TRUST: THE INDISPENSABLE VIRTUE

To trust or not to trust: that is the question. It might be those beady little eyes, or that shiny suit, or that pencil-thin mustache—anything might set us off. Distrust is part and parcel of all prejudice—a building block toward hatred. So how do we know rightly when to trust and when to distrust?

Given in Degrees

Trust is really more than just an on-or-off proposition. Our alternatives are not simply trusting or distrusting; trust works more like a dimmer-switch. we trust in degrees along a sliding scale.  Inwardly, we monitor people and give them a percentage grade based upon what we feel they’ve earned. This may take place unconsciously, but we all do it. We all do it because we’ve all been hurt, violated or betrayed at some point in our lives. We do well to ask ourselves: How much of my ability to trust is due to fear? How much comes from appropriate sensitivity? Is there any reason for me to work on my ability to trust?

Trust and Distrust

Though our feelings of trust are complicated and run the gamut on that sliding scale, our capacity to give trust demands of us a simple choice: shall we give trust, or give distrust? Internally, you and I simply choose whether or not to trust. It is not some fixed, involuntary mechanism of our personality; it is a choice—an area of personal responsibility—and we are responsible for our movements along that line.

We are responsible for our trusts. People can be distrustful for wise reasons as well as foolish and it is our task to sort out our foolish ideas from the wiser ones. We control our trusts, not vice versa.

Who is Trustworthy?

Nowhere does Jesus say, “You ought to be more trusting of others,” but the clear message of scripture is that all our trust is rightly given to God and God alone. Ultimately, only God is trustworthy.

In our world, many people expect to be trusted: politicians, medical professionals, legal professionals, pastors—and we tend to invest trust in them before they’ve had a chance either to earn or squander it. The nature of any profession involves the ongoing maintenance of trust with the goal being to keep the slider constantly moving toward the trust end of the spectrum.

A Virtue Nonetheless

Although this world calls for caution and wise stewardship, the high calling of Christ that we should love each other demands that we consciously develop a healthy trust among one another. We take chances in giving trust to each other and sometimes that trust can be taken advantage of. But rather than stew in self-righteous distrust, we are expected to forgive and move on—back to the business of building and developing a trust-based community.

Some of the questions we need to explore:

Are my distrusts founded in fear or prejudice?

Do I need to extend more trust to certain others?

Am I withholding trust from someone who deserves it?

Are there relationships that would greatly enriched if I were to give more trust?

I suspect what we’re going to find is that an increased trust in God will result in an increased ability to control our trusts and distrusts. When we trust God, all the other risk factors fall into perspective—much less important that we felt they  were—for God is truly good all of the time. †