Why Trust?

I ask my students a simple but profund question: why do Executives and employees alike desire more trust in their organization yet we have so little of it? The answer lies in the meaning of trust that is not necessarily well understood. Trust is the willingness of one party to give control to another party believing that the trusted party will act in the trusting party's interest and not their own. A short version of the definition is "willful vulnerability." Therein lies the issue. Most everyone in our culture is taught from an early age to value control and not be vulnerable to anyone. We are condtioned to believe vulnerability shows weakness against the more preferred "take charge of our lives" mentality. Yet trust is actually dealing from strength and the outcome of vulnerability is intimacy. To know and be known is one of the basic yearnings of our soul. When trust is high the parties in a relationship are free to let information flow without fear that the other party will take advantage of them and harm them in some way.

The fear of being vulnerable in our human relationships has a high correlation with the degree to which we understand Grace. If we fully believed God when he says we are predestined to glory, that all things work together for good (God's purposes), and that nothing, NOTHING can separate us from the love of God, then why would we ever be fearful of what others may think or do to us?  If we believed the Luke 12 passage "fear not little flock, the Father has chosen gladly to give you His Kingdom", then why would we go through life "protecting" our stuff and particularly our self-image with others.

Trust is a faith crisis. When we fully trust God, His Grace, and His word about His relationship with us, we can risk being vulnerable with others (as appropariate) and find intimacy (into-me-see), which is the joy of life. Jesus says in John 17, "and this is the real life (zoe) that you know (have deep intimacy with) the God of the universe through His son Jesus whom He sent to us fot hat purpose".