I once had a Christian brother tell me that the verbal agreements between himself and his Christian boss proved to be useless. “Anyone who wants to do business with him,” he said, “is well advised to record the conversation. He makes promises that he later denies he ever made.”
Such a dishonest person must be confronted with his sin. His behaviour not only reflects on himself, but on the church too.
At the other end of the scale are long-lasting relationships. Marriages and friendships that have stood the test of time. Talk to people about those who have become their nearest and dearest, and you will quickly sense that reliability has been a key ingredient all along.
However, when trust is lost, relationships become superficial, if not non-existent.
The Bible presents cases where trust was lost:
*The apostle Paul refused to take John Mark on his second missionary journey because he couldn’t trust him to see the mission out (Acts 15).
*King David couldn’t trust Joab because he killed Abner (2 Samuel 3) and Absalom (2 Samuel 18).
*Jesus couldn’t trust Peter not to deny him or Judas not to betray him.
*Esau lost his birthright and blessing to his brother Jacob.
*Jacob learned that his father-in-law was willing to treat him as contemptuously as he had treated Esau.
*Tamar couldn’t trust Judah to honour her as a widowed daughter-in-law, so she tricked him into fatherhood.
*The list goes on and on…
If we can’t trust each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, who can we trust?
The trustworthy souls among us are to be honoured for reflecting the spirit of Christ. For it is Jesus who set the ultimate example of trustworthiness. He said he would save us and he did so on the cross – Praise the Lord!
“Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie! (Psalm 40:4).
John Staiger
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