Trust

A nice post over at The Heresy on trust. I quote in part:

"...Mistakes and failings in a relationship are often an opportunity to build trust. Being able to genuinely admit wrong doing can do a lot to bolster a relationship. Being able to forgive does the same.

"I think one of the reasons why church people are so rarely different from the rest of world is that we often don't trust one another. If we don't trust one another we don't make a way for others help us to become more like Christ. Often people live under an unhealthy fear of personal judgment so people hide their true selves.

"The most common philosophy of ministry assumes we facilitate change in people by challenging their thinking through preaching. This way we can change their worldview and ultimately their character. This might happen in a few rare cases but for the most part it doesn't work. There are communication issues. There are issues with the hearer that skew the message. When a person is listening in a crowd it is too easy to disregard the truth they hear. Without the relationship the message gets lost."


<idle musing>
Trust is an easy thing to lose, a hard thing to regain, but I think Leighton is right here. If we are secure in who we are in Christ, we should welcome people's comments. How can we see those blind spots without other people speaking into our lives? Easy to say, hard to do...
</idle musing>