"Can I Trust This Guy?": Evaluating the Potential for Pastoral Trust-Building in Evangelistic Outreach

Abstract

How can a pastor demonstrate that he can be trusted? Today’s world is one in which the concept of interpersonal trust has drastically eroded. Societally, this is a serious issue. For the church, it could prove devastating. A substantial amount of a church’s work is predicated on trust. It is a self-evident truth that the primary goal of every church ought to be feeding the gospel-produced trust in Jesus that exists among its members. But long before someone joins a church, its members, leaders, and pastors must gain that searching individual’s trust. As pastors look to conduct outreach, it is essential that they are able to quickly gain a degree of trust within their communities. This paper will utilize interviews and popular literature to explore tactics and philosophies that are acclaimed as successful strategies for building trust. It will then analyze how a pastor can adopt such principles to increase his church’s perceived trustworthiness, and how a pastor taking initiative in this regard will have a positive effect in creating opportunities to share the good news of Jesus.