Comments on: Earning Trust

By: lisa jones

lisa jones — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:02:10 +0000

you are so on point, after “several” small groups where you are to share your struggles, hidden sins, life, etc, I ALWAYS left away with more damage than when I came. The last straw was when I was in a weekly group, and my mother passed. No acknowledgment, no phone call, nothing. brokenhearted, when I made a statement about it, I was “trusting man and not God”, Huh? Isn’t that the purpose of the group? So on that note, I kissed the church goodbye, I have no use for it anymore

By: Peter Shaw

Peter Shaw — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 00:32:28 +0000

Hi John…I too am saddened by your apparent departure from the Christian faith due mostly to the actions of fellow human beings. As Bryan also stated, the Lord calls you to serve Him and Him only; not the modern Church, nor self serving, selfish, fleshly, weak people. Christ calls us to “stand”. Stand no matter what. Christ paid the ultimate price for your sins. His sacrifice still stands even now. Recommit yourself to Him and Him alone. His Spirit will guide you until the day you are to meet Him. With love from another saved by Christ.

Peter

By: Bryan

Bryan — Thu, 20 May 2010 00:11:40 +0000

This may sound cliche’ but the Bible clearly tells us not to trust in Christianity, religion, people,etc but in Christ. When people put their faith or hope in a Church, Church leaders, The Church, Christianity, etc – they are bound to be let down. Trust Jesus, my friend.
‘The Church’ has consistently burned me and in the surface level matters non-Christians even seem easier to get along with than the Christians – but there is a difference. I was reminded of this when I went to a meeting of a non-Christian group I am a member of (they curse and yelled and hated… and it was a relatively normal meeting) and then I headed over to a meeting of a Christian group I was part of (they were having a debate but you could barely tell).

Christians consistently fail to obey Jesus and His Bible, their faith is mostly shaped by media and culture, they are lead by their flesh… and if you are post-Christian, well don’t you fit into that description with the rest of us? I really try to live a committed lifestyle (see Mellis, “Committed Communities” or Winter’s Two Models Essay) but I fail often. Nevertheless it has been hugely grievous to me as a pastor when congregational member, friend, Christian… etc does not do what a Christian should and undermines ministry, me, or Christ’s work. I have learned to be more serene about it and I am developing a ministry strategy for the confrontations (‘don’t let your good be evil spoken of’). It is painful and the toughest of jobs but isn’t it our job to be faithful? to be the remnant?
Return to Jesus my friend; HE is waiting.

~Bryan Who Hurts Too.

By: Jeff McLain

Jeff McLain — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:30:55 +0000

Trust issues also effects tons of church leadership teams and working relationships between Pastors. No one trusts anyone? Is the root issue we are afraid to be who we really are, or we are too open to who we really are.

By: John Sherk

John Sherk — Sat, 15 May 2010 00:41:45 +0000

Kudos on your life’s work George. The first book of yours that I read was The Frog and the Kettle–which dates both of us. Useful, interesting, influential, and professional. Speaking for myself, you are trustworthy for me because what you do is backed up by validated research and data, not conjecture or pathos or branding.

OK, after 15 years of being a pastor I left it and have not returned to Christianity. At this point I would tag myself as post-clergy, post-Church, post-Chrstian, post-Truth and post-faith. And present-?. I’d also say postmodern but it has become such a cliche I’m not sure what it means anymore. The whole shift for me is about trust. I’ve just been burned (in the name of Jesus) too many times. Certainly this is about both my own cynicism and also the general lack of integrity and substance in organized Christianity.

So, here are my questions: first, is there such a thing anymore as trustworthy, organized Christianity in America at this point? And if so, where is it and what makes it trustworthy in your view? And second, are there trend lines that are predicting where it might emerge?

By: Joanne Dean

Joanne Dean — Thu, 13 May 2010 04:38:58 +0000

This is excellent. Trust is something that is scarcer these days especially because most people have been let down by someone. Even among Christian we have become more cautious or tentative in our trust. For me this opens the door to a lot of questions. How do you stop having the impact of being let down by others affect your trusting God? But also asking myself, how consistent am I? Am I trustworthy? Are my principles walked out? Does my care and concern for others motivate me? Do I earn others trust? And value it and protect it after it is earnt? I would like to think so and maybe this opportunity to reflect and become more aware will make that more consistently true.

By: April Alexander

April Alexander — Wed, 12 May 2010 22:05:05 +0000

Excellent topic! I had a discussion with a friend of mine recently about this very subject. We have both left the institutional church and came to the conclusion that as Christians there is an expectation placed on us to trust fellow believers fully simply because they follow Jesus. In the church setting you’re invited to open up and pour your heart out to people who you haven’t gotten to know on a personal basis yet. This happens in Bible studies, small groups, etc. It can be likened to an emotional one night stand. Then later, you realize you gave that person too much trust too soon, and often you go away hurt because there was no foundation of trust built. Then there is the flip side to this. If you don’t spill your guts you end up being accused of “not trusting” others, which can be translated into “not trusting God in relationships.” The church has taken the phrase “love one another” and morphed it into a message of immediate soul exposure. I don’t think Jesus calls us to this honestly. We’re instructed to guard our hearts and be wise.