Doug Van Pelt

You've Gotta Know Who To Trust

In this entry McManus talks about trust and people's fears about commitment. Whether it's commitment to marriage, committing to a church, seekers afraid to commit to God, students committing to a career, we all have doubts.

I think of how important it is to be credible. Whether we preach or not, our lives and actions and relationships will form what another person can or cannot trust. Another person might look at you and conclude, "I like/respect/trust that person. I could see myself being like him/her." By becoming trustworthy, we are sometimes silently (sometimes not so silently) showing another person that it is possible to be a Christian. We are like a living example that shows what it's like to live a life of trust. We trust in God and in His ability to change our hearts and transform our lives. In turn, we offer evidence for another person that they could make the same leap of faith and commitment to God. If we are unreal (in the negative sense), then we might unravel another person's argument or search for a reasonable role model. In a sense, we're all role models. Without being superhuman or other-worldly, we can show that you don't have to be a freak/zealot/geek/offensive jerk to become or be a Christian.

Boy, I hope I can be a good example. Not neccesarily a loud, flamboyant spokesperson, but a quiet, confident, and real (both weaknesses and strengths being somewhat evident), so that someone could get to know me without too much trouble and not be alienated to find a person that might be just like them -- not arrogant, fake, or keeping them on edge all the time, making them feel worse by being around me. In a nutshell, I want to be trustworthy. If someone can trust me, maybe they can trust the Person I trust in, the One Whom I deem to be Truth incarnate.