Where Is Your Trust?

And who trusts you?

Occasionally someone will ask me where ideas come from for these weekly articles. Honestly I don’t always know. Somewhere on my computer is a list of topics, but I haven’t looked at it or even for it in a long time. I probably should.

But I can tell you where this idea came from. It came from God, and in a humorous way. At least I thought it was funny.

It was about 3:30 in the morning and I woke up a little too much to go back to sleep. My body was protesting the idea of getting out of bed, but my mind was behaving like one of my drill sergeants in the Army: he’d burst into our barracks fully dressed, shined boots, creased shirt and trousers, looking like he was going on parade, and start yelling that the day was almost over and we’d better get out of our racks before the sun set. Of course it hadn’t come up yet, but who were we to argue?

And who was I to argue with God, who put this thought in my head: “You know how your money has “In God We Trust” printed on it? Why is it that so many people trust in the money and not in me?”

Great question! It made me smile, and it also made me examine where my own trust was. And then I thought about trust in a broader sense, including the two questions that became the title and subtitle of this article: Where is your trust? And who trusts you?

Leadership 101

Mark Nelson, my partner in good, was the one who invited me to help teach leadership to student athletes at Grand Canyon University. It’s a story worth an article of its own, but I jumped in and both Mark and I now teach classes on leadership. Comparing notes, we had this in common from the start: a discussion on the character traits shared by the best leaders. Near the top of that list is “trustworthy.”

I usually share with my class that part of my own development as a leader came through the years I was in Boy Scouts, now known as US Scouts. Now, as then, the Scout Law had these 12 tenets: Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. We had to memorize those, and just the act of saying them aloud at every meeting helped drum them into our young minds. Although I learned thrifty and clean better from my wife than from Scouts, I learned about being trustworthy there.

What does it mean? How does it look? Can you make a mistake and still be trustworthy? We discuss those and other questions in our class, because trust has to be earned, and when it is broken it is very difficult to mend.

When Mark and I help leaders learn to be even better leaders, trustworthiness is a character trait everyone wants. Unfortunately it is also one that many leaders often unknowingly undermine in themselves.

It is also a character trait that money absolutely does not possess. Of course money is not a leader. At its best it is a servant, at its worst it is a snare. Somewhere in between, and most of the time, it is simply a tool that can be used wisely and well… or not.

You don’t have to take my word for it that riches are not trustworthy. In fact I learned that (although I’m not sure I believed it) when I was quite young from the richest man who ever lived, King Solomon. In Proverbs 23:4-5 he wrote: Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

In God We Trust

The phrase In God We Trust was first put on the 2-cent piece in 1864, which was during the American Civil War. A Christian minister named M. R. Watkinson wrote a letter in 1861 to Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase, strongly recommending that U.S. coins should acknowledge God. His argument was that if the United States collapsed, future generations might find its coins and conclude that it had been a “heathen nation” because the coins had no reference to God.

He even proposed a new coin with a new design, including the words “God, Liberty, Law.” Personally I’m glad that Secretary Chase and his people chose instead “In God We Trust.” While the intent was for future generations to know America trusted God, it is a perfect place for us to remind ourselves that we should.

By the way, the phrase In God We Trust found its way onto most coins by 1866, but it wasn’t until 1957 that it appeared on paper money. The law to have the phrase on all currency was passed in 1955, and in 1956 Congress also made the phrase America’s official national motto.

Trust, but verify

The phrase “trust, but verify” originated in Russia. In their language it rhymes (doveryay, no proveryay). It became famous in America because Ronald Reagan, who led America in the cold-war against Russia, used it often when talking to and about them. He learned it from a scholar named Suzanne Massie, and it became an effective tool.

Here is what “trust, but verify” means: I don’t trust you. You might ask, “Does that apply to God?” It should not. God is not unwilling to be put to a proper test, and in fact when it comes to money he invites us to test him by actively doing what we are supposed to do with the money we have. (See Malachi 3:10.) But be careful — testing God with selfish motives will make God testy.

Where is your trust? In everything, put your trust in God. Who trusts you? Be trustworthy and you will be trusted by others. It is a great way to live and a great way to lead.

Do good. It’s in you.