Trust in other people, including fellow Christians, is eroding. This is aproblem that seems to be surfacing everywhere, a problem we will be hearing moreabout as time honored ways of dealing with Christian brothers and sisters arereplaced with police and business procedures for protecting personal interests.
I'm torn when it comes to trusting in other human beings. After all, doesn'tPsalm 146 advise, "Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannotsave"? People who urge me to trust them are sometimes the least trustworthy.Trust is urged by somebody asking to borrow my money when he doesn't want tosign a loan agreement. When we discuss trust, we also need to address the issueof trustworthy behavior (Luke 16:11-2, Titus 2:10). Christians are often dupedbecause they confuse trust in the sinless God with trust in fellow sinners (and evenChristians still fall into this second category). When dealing with one another, theperson who needs your trust should also offer you certain safeguards (contracts,references, signed agreements, witnesses) for your interest. If those safeguards arenot offered, in Christian charity you can ask for them. If those guarantees still arenot given, you may have to consider what steps you will take if this persondisappoints you.
On the other hand, we cannot live without one another's trust. "Love...always protects, always trusts, always hopes..." (1 Corinthians 13:7). Christianministry presupposes an element of time-tested trust (1 Timothy 3:10;1 Corinthians 4:1-2). We cannot adopt a completely cynical attitude toward eachother without abandoning Christian love and forsaking Christian leadership.
The solution is to be found in remembering that we live in a cynical age in which we will strive (over and above the standards of the world) to show our love and trust for one another, and that we live in a dishonest world in which we will strive (over and above the standards of the world) to conduct ourselves in a trustworthy manner. Pastor James Behringer
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