Thought Picnic: Don't confuse corporate trust for individual trust

The wolves at your meeting place

I cannot think of the number of times friends and acquaintances have informed of being swindled or defrauded by a member of the religious establishments, especially churches they attend.

Usually, the result of such ventures is without consequence or restitution, the scoundrel at worst gets excommunicated from the assembly as the church strives to exculpate itself from any responsibility situation whilst imposing on the aggrieved not to involve law enforcement.

Now, the church environment is unwittingly an enabler because parties to the venture would probably have never met anywhere else. However, the reason why these engagements occur are because the parties mistake the corporate trust of a place they attend and get spiritual guidance for the individual trust they should cultivate separately and individually for anyone they will do business with.

Never assume trust, check it fully

If they were entering into a business relationship in a completely secular environment, they will probably do all the due diligence and assess the bona fides of prospective partners. In the church, they dismiss this requirement for the assumption that every Christian is honest, responsible, true, and full of integrity.

This is how church people fall easy prey to people who can exploit the corporate trust to inveigle their way into your confidence that you let down your guard and by the time you know what is going on, you have lost so much and might even give up your fellowship in the said church because the support you thought you would get was not forthcoming when it mattered.

Meanwhile, the confidence trickster moves on to another congregation to exploit their gullibility. Rarely, do they get caught out or sanctioned. I am not saying don’t do business with church people, just be sure that you are not confusing the corporate trust the church confers on all visitors with the individual trust that needs to be properly ascertained of individuals, and ensure you have independent references of character and probity from sources unconnected with the church.

Just a thought I needed to put down and document after a recent conversation. Extend this thinking to how you deal with old schoolmates, work colleagues, club memberships and other kinds of acquaintances including family. You must conduct essential due diligence, don't take it on trust.