Recognise if people have a “trust leak”

It’s worth being attune to the fact that some people have a tendency to be distrustful. The standard pattern goes something like this…

  • they appear withdrawn
  • you go and chat to them
  • they say they don’t “feel” right about something vague they can’t really put their finger on
  • you chat/convince/encourage them
  • they say they feel much better
  • they go along for a while seemingly ok
  • they start to appear withdrawn
  • you go and chat to them
  • they don’t “feel” right about something, and they can’t see it’s the same vague thing they said before.
  • and so on…

Thankfully, there’s not usually heaps of people who do this. But just know there are some and there’s little more you can do.
Chances are they’ve already changed from their previous church because they “never felt right”. And chances are they’re going to leave your church too, because it will never feel right.
Unless they see the problem is theirs, they’ll probably never find a long term church.