While reading in the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Philippians recently, I was struck by two verses in Chapter 2. Paul is writing to the Philippian Christians about sending his co-worker Timothy to them, to visit their circumstances, to discern how goes their ministry, to share with them for a time in the ministry of the gospel, to encourage them and build them up, and to return to him with news from the friends in Christ in Philippi.
He writes, “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I may be cheered by news of you. I have no one like him, who will be genuinely anxious for your welfare.
(Phil. 2:19-20) This sets me to thinking about trust, as people work with each other, interact with each other and develop esteem for one another.
Other than basic caring and love, it is hard for me to identify a more crucial element in human life than trust: first that we be trustworthy as persons, and secondly that we as persons be able to trust others with whom we have to do. One of the first things a child needs in life is to find himself or herself surrounded by people in whom confidence and trust can be established. Like a tree needs to put down roots in good soil in order to flourish and become sturdy, a child needs roots in loving family members to nurture confidence and a sense of value. To be whole as persons, we need to be trustable, and we need to be able to trust.
I want to look for a moment at the Apostle Paul’s trust for his co-worker Timothy. First, he has confidence in Timothy’s devotion, to Christ, to himself as a co-worker and leader and to the well-being and progress of God’s people.
Faith and devotion to Christ are inspirations to trust and confidence. The very spirit of Christ works within each person of faith to transform the heart for trustworthiness and for developing trusting relationships. A sense of personal devotion and loyalty is inspiring of trust and confidence, especially when the integrity of that devotion and loyalty is demonstrated and sustained over time and through many experiences. Further, Paul has confidence in Timothy’s commitment to the ministry of Christ for which heis sent. A part of Timothy’s work is to develop an understanding, discerning relationship with the people, and to communicate that understanding back to Paul upon his return.
In those days when communications across great distances had to be by personal visit or by having someone carry letters, just to know that Timothy would keep his word, go, do his work, and then return with meaningful news was an exceedingly valuable confidence. So Paul had confidence that Timothy could be relied on to keep the faith, to minister with genuine caring among the people, to hold true in the task with which he was trusted, and would honor the bond which united Paul and Timothy in sharing Christ and nurturing a growing faith in Christ among the peoples they could reach.
Paul said of Timothy, “I have no one like him...” He is comparing Timothy to others who are likely to be distracted by their own more self-centered purposes. Surely he had other co-workers to whom he could entrust important tasks of ministry, but none are found quite so reliable and genuine as Timothy.
This can suggest to us that the quality of trust which we hope for in our relationships is a rarer thing than we wish. So often the pursuit of selfish ends and desires undermines persons’ capacity for caring, for interest in the needs of others and for being willing to devote oneself to helping others.
Especially troubling is the mistrust that comes from attitudes and mindsets. Our world seems full of harsh and condemning rhetoric today, especially in the world of politics.
Party spirit is so strong that the mindset of the party devotees could never see anything good coming from the other side. The aims and aspirations of “the other side” are often attacked, misrepresented and mis-characterized, with little effort being made to understand, to clarify, or to discern ideas worth considering. How we yearn that people in leadership be dedicated to finding ways of working together toward the common good. And how greatly we need the spirit of Christ, working within us, to help us be trustable and to work toward developing trusting relationships at all levels of life.
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Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is a retired Methodist minister . He can be contacted by email at joe369@centurytel.
net, or call 621-1621.
Church, Pages 2 on 08/03/2011