Trust in an Age of Distrust

Peter

was born as Simon. When Jesus affirmed Simon and renamed him Peter, a name

resembling PETROS, the Greek word for rock, he said “on this rock I will build my

church.” It is as if Jesus named him “Rocky”! Peter would still be human, and

quite human at that. No man or woman is infallible even when led by the Holy

Spirit. But it is the rock of his faith in Christ, boldly stated in

answer to Jesus's question, “Who do you say that I am,” which the church is built

on.

Our

trust in church leadership is not built on how perfect our leaders are, because

we’re far from perfect. It’s grounded in our faith in the church itself and its

centering on Christ. The recent horror experienced in the family

of the pastor at a church in Birmingham is a reminder of how broken and

human church leaders, including pastors, really are.

We don’t trust in the

system because people will be perfect. We trust in the system because people

will not.

There

are many churches that struggle mightily with the issue of trust. They have

trouble trusting that their pastor’s intentions or good or that the decisions

of a committee are for the best. The main reason for this distrust is because

we live in an age of rampant distrust, and this has unfortunately rubbed off on

the church. I invite us to do better, trusting in the presence of God in the

body of Christ.

If you are a part of a church who elects leaders and have begun a journey with them this year, I invite you to join me in supporting

them, praying for them, encouraging them, offering feedback to them, and

perhaps most of all trusting them.

We

are the Body of Christ together. The church is best seen as the scriptures see

us, as an organism, not just an organization. We are called to work together

smoothly, with unity of spirit even when we have diversity of thought. This is

where the importance of trust comes in, for we trust the process to guide us

because we are practicing the presence of God.

Originally at Musings of a Musical Preacher Read the original ↗