. As the Homeland Security agent handed back my passport it hit me… I didn’t have my roller bag! A few flights had landed by this point and the customs area was slammed with annoyed passengers lined up. I dashed backwards through the line and grabbed my bag, exactly where I’d left it. While I didn’t think someone would steal my roller bag full of dirty laundry and camera equipment, leaving an unattended bag in the customs area could have shut down the entire airport. With some smiles and apologies, it was no big deal.

Assume the Best in Everyone

Most people tell me that I’m easy to get along with. The last few years have been weird because a lot more people know me because of my blog/writing than know me in real life. So their assumption is often that someone who is a strong/direct writer must have a head strong personality. That’s what’s funny about only knowing a person through their writing: You don’t know me at all. 

In my day-to-day life I try to get along with everyone I meet. And I think this comes from three specific places.

1. I’m a blue collar guy. I think when you’ve fought for some things you have a kinship for others in that same struggle. Whether its the guy trying to sell windshield repair at the car wash or the guy working the counter at a deli, I can appreciate the hard work. Not every hustle is equal but lots of people hustle. I can respect a person hustling, even when they aren’t great at it or are just learning.
2. You never know. Working in churches in small towns taught me that you never know who someone is, is friends with, or is related to. Actually, living in big cities like Chicago… the same principle applies! You just don’t know who someone is, it’s better to assume the best of them than it is to think that everyone is potentially dangerous.
3. Faith in action. I think that John 10:10 is true. When you walk around assuming the worst in people that’s not living life to the full. A scared life is not what God intended for His people. Instead, assuming the best in everyone is an open acknowledgement that your faith is in God. Look, bad things happen. I’ve had bad things happen to me. But even in those moments I wasn’t scared or full of hate. Walking in faith means you aren’t walking in fear. 

Finally, assuming the best in everyone isn’t a false construction. (Because I can hear the contrarian in myself bubbling to the surface!) It’s not denying that there really are bad people or that mostly good people do some bad things or that the world. I’m not stupid.

What I’m saying is that I chose to see the best in people, assuming their best intentions, while acknowledging that even the best people have bad moments.

To live, visa versa, seems wholly depressing.