Humility, which fosters trust, is found in living out God’s truth, often to our own detriment. My pastor, in good times and bad, is an example to me as he exhibits this humility: not causing division in the church, not discrediting or slandering any person, not exalting himself before the congregation, not trying to gain favor, not trying to get people on his side, but seeking foremost that which honors God and tends toward growing His people in godliness.

Webster’s definition of “trust: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.”

When I sat before the congregation as they were interviewing my husband on March 5, 2006, (my 44th birthday) I gave testimony to his character, and one of the main things I spoke about was that he can be trusted. From my and our large family’s perspective, he has always been a trustworthy husband, father, and provider. I said something like, “you can trust that he will be diligent to do what is right, and you can rely on him to take care of you.” I also quipped about the fact that, in his childhood, he was a boy scout and still lives by the Scout’s Law, the first promise “to be trustworthy.” He has been my pastor now for over 19 years and he has not changed. His whole life is spent studying God’s word and living before His face in prayer and seeking to do His revealed will. When he makes decisions, they are based on the Word of God, (to the very best of his knowledge- which is very extensive) not on his feelings or his own desires. He does not act dishonestly or present himself or his conversations in a false or deceptive way. He views the truth of God’s word as our hope, our guide, our only foundation.

Over the years of his ministry, there have been good times and hard times, times of peace and times of conflict, and yet through them all, he has maintained his integrity and his compass has not faltered. He has not given me reason to distrust him. To cause someone to lose trust in you is not a subjective occurrence; it is objective. One must sin, lie, deceive, or manipulate- and one’s motives may be anything from charitable (I think I’m helping) to parsimonious (I’m out for myself)- but the actions are far from seeking God’s kingdom and righteousness. My pastor’s objectives are to lead myself, our family, and the church in truth, in honoring God, and in following his ways. He is not a perfect man, but he is -if anything- trustworthy.

Through my pastor’s leadership and his preaching, not to mention long daily conversations, I have grown more and more to love our Lord, His Word, His people, our Confessional standards and Presbyterian form of government (yes, I even read the BCO!) My pastor is a diligent student, which makes him an excellent teacher. He has taught me to love the church, to hunger after the ordinary means of grace, and to weekly long for the next Lord’s Day. He knows the Scripture and doctrines well; he knows the history of Presbyterianism well; and he bases his decisions, his leadership, and his counsel on that knowledge. This is a praise-worthy trait. In a sound-bite world, with many who are satisfied with superficial knowledge, I am thankful that he takes seriously the responsibility, along with our ruling elders, “to watch over [our] souls, as those who will give an account.” Hebrews 13:17 As an undershepherd, my pastor loves his congregation; he cares for their souls; he delights to feed them good things from the Word of God; to lead them to green pastures, quiet waters, and paths of righteousness, for the sake of our Chief Shepherd, Savior and God.

But he has not always been a pastor and did not always delight in God or his ways. As a struggling young wife, I discovered that in order to be in submission to my Lord, I was to be in submission to my husband, who at the time was not walking in the ways of the Lord. How could this possibly work? I wondered. The answer was (is) that in all of life we are to live by faith in God’s Word. My trust had to be in the God of Scripture, not in my husband, not in myself. Believing that God’s word is trustworthy and sure despite the circumstances we face (e.g., submit to an unbelieving spouse) is essential, both in our homes and our churches. Unlike myself, not many church members have intimate knowledge of their pastor, and none of us have that kind of intimacy with our entire session. But we do, or we should, have intimate knowledge about our God. He has designed the family and he has designed the church family. He has placed the husband in authority and leadership over the family, and He has placed elders in authority and leadership over the church. We can trust Him in this.

Our trust of those in authority over us may certainly be accompanied by subjective (warm, fuzzy, happy) feelings, but it, too, is objective, or based on facts. Here are some key objective truths that have helped me along the way to test my trust levels:

• Trust requires its exercise. Proverbs 3:5-6 Many times I want to lean on my own understanding instead of acknowledging God’s rule over me through His undershepherds.
• Trust requires humility. 1 Peter 5:5 At times I may recoil at being subject to, or under someone else’s authority. Our autonomous culture teaches us to be our own authority. God’s Word says otherwise.
• Trust requires obedience. Hebrews 13:17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them…” If I am unable to love, obey and submit to my earthly brothers -whom I can see- what makes me think that I can love, obey and submit to God -whom I cannot see? (A principle found in 1 John 4:20).
• Trust requires, above all, submission to God and His Word, and a settled contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain…” Discontentment, on the other hand, erodes my trust in God and neighbor.

Humility, which fosters trust, is found in living out God’s truth, often to our own detriment. My pastor, in good times and bad, is an example to me as he exhibits this humility: not causing division in the church, not discrediting or slandering any person, not exalting himself before the congregation, not trying to gain favor, not trying to get people on his side, but seeking foremost that which honors God and tends toward growing His people in godliness. My pastor’s strength in leadership is in both preaching the truth and living the truth in the humility I have just described. His character confirms his motivation- God’s glory, not his own.

My pastor is diligent and consistent in his leadership, and a visible, shining expression of 2 Timothy 2:15. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” His calling to be a teaching elder has been tested, confirmed and established. He has been, if you will, declared to be trustworthy. According to our Presbyterian polity, this means that the visible church recognizes God’s call on his life as one we can place our trust in, because we trust in the God who has placed him in the pastoral office. “For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” 2 Corinthians 10:18

When my husband’s desire for a deeper knowledge of God’s Word led him to go to seminary in 2003, after working in a secular field for 25 years, we sold our little farm in Tennessee- tractors, implements, four-wheelers and all that goes with it, packed up our six children ages 2-20, and moved to St. Louis to attend Covenant Theological Seminary. By God’s blessing and grace I too was able to get a spouse’s scholarship and graduate in 2006 with a MATS, including the languages. It has been my joy to serve him as my pastor throughout these past 19 years of ministry.

Lani Jones is a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Paxton, IL.