RECAPTURING TRUST

 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.”

John 14:1 (NIV)

                The 2022 Winter Olympics came to an end last night. It was hard to celebrate as the dark cloud of scandal still hung over the event. The positive drug test of Kamila Valieva and her disastrous performance in the women’s free skate has had a major impact on the games. Rightly or wrongly, it has called into question the validity of the ROC athletes, given the widespread doping scandal among Russian athletes in the past. It has also called into question the wisdom of the IOC and others who allowed Kamila to continue to compete. One of the major casualties of these events has been trust.

                Over the past several years, trust has been eroding in our society. Those who we have always looked to for guidance and direction have been vilified and openly challenged. Conspiracy theories abound. Internet posts have taken the place of official information, no matter how bazar or unfounded they are. Anyone in a position of authority is now routinely suspected of lying to us. As a society, we no longer know who to trust. We have become a suspicious and untrusting people. All this has accomplished is to further drive a wedge between us. How can we regain an honest level of trust?

                One of the problems we are facing is that we have placed our trust in the wrong places. We have placed our trust in political systems, only to have them disappoint us. We have placed our trust in prominent people, who have turned out to be less than they led us to believe. We have been lied to so often that we suspect everything we hear as a lie. I saw a sign posted along the road the other day that says, believe only half of what you see and none of what you hear. It encapsulates the caustic environment in which we live.

                It is time to reevaluate in whom we place our trust. If we are going to regain trust, we must place our trust in the right place. That begins with placing our trust, first and foremost, in God. As our society continues to try to marginalize faith, we also continue to erode trust. Without a solid foundation for trust, there is nothing we can hold onto. Trust in God is that solid foundation. Jesus proved that God is trustworthy, even when we don’t understand what He is doing. We can trust that God is in control, no matter what our circumstances look like. We can trust that God really does love us and want what is best for us. We can trust that ultimately God will put all things right. Most of all we can trust that we are secure in him. As the old hymn puts it, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. If we are ever going to regain trust, we need to rebuild our foundation of trust in God and his sovereignty.

                In addition to putting our trust in the right place, we need to put it in the right things. As John says in 1 John 4:1, Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. What John is calling for is discernment; a discernment that can only come through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to guide us into truth. Therefore, we need to evaluate what we hear through the lens of God’s word and God’s leading. Being suspicious and argumentative is not from God, it is a tool of Satan to divide and destroy us.

                Finally, we need to place our trust in the right people. Needless to say, all of us have mixed motives. All of us see the world through a particular lens that shapes how we see the world. So how do we know who to trust? We need to look, not only at what they say, but at who they are. Are they leading us to greater unity, love, and grace or toward greater suspicion and mistrust? Jesus made it clear that before we place our trust in anyone, we need to examine the fruit of their lives. As human beings, we will all make mistakes. None of us are perfect. The question is, what is the dominant direction of that person’s life? In the main, can we trust that person to be truthful and sincere?

                But there is one more component that must be added to our recipe to recapture trust. We must be willing to extend trust to others. It is often said that trust must be earned, and to an extent that is true. But today, we have raised the bar so high that no one can get over it. We have asked for perfect performance before we will extend trust. The only one who can ever meet that standard is Christ alone. All the rest of us will fail, and fail miserably. So, if we are going to regain trust, we need to risk extending trust to frail, fallible people who will make mistakes, but in the main truly want to do what is right. We need to pray for those in positions of trust, that they would be faithful and true. We need to resist applying the failure of some to all. We need to trust God to validate our trust and give us the courage to keep trusting even in the face of temporary disappointment.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
Proverbs 3:5-7 (NIV)