Trust is
the stuff of relationships. Without it marriages fail, businesses collapse and
nations disintegrate. Trust is not the same as agreement, but it is an
expression of a will to work together and respect one another. It can never be
taken for granted. It should not be presumed upon. It is something we need to
rediscover.
Rebuilding
confidence needs a fresh commitment if churches are to avoid going the way of
disintegrating European states. The trust we need has to be trust earned as
well as trust given, trust offered, not just trust demanded. Fundamentally it
must arise out of the trust God has placed in us and the trust we are called to
place in him.
It
means Church leadership not giving up in the struggle to avoid being defensive
when their sincerity is questioned or they are wrongly blamed. It means their
being open, accepting a share of responsibility for our malaise and taking the
Church into their confidence. Rebuilding trust requires loyalty from
congregations and individuals. It means reading Crosslink, participating
in debates, praying and paying one's way.
Every
section of the Church needs to seek change by responsible participation and
indicate good faith by basic expressions of loyalty. Presbyterian churches who
made budget contributions a voluntary matter and not a church responsibility
need to re-examine their commitment. Those who decided not to get Crosslink
for their parish need to think carefully of the implications of isolation.
These are not ways to change the church.
Others
need to listen to what these protests have been trying to say. We need to
listen to the voice of silence as well as that of more strident concern.
Serious talking is needed for numbers who feel their faith has been presumed
upon, and who ask why they should support a structure which seems unresponsive.
They themselves need to accept they are sinners as well as sinned against.
There
are many things to be done. We need to be a church of seekers and believers, a
place which encourages faith, which affirms diversity and gives expression to
unity, a place which sees conversion as part of life, and mission of all kinds
as a responsibility for all, a place which helps make it possible to live the
Christian life. We need to be inspired again by the life and teaching of Jesus.
We need to be less surprised about sharing in the worldwide church and its
mission, and more committed to the needs of the society we are placed in. We
need to feel that money spent is money well spent. We need a new Evangelicalism
and a new Ecumenism. The housekeeping of a rebuilt trust is, however, the
necessary foundation.
John
Roxborogh is Head of Department of Mission Studies, Bible College of New
Zealand. He was previously minister at Kelburn and Brooklyn in Wellington and
from 1983 to 1990 on the overseas staff of the Council for Mission as a
lecturer at Seminari Theoloji Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
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