Deer Park Alliance Church

Trust is a Gospel Reflex

It’s hard to trust others with things of great value to us.

I remember lending my car to other students during college.  There were always more students without cars than with cars, and so I had this ideal in mind:

It’s not my car.  It’s really God’s car.  Therefore, anyone qualified to drive can borrow my car.

Well that ideal was much easier held as an ideal.  Reality was much tougher.  Cars that get borrowed sometimes get scratched, come back with less gas in them, and, worst of all, come back with empty, sloppy, paper cups and Burger King wrappers. 

I grew a lot of grace and generosity practicing that ideal of trusting others with something that I was responsible for.  Every time I entrusted someone with that beautiful, beige ’85 Chevy Citation, I felt vulnerable, but glad, and more and more free.  I was being transformed by the gospel reflex of entrusting to others something that was of value to me.  The change was taking place one risk at a time.

I think, thought, that no one was changed more in a single risky car-lend than my roommate in our 2^nd year.  Regrettably, he had borrowed another student’s car one Friday night.  And, as is often the case at the intersection of Dewdney and Lewvan, was hit by another car.  Thankfully, there were only minor injuries to all the passengers. 

However, the car was totaled.  The student owner was obviously very disappointed.  My roommates’ confidence was destroyed.   He was determined not to drive again.

Well, the plan to “not drive again” was not going to work out.  He did have a girlfriend.  And so, one night, finally, with some date opportunity looming, I said, “Here, take my car.”  A friendly argument ensued.  It was the kind of argument that truth and grace always win.  He accepted my offer, and was back on track: confidence building again, a little more caution in the left turn lane than before, and, thankfully, super tidy about paper cups and wrappers.

Of course, this article is not about an old Chevy.  It’s about the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ’s supremacy over all and merciful sacrifice for men and women.

As a community of people indebted to Jesus and generously given the good deposit of the Word of God, I want to invest these 4 biblical reflections on the role of trust in our gospel crowd.  Please consider:

1)  Jesus entrusted men with the gospel.

By the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He alone had earned what no other man could ever earn:  the gospel story.  Jesus had alone come as the Incarnate Word of God, creator and sustainer of life, and offered Himself in the flesh as a perfect atoning sacrifice for a sinful humanity.  The gospel cost was too high for anyone else to pay.

And listen as Jesus entrusts the “good deposit” to several imperfect, unworthy men:

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Jesus Himself designs the foundation of gospel ministry with the gospel reflex of trust.  The gift of trust is intricately linked to the transference of the good news through the whole world through the whole age until Jesus comes again.   The gift of trust is also secured by Jesus who sees it through for the joy of those who are being saved by the good news.

2)  Gospel work is entrusted to men who are qualified by faithfulness to the gospel.

However, the gospel reflex of trust is exclusive in its nature by one qualifier:  faithfulness.  Listen to Paul’s charge to Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:1   You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,  2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Men entrusted with the gospel, in this way, are no ordinary men.  They are those who put their faith in the gospel itself.  In fact, the ability to teach others to live by the gospel demands that we trust it for ourselves first.

The gospel reflex of trust is seen here at two angles simultaneously.  We are found trustworthy to teach others the gospel as much as we are found to be trusting it ourselves.

3)  Entrusted men are transformed by the gospel.

This is the exponential joy of experiencing the entrustment of Jesus’ great commission, transformation.  Listen to Paul’s description of the Holy Spirit’s work in the entrusted saint:

2 Timothy 1:12b But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me. 13 Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

To be entrusted with the good news of Jesus in the Word of God,

to trust it ourselves for life and godliness,

and to be obedient in passing it on to others

who will trust it and teach it too…

This is the context in which the Spirit of Christ is at His greatest work transforming men.  There is a pattern to follow by the sound Word of the gospel.  There is a character to grow in, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  There is supreme help and powerful protection in the Holy Spirit.

4)  No men are worthy of what they have been entrusted, in the gospel.

Lastly, remember that even qualified men, being changed by the gospel, are not worthy of what they have been entrusted.

The gospel reflex of trust is held together by a humility based on Jesus’ supreme work, promises, and provisions. 

It is the great value of what has been entrusted that compels the man to become faithful.

Therefore, to give trust to another in great commission work is a humble gospel reflex.

As your lead pastor, I want to thank you for bestowing your trust to me in local gospel ministry.  The entrusted responsibility to feed, to lead, and to serve you has changed me forever.  Through it God has made me listen more frequently, study more fervently, pray more deliberately, and laugh more deeply.

I am also writing to plead with you bestow generously of your trust when it comes to your spiritual leaders.  Please learn to trust well spiritual leaders like your spouse, your parents, your mentors and friends, the elders among you at Deer Park church, especially those who carry Board responsibilities for us. 

As pastors and overseers, we have received your trust with joy and sobriety these many months.  We know what it costs you to give it.  We also know how it feels to give leadership our trust and then face disappointment.  To give trust again is costly.  It puts us in a vulnerable position once again.  Therefore, to entrust is an enormous expression of mercy.  We thank you.  Your trust is transforming us.   In it God has made us more passionate to do what God asks us to, more patient to hear God’s will, and more cautious of our personal motives.

Your giving of your trust to local church leadership is, in the end, a healthy gospel reflex.  Thanks for flexing the gospel with us!

Warmly,

Carlin

Lead Pastor

Deer Park Alliance Church