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Amen all right second Kings chapter 5 here story of Elijah and his servant and This morning what I want to talk about is the subject of and the importance of trustworthy Trustworthiness my brain is still like starting this morning, so you have to bear with me But basically I want to talk about trustworthiness this morning, and you say why not you know are you you mean trust? You know no I'm talking about trust worthiness because the Trustworthiness has two parts to it when you think about it this sermon this morning is Two parts it's basically you know The importance of being trustworthy yourself number one and then the importance of knowing who is trustworthy It is the story you know this morning that we hear from second Kings chapter 5 you know is focused on that I mean basically you know Trustworthiness will make such a big difference in your life in these two parts number one if you are trustworthy and number two You know if you don't know who is trustworthy You know you're gonna get in trouble with both of those different scenarios So look Elijah in this story here and throughout the story of Elisha He had this servant the servant named Gehazi and look Elisha if you go back to second Kings chapter 5 look at verse number 20 He had this servant and the the problem that he had here was that he delegated a lot of things To this servant to this servant Gehazi, let's look at verse number 20 Real quickly and read a few verses into this but Gehazi the Bible says in verse 20 the servant of Elisha The man of God said behold my master has spared name in this Syrian in not receiving at his hands that he brought But as the Lord liveth I will run after him and take somewhat of him so here name And he brought all this silver and this gold and also changes of clothes Which shows you that you know clothing was a really valuable thing, you know, it's right there with gold and silver But basically he brings all this stuff and Elisha doesn't want any of it and Gehazi says, you know I like how he spiritualizes what he's doing right first of all people always spiritualize, you know, the things that they're doing wrong You know, he says as the Lord liveth, I'll run after him and take somewhat of him. So Gehazi wants some of the stuff He's like look we've got some credibility here remember I mean even in verse number 10 it was Gehazi that went and told Naaman You know Naaman, you know didn't get the order to go wash from the Jordan seven times from Elisha He also delegated that to Gehazi Gehazi went and he was the messenger that told Naaman wash in the Jordan seven times So here's Gehazi. He's like, you know, I told this guy how to get I'm gonna get some of the stuff This is what he wants and look at verse 2021 so Gehazi followed after Naaman and when Naaman saw him running after him He let it down from the chariot to meet him and said is all well and he said all is well My master hath sent me saying behold even now there come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets Give them I pray thee a talent of silver and two changes of garments and Naaman said be content take two talents and he urged him and bound two talents of silver in two bags two changes of garments and laid them upon his two of His servants and they bear them before him when he came to the tower He took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house and he let the men go and departed But he went in and stood before his master and Elisha said unto him when's comest thou Gehazi and he said thy servant went Nowhere, he's like he says that you know, Elisha says where have you been? He's like nowhere Basically, it's what he said So he lies to Elisha as well and he said unto him went not mine heart with thee when the man turned again from his Chariot to meet thee it is a time to receive Is it a time to receive money and to receive garments and all so Elisha knows what he did? All right, and then the Bible says that You know Elisha curses him with leprosy here and the leprosy therefore of Naaman shall cleave unto thee into thy seed forever And he went out from his presence as lep as a leper a leper as white as snow. So look turn back to 2nd Kings chapter 4. This isn't a new thing with Gehazi, by the way It's just something that Elisha has just found out So Gehazi has kind of always been this way but Elisha in 2nd Kings chapter 5 it just realized for the first time and that's kind of sad because Gehazi has been with him for a while look at 2nd Kings chapter 4 in verse number 25 I mean Elisha just had he had this met this servant Gehazi and he was just Delegating all these things to him and we see that even in 2nd Kings chapter 4 he was delegating Not only was Gehazi somebody that shouldn't have any anyone anything delegated to him at all But you see that he was delegating things they shouldn't have been delegating to Gehazi look at 2nd Kings chapter 4 So this is talking about the Shunammite woman. So the you know, Elisha has met this Shunammite woman She made us place in her house for him and she and her husband because her husband was old they couldn't have children and Elisha blesses her and you know Prophesies that she will have a child and she has this son So she has a son and then the son in a field farming accident is wounded in the head and has died So this woman is devastated She runs to the prophet Elisha to tell him what has happened and we see in 2nd Kings chapter 4 How the story plays out look at verse 25. So she went and came unto the man of God to Mount Carmel She's coming her son has died and she's coming to Elisha and it came to pass When the man of God saw her afar off that he said to Gehazi his servant behold yonder is that Shunammite? Run now I pray thee to meet her and say unto her is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with thy child and she answered it as well. So he tells Gehazi look There's a lot here. He tells Gehazi go see what's wrong That woman is coming after us. Go see what's wrong. He delegates to Gehazi. It's like go find out what is wrong with her and You know, she sees Gehazi and she says everything's fine To Gehazi is everything fine with this woman. She didn't look She didn't trust Gehazi she didn't want to tell Gehazi what was wrong with her son her husband or her life and You know, she she didn't trust him. I mean she knew his heart But Elisha did not and that's the problem in this story Look at verse 27, and when she came to the man of God, so she says to Gehazi There's nothing wrong and she continues on and she meets Elijah and she comes to the man of God to the hill She caught him by the feet So she comes to Elisha and she just grabs around his feet and just you know drops down in front of Elijah But Gehazi came near to thrust her away and the man of God said let her alone For her soul is vexed within her and the Lord hath hid it from me and hath not told me So look, he still doesn't recognize the problem with Gehazi So this woman obviously she tells Gehazi everything's fine And then she runs to the man of God and just drops at his feet and grabs his feet Then she said did I desire a son of my lord and did I not say do not deceive me then he said to Gehazi Gird up thy loins and take my staff in thine hand and go thy way if thou meet any man salute him not and if any Salute thee answer him not again and lay thy staff my staff upon the face of the child So look, she tells him that my child has died and then again he sends Gehazi to do the work to raise the child from the dead and he goes and He of course lays the staff on the child and nothing happens and it has to be Elijah That goes and does it so Elijah shouldn't have delegated that task to Gehazi We see that but even at this point Elijah does not realize who Gehazi is. Okay, even though other people did realize it which is interesting Okay, so look one chapter later with the story of Naaman Elisha finally figures out, you know what this Gehazi is about, you know, Gehazi look this guy was no good He was he was serving Elisha for a long time and he was just no good He was somebody that shouldn't have had anything Delegated for him at all it to him at all But look this is why is it is so important that we are worthy of people's trust and also that we know Who we can trust in our lives Especially especially for people like Elijah for people in leadership positions who who delegate things to others I mean we see that, you know, another lesson is, you know, some things just shouldn't be delegated Some things should just be done by the leader. Not everything should be delegated But look, that's an another sermon for a different time But the bottom line is in leadership positions like Elijah you can't do everything yourself Look at Moses You know, I mean he was told look you just can't handle all this yourself. You must delegate judgment So it things must be delegated so for a leader Especially you better know who you can delegate to and and have those things, you know be done faithfully All right. So look this morning. We're gonna talk about some do's and don'ts of Trustworthiness how you can know who's trustworthy and how you can be trustworthy yourself turn to Luke chapter 16 This is the verse of the week Luke chapter 16 and or just look at the front of your bulletin Luke chapter 16 look at verse number 10 Now this is an interesting verse in the Bible and I'll explain why but let's read it together Look at Luke 16 in verse number 10 the Bible says he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful faithful also in much and he that is unjust in the least is Unjust also in much so this is an interesting I think this is a unique Verse in the Bible because let me ask you something. Do you does everyone believe the Bible? Does everyone number one know what the Bible says? No, of course not It's actually shocking the lack of knowledge of the Bible today But not only doesn't everyone not know the Bible But even if you told people what the Bible says in certain areas many people today would just not Believe it at all and it would be like whatever but this is an interesting verse because saved or unsaved Bible believing or not. This is a verse that everyone seems to know and operate by Which is interesting because it's it's it's really, you know If you if you're not faithful in small things people just aren't gonna trust you not only in small things But even in bigger things everybody operates that way the world operates that way and you know, obviously You know a business person would operate that way in protection of his own business and his own interests and things like that But look that's a unique Bible verse where it's just it's basically a truth is what it is It's basically a Bible verse that's just showing a truth here and people in the world Along with Christians have realized this truth and they operate it by it. So I mean the point here is don't be a flake You know, I mean that that's the point that's the boiled down, you know point don't be this person that is just constantly Forgetting things, you know things that I mean look forgetting things being late to things These are things that show people that you don't care about those things is what you're showing people, you know They'll have a hard time Trusting you is the bottom line You know you say well, but why it's not that big of a deal that I'm five minutes late to something You know, that's what you say. But look he that is unjust in the least is also Unjust also in much the Bible says so somebody you can't rely on for small things People are gonna realize they can't rely on you for bigger things. Okay, so look That's why in the parable of the talents, by the way that we just talked about that the the servants that it increased the most They got their talents from the person that did nothing it's not that they just got more talents, you know We didn't print talents We actually took those talents the master took those talents from the people that did nothing with them that were on they were Unfaithful with those talents they were unreliable. So he gave to the people that were reliable I mean why in the world would you want to give resources to someone who is unreliable with those resources? It may I mean it makes no sense. I Mean think about this from the perspective of you know a marriage Think about you know wives, you know, your husband asks you to do something your husband wants something a certain way and you just won't do it and it's just complaining and just resisting and just excuses and I mean look he's just Not only is that wrong because you are supposed to submit to your husband but look he's not gonna trust you He's not gonna trust you if he can't trust you with small things. He's not gonna trust you with big things You say I mean this works both ways, by the way husbands. I mean somebody miss Clarice told a joke the other day It was actually really funny. You know a husband says to his wife Let me see if I can get this right the husband says to his wife I'm so Reliable that there is no need for you to remind me about it every six months Book you say I'm in charge. My wife doesn't tell me anything Well, I mean good for you, but if your wife needs you to do something and you never do it She's just she's not gonna have the trust in you that you will take care of things Is the bottom line and if your wife can't trust you to hang a picture that she would like to see hung and You know, I mean there's just like everyone's laughing right now. I have pictures laying in my house for weeks I shouldn't do that. Look if if your wife can't trust you with small things, you know It's it's gonna be harder for her to trust you with bigger things. Look. I want my wife to trust me I'm in charge of my home. My wife doesn't order me around but when my wife makes a kind Respectful nice request. I mean I should you know handle those things for her is the bottom line Okay, so look in 21 years of marriage I'm also at 21, but in 21 years of marriage, I feel like I'm getting better at this You know, I wasn't as good at the beginning and I'm getting better and better at this. All right, look work same thing If you weren't reliable at work, you'll go nowhere I mean if you're not even reliable with small things Not only will you never get any more responsibility at work, but you may get fired Well, you probably won't get fired because nobody gets fired anymore You know It's so hard to find somebody who's like, you know, we'll show up everyday breathing that it's difficult, right? But look the small things matter When you're given, you know direction at work Even if it's a small thing you should make sure that you understand that direction clearly and if you don't find out so you can understand that direction clearly and Then be reliable and do exactly what you are supposed to do. That's the bottom line I mean, that's how to be successful at work And then guess what? You'll be known as someone who's reliable with small things and what people they hire people because they want people to do things for them They want people to accomplish things for them There's big things wherever you work There's big things that need to be accomplished But no one's gonna give anybody those big things unless they can trust them with the small things first because they don't want something messed up They don't want something destroyed. They don't want something, you know, anyone hurt or whatever So you must prove yourself to be the small things Look, this is the I've said this before but this is why I don't like starting new jobs Because no matter who you are or where you come from or what kind of job you go into You always have to start proving yourself with the small things So you may have worked somewhere ten years and you're up to the big things They're trusting you with the big things you start a new job They've got to test you with the small things first They're not just gonna hand you a bunch of big things because you've got a resume that said whatever Because people make stuff up all the time. I Mean it applies at church the small things and big I mean are you reliable? I Mean are you reliable? I mean look no one's working for the church here, but are you reliable? I mean the probably the most important thing you could do at a church to show that you're reliable show up on time Number one show up and show up on time being late. Look being late is like a super pet peeve of mine I don't know why anyone would ever be late think about it this way If you had to pay $100 every time you were late, would you ever be late to anything? No, you wouldn't you wouldn't right so look They basically if you had to pay money every time you relate somewhere you would magically be on time So what you're saying when you're late to things whether it's a job interview whether it's to meet somebody somewhere whether it's to pick up Your family or whatever. It is come to church. You're saying that I don't care about that thing That's what you are portraying to people. All right, so look just be reliable I mean say say what you're gonna do And do that thing. All right, the second thing from you know Being reliable if you want people to look at you as a trustworthy person is this one and you think this is easy Right turn back to second Kings chapter 5. It's this it's be honest Be honest You say man, these are easy ones well then why does no one trust you I Mean in your life, I mean think about it I mean do people trust you with big things in your life if they don't there's a problem somewhere Look at second Kings chapter 5. Look at Gehazi Look Gehazi basically lied to everybody. He lied to both sides. Look at verse 22 Look what he says to Naaman when Naaman first meets him where he goes out to chase after Naaman and he said all is well My master hath sent me Saying behold now there come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men the sons of the prophets Give them I pray thee a talent of silver and two changes of garments. He tells Naaman that Elisha sent him why? Look at verse 25 Then he comes back But he went in and stood before his master and Elisha said to him whence comest thou Gehazi and he said thy servant Went no whither so he does he lies to Elisha now what God at this point for in some way We he he showed Elisha what was going on with Gehazi whether that was somebody told Elisha where Gehazi went Elisha was wise to what happened at this point and he just lies right to his face I mean he lied to everyone think about the trust trustworthiness on this look It's it's it's a long road to get to trustworthiness It's a long road to get there where someone trusts you and they're now I mean you've already gone through as we just talked about you've gone through the small things that you're reliable and you were trustworthy in you've got to the to the little bit bigger things and You got to the medium things and then all sudden they're trusting you with big things I mean now you are in a position where you're you're being trusted with big things You know, even just a little lie can just knock all that down That's the thing, you know you have to because I mean even a little lie the end of having to cover and then cover and then cover what Gehazi's trust was Completely gone at this point and I mean he was he had a bad heart and there was a lot of things wrong for him But look the point is is that it's gonna be a long time to get it back if ever If ever and look lying Lying is a big sin. Look Elisha Struck Gehazi and his children With leprosy for the rest of their lives you say that's harsh Well that shows you the importance of being honest and being you know Above board which is basically the way you need to be you need to be above board with everything Secrets are always bad Secrets are always bad I mean if there is some thing that you can tell some people that you can't tell other people I mean that should be a red flag to you in your life, I mean You need to ask yourself when you're in conversations with groups of people or maybe one person or whatever I mean you need to ask yourself. Hey, could everyone hear this conversation right now? And would that be okay? You know if there's things that I do That I keep from other people or things that are behind the back of others. This will always catch up to you Always, I mean you just don't have enough shells to cover up where this is gonna take you and look it Here's the funny thing. It doesn't even necessarily have to be anything bad You know, it would be a shame to lose trust over something that was small You Know if you're just if you're just like doing things that I just rather not say this Comments around this person and then they find I mean, it's just people just are gonna just be like I don't know what's going on there, but they're just not gonna trust you It's that simple, you know, I mean a simple example for a work environment, you know Is you call you call a meeting amongst people in your group or whatever it is or your department and you know? You don't invite the boss And you have a meeting and it was nothing bad You maybe you're just sharing an idea that you had or whatever and you know, it's all good Maybe it was even good for the boss and good for his bottom line and good for the department or good for the business Or whatever and then but you know, you don't loop him in on it or you don't you know I mean I've seen this before it's so stupid that people do this and usually it's just because they want the preeminence People want the preeminence, you know They don't want that because you get a lot of bosses out there that you know They just want they'll take everybody's idea. They'll just steal the idea and say it was mine So you get all these people they do all this stuff and but look then the boss doesn't trust them. I Mean even if it was harmless and it was something that was for the good of the company The boss is like what's going on there? What was happening there and they always find out So, I mean, you know, why wasn't I told why wasn't I invited to the meeting? They just lose trust in that person and that's it. So it's a shame It's a shame to lose, you know that trust that you know You've probably if you have the trust you spend a lot of time building it There's been a long road to get to that point of trustworthiness and then to lose it over something dumb It is just not worth it Third thing Turn to Matthew chapter 5 and this is a big one and people People burn themselves on this one, too. I'm not sure why but I actually am sure why but This is a big one the big this one is this The third point is this Matthew chapter 5 look at verse 37 The Bible says but let your communication be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil Here's the thing in your communication be straightforward Be straightforward in your communication. Look if you want people to trust you be Straightforward in your communication with them say what you mean and mean what you say Okay, look the opposite of this is turn to Genesis chapter 3 the opposite of this is being subtle the opposite of speaking and communicating in a straightforward manner is being a subtle person and Subtlety in the Bible is you know, you may think of the word subtlety and just think all subtle is is is being you know Just white and just kind of lightly talking about no, but subtlety in the Bible is bad Being subtle in the Bible is bad Look at the first point of subtlety in the Bible in Genesis chapter 3 The Bible says in Genesis 3 1 now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field the Lord God had made And he said I mean, so what does that mean? So we know okay the Satan here is is being subtle. He's being subtle So what does that mean and he said to the woman? Yea hath God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. Look He's being subtle he's just he's asking questions that he knows the answer to that's subtle He's doing it to inject doubt to a situation subtly, he's trying to turn to Acts chapter 13, he's trying to use this subtlety this Light asking of a question. Well, he didn't come out and say God didn't say that God didn't say you can eat that he didn't just come out and just directly contradict God he just Injected doubt through a question that he already knew the answer to He's trying and why because he's trying to influence a situation He's trying to lightly influence a situation. Look at acts 13. We'll look at another instance of subtlety in the Bible and when they had gone through the island of pathos They found a certain sorcerer a false prophet a Jew whose name was bar Jesus which was within the deputy which was with the deputy of the country Sergius Paulus a prudent man who called for Barnabas and Saul and desired to hear the word of God But a lime is the sorcerer This is the another name for bar Jesus Excuse me first so his name is by interpretation was stood them seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith Then Saul who is also called Paul Filled with the Holy Ghost set his eyes on him and he said oh full of all subtlety and all mischief Thou child of the devil thou enemy of righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord So first of all a couple things here now, this is the second sorcerer in Acts that we hear There's two sorcerers in Acts there Simon and then there's this guy now Simon gets saved. Yep. The first one gets saved So what's the difference? Well, the difference is this guy is actively trying to stop the Word of God from being preached He wasn't just you know in something in error. Okay, and look sorcery is a wicked thing Sorceries witchcraft is a wicked thing. The Bible says thou shalt not suffer a witch to live It's a big sin, right? But the bottom line is this guy his Paul knew that this guy was wicked Because he was actually trying to stop somebody from getting saved. Okay, so that's the first thing and what did he use? So he calls him a child of the devil, but he was using what he was using subtlety he was using subtlety to cast doubt into what Paul and Barnabas were saying to the Sergius Paulus trying to get this guy saved and what so what being subtle is never good in the Bible So why would you ever be subtle? Why would you ever be a subtle person, you know you say well being subtle is you know, it's just a polite way For me to get my point across to people but look this is a huge mistake that people make right if you're this kind of person that can't come out and just say things and So you just hint at things and you do these little subtle things and you make these little comments The the problem is is that you know, it's a method what you're doing. You're saying well, I'm just trying to you know Get this point across and this point is a good point but the bottom line is you're using a method that's used by evil people and Seasoned mature Individuals are going to recognize that method So don't be subtle because people then they may question your intent So think of it this way you're using a method you're using a method that is used by evil people in the Bible That's used by the devil in the Bible and the method is that it could be taken You're throwing out little subtle things and little hints at things and those hints could be taken in good or bad ways But to you maybe you wanted it to be taken in a good way, but to the person receiving it they know that oh you're you're using a method that's not It's not good It could be taken in any way by the person receiving it. So you need to we need to run from subtlety As Christians, okay. Look someone who's being subtle is not being clear you could be misunderstood And you're like, well, I just hope people just give me the benefit of the doubt every time they're not gonna trust you It's that simple Okay, because basically you could be mistaken for a manipulator someone trying to influence people manipulate people, you know Trying to affect change through subtlety just like Satan was doing he was trying to affect change Through subtlety don't use the method even if you're your intent is always good Don't use this method So you say well, I I don't like things a certain way. How do I get my point across? Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna tell you turn to Proverbs 17 If you're in a situation whether that be at work, you know in your family, you know wives, you know You you don't like the way things are being run, you know by your husband or whatever You know and maybe you know You've got a situation at work that you think could go a different way and it shouldn't be done the way it is Look you have two choices if you're in a situation where you want to see something changed You have two choices. The first choice is this look at Proverbs 17 28 The Bible says even a fool when he holdeth His peace is counted wise and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding So look your first choice if you are in any situation that you would like to see changed Your first choice is you can always do nothing You can always say nothing. Look that's an option Okay, I mean that's an option. Look holding your peace not speaking is That's an option it's always an option as a matter of fact It's an option that whenever I'm in a situation out in the world, especially and I'm not sure what to say I just don't say anything and it always works out. Well When you don't know what to say, don't say anything. I mean the Bible says that right here in Proverbs 17 28 Look, here's what you want to be. You want to be that person that when they do speak everyone just I mean Do you know this person that person that when they open their mouth? everyone stops and just like Hangs on every word that they say that's who you want to be You want to be that person and that's the person that's just not constantly just blathering out Everything that comes to mind. I mean even this type of person They're like every single thing that I have to say that I ever think about just comes out of my mouth No matter what I just sit here and I inject my opinion into everything Look when you open your mouth people are gonna be like, oh, it's just him talking again telling us how it is again I mean look you want to be this person that when you speak everyone listens, right you say well It's a big problem doing nothing It's just not going to be an option. It's a problem that I just must bring up Well, then the bottom line is when you do bring it up you let your yay be yay Just like the Bible says you need for turn to first Timothy chapter 5 You need to be direct you need to be direct and why So you're not misunderstood You need to be direct and you say well, you know if I'm direct, you know, isn't that rude but there's there's a catch Okay, look at first Timothy chapter 5 in verse number 1 and the Bible explains this catch to us First Timothy chapter 5 verse number 1 says rebuke not an elder but entreat him as a father the younger men as brethren The elder women as mothers the younger as sisters with all purity is talking to you on how to address people So we should be direct But we should be respectful even to your brothers and sisters in Christ You're to be direct, but you're to treat him as a brother Treat him as a sister. You're to be very respectful and polite So look, I mean and the elders I mean look you need to be careful how you bring things up to the pastor of the church If there's something that you need to bring up to the pastor of the church Look, you just need to be respectful on how you talk to him. I Mean look I've seen a Maybe a small handful of people in my life lecture their pastor Or or even worse his wife And it just never works out well, I'm telling you So look, there's nothing wrong with bringing things up, but you just need to make sure that you're respectful and because like lecturing your pastor Is is something that's tough to come back from? All right Look as far as I'm concerned here I want you to bring things up if you have to if you have concerns about something I want to hear those concerns I mean that that's That that's who I am. I want to know your concerns, but you know, please be respectful about it you know, I mean that's No matter the outcome my rule of thumb at work is this if I see something that Needs to be changed like if I'm working for somebody because look everybody works for somebody if I'm working for somebody and I see something that I would like to see changed number one the older I get and the more experience I get The more times I choose option one, which is say nothing But if I it really needs to be brought up because here look honestly at work you're ultimately responsible for your own actions So if somebody asked you to do something in unethical, I mean Romans 13 your own higher powers God So that's an easy one So if somebody's doing something a different way than I would do it most times They're just like that's just the way they want to do it I'm gonna try to help them be successful in that way But if it's something where I feel like, you know, really, you know, something could really be changed for the better I'll bring it up one time in a nice respectful way and look just Just be ready folks most times it's not going to change Most times it's not going to change. So be ready for that. Then you just accept that you move on and That's it. But like look I don't nitpick I Don't nitpick and you know I don't want to be that guy either that just nitpicks every little thing at every little job that I go to and You know, I bring it up and I bring it up once in a nice and clear way I don't go and throw all these hints and you know throw shade on the way things are going Well, you know, do you do you really think that we should do it that way? Well, wouldn't it or go to people in the department and be like, yeah, you know I think that you know plant little seeds and be subtle that's gonna go bad for you All right. Look you bring it up to the authority in a clear way nice and respectful that can't be misunderstood and you know, but then you just Whatever most times it doesn't change I mean just get ready for that which may makes you learn to just deal with things by the way You know, you just deal with things and that's it. I mean if it's intolerable. No one no one's forcing you to work there That's why I mean people that have problems in churches Okay, bring it up once in a nice way I mean, it's probably already, you know, it's probably running that way for a reason So it's probably not gonna change but look if it's something this just blows my mind Because look here's the thing no one's forcing you to come to this church I mean, I didn't call brother Trevor this morning say you better be here, buddy You're I'm coming over tomorrow and you know, no one's forcing you to come here So there's something that's you know intolerable that you just can't handle and it's not gonna you know If you bring it up in a clear way, you don't do all this subtlety stuff and then you know, I mean You're in control of your family Just go to a different church Here you get these people they don't like the way something's going and they just you know They leave the church and they got to blow up everything. They got to blow the church up They I mean, they got to plant all kinds of bombs everywhere They got to be calling everybody and their brother and all this kind of stuff. Just leave It's okay Just leave in a nice respectful way. No one's forced. I mean it's anything at your job You don't like the way I mean you bring something up to the boss in a nice respectful way. Look No one's forcing you to work there Welcome to America You can quit You can go get another job. I mean It's a free country for the most part. Maybe not so much anymore How's that for a sentence? But I mean look no one's forcing you to be places. I mean just Bring it up once if it doesn't change There's no reason to have all this bitterness and just I mean cuz look you're hurting your own testimony is what you're doing You're proving that you're not trustworthy. You're you're just destroying all that I mean, even if it's something even if it's something where you know People don't agree with the reason that you want to leave that job or leave that church or whatever it is And you leave in a respectful way. You'll still have people's respect He's like, okay Well, he just has that conviction about that thing or whatever and at least he did it in a nice respectful way And look you still will be a trustworthy person That's it so look In conclusion if you want to be someone that people can trust you just must behave in a certain way if people don't trust you It's not them. It's you Like every time if you're somebody that you're just like I just I'm not getting any more responsibilities at work You know, I don't know. It's just no one trusts me in my life You know, my wife has no faith in me. My husband has no faith in me I don't understand. I mean look at you It's you It's hard. It's something that it's it's not you know, the rules are tough. It's hard to earn easy to lose tough to get back Turn to John 21 The Bible gives us a story of somebody who did get it back by the way But Peter is a rare story of somebody who lost trust but got it back But look you'll see You'll see that it was a long road for Peter. It was a long road for Peter Look at John chapter 21 and look at verse 15 John 21 in verse 15 Now I'm gonna give you my you know my opinion on this passage it's just my opinion my wife and I discussed it This week, you know, I know there's a lot of different opinions on this. I'll just give you mine. Maybe it's right Maybe it's not but look at John 21 in verse 15 This is when Jesus so remember we're gonna talk about this I don't want to give it away because we're gonna talk about it in Matthew 26, but you know Jesus basically told Peter you're gonna deny me and Peter told me never Peter told Jesus never I'll never deny you. He's like you're gonna deny me tonight Before the Sun even comes up before the cock crows. He's like you'll deny me three times If you just like never I'll never do that. Right but look at verse John chapter 21 in verse 15 This is where Jesus has resurrected and he's going and he's he's meeting with Peter who by the way not only denied Jesus But basically quit the ministry and took a bunch of guys with him fishing and just like I'm out of this thing This isn't going out going well and Jesus is talking to Peter here and he says in verse 15 So when they had dined Jesus saith unto Peter Simon son of Jonas love us thou me more than these He saith unto him yea Lord thou knowest that I love thee he said unto him feed my lambs He saith a hit to him again the second time Simon son of Jonas love us thou me. He said unto him. Ye Lord Thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him feed my sheep. Look at verse 17 He said unto him the third time Simon son of Jonas love us thou me Peter was grieved at this point Just he keeps asking the same question again and again and again. He's like do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? He's like yes at the very end. He's like, yes I do Simon son of Jonas love us without me Peter was grieved because he said he's like he's not believing me That's why he's grieved. He's like I've told him twice and he still doesn't believe me He's still asking me the same question. What doesn't he trust me? Is what Peter's thinking that's why he's grieved And he saith unto him Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee. That's a good answer Jesus saith unto him feed my sheep He says the exact same answer to him Verily verily I say unto thee when thou ist young thou girdest thyself and walkest whither thou wouldest But when thou shall be old thou shall stretch forth thy hands and another shall gird thee and carry thee where thou wouldest not He's telling him how he's gonna die there. But look the bottom line is Jesus is just grilling Peter He asked him three times If you love me and I think he asked him three times because how many times did Peter deny Jesus He denied him three times. So it makes sense. You know, Jesus is making a point here. He's just saying look he's like You know, do you really mean at this time is what he's what he's saying to Peter. Okay. Are you sure? this time and look Obviously Peter went on to have a great ministry and he died for the Lord Jesus Christ and I mean Peter gained that trust back From Jesus, but look he lost it at the beginning. So there's another interesting thing So look it can be gotten back. But was Peter's life great nice and wonderful no, he went through a lot of work and a lot of suffering and ultimately all the way to his death and I mean he proved that he was trustworthy He proved it again. Now. Here's another interesting thing About Gehazi. So look it's hard to get easy to lose Very difficult to get back So you want to get it keep it when you have it is the point of making there, but here's another thing Here's the thing about Gehazi Others realized it but Elisha did not I mean you remember the Shunammite woman I mean she didn't trust him. I mean he she comes to him and she's like everything's fine. Where's the man of God? Everything's fine. Her son had just died. We know that things weren't fine But look Elisha trusted this guy with everything he trusted him with too much We know that we know this looking back at the story So looks something shouldn't be delegated is the first thing but God clearly wanted Elisha To go raise this boy from the dead not Gehazi Okay, but really the main point I want to make about Gehazi is it shows the importance of? having trustworthy people around you if Elijah Would especially people in leadership roles if you're in a leadership role you need to have Trustworthy people around you why well to stop the Gehazi is from getting in You see if there would have been people that it would have been nice if if somebody could have given Elisha a heads-up If somebody could have gone to Elijah and said hey something's wrong with this Gehazi guy and it was somebody see the Shunammite woman. She didn't feel like she was qualified She didn't feel like it was her place. I'm sure I mean think about it. He's the man of God She's like I'm not gonna go and cause all that trouble But look if Gehazi if if Elisha would have had people around him immediately that he would trust They would have stopped Gehazi's from getting in in the first place So look it's it's protection for leadership Is really what it is so like look if you're in a church You could be that person you could be a trustworthy person that literally helps protect the church That literally helps, you know, hey, you know something's not right in a situation like this and you could bring those situations to leadership and Stop Gehazi type situations from happening I mean I bet you could think of some recent Gehazi type situations in the last few years that you've heard of in church life I mean it happens, right? So what? Elisha could have been protected if he would have had that right he could have been protected from this type of person So look, you should strive to be trustworthy You know people need you. I mean leadership needs you to be trustworthy So you say, you know, oh, you know being late or just the small things not being right. Look, it's a big thing People need trustworthy people To be around them And look when you are found being trustworthy as when you were you will start seeing leaps and bounds in your marriage in You know your church life in your work life in just life in general if you're just making leaps and bounds and people are just giving you more responsibility in all these different areas and your wife just has nothing but faith and trust in you and You know your husband just knows that when he says hey I need something to be like this. It's just done immediately. Look this is when you know that you're getting trustworthy If you're in a rut and no one's giving you any more responsibility, you're like, I don't know I haven't been promoted in 15 years. Well, you know, there's a problem. Somebody doesn't trust you It is the bottom line. You're like well, you know my wife just she doubts You know everything that if I she asked if something's gonna get done or you know I leave this broken for look if you leave something broken that you can fix for a year. You're just gonna lose trust It's the bottom line. You're gonna lose trust of the people that you're leading They're not gonna trust that you're gonna do things. It's a big deal. So it's easy to recognize think about it Think about it today. Think about hey, am I making leaps and bounds in these areas of my life? If not, it's probably because people don't trust you. It's probably because you're not reliable It's probably because you're not communicating effect for effectively So but if you are then you need to protect that trust You need to make sure that you're operating in a way that keeps that trust because look Bottom line is like people need people to trust Especially in a world that we live in today That's just you know, lying is no is no big deal anymore. I mean, it's crazy It's crazy you you go you get out in the secular world and people just think it's okay to lie They think it's okay to go and just talk smack behind people's back and all this kind of stuff like it's not okay It's not how we should operate people aren't gonna trust you. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer trustworthy days