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[[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2012_04_27|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]]
[[topics_collection_iv|| Topics Collection iv ]]
======Trust and Control ...======
Thursday, April 26, 2012. Freedom is also linked to trust and control.
Freedom means that you trust or you are trusted. Control is not the
same as freedom!
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**Controlling or putting trust in people? ...**
I just had to learn something. Working for universities for many years
I followed the standard scheme: there are funding organizations and
often organizers of conferences raise funds to invite some keynote speakers.
I got invited, then gave them the receipts and I got a reimbursement for
travel and hotel costs. That is how it is done everywhere internationally.
But the federal government has different rules. If you take money from any
third-party, it is interpreted as a sign of corruption. There is a ministerial
rule that you are not allowed to do this. So you are not allowed to be
reimbursed for travel costs from a conference directly. The organisers need to pay
the federal government, and the scientist is reimbursed by the
federal government following the governmental rules only, not the rules
of the funding organisation.
To prevent corruption the federal government has decided to take tight control
over the full money flow for every of its employees. They control the full
income and every penny which is paid to any of its civil servants. Of course,
when you look towards the goal of anti-corruption campaign, that seems
reasonable. But we also need to see the costs of it: it is complete control.
There is no trust which would be left here. So some corrupt people managed
to cause a huge damage for the whole state organisation - and put a lot of further
administrative workload onto the scientists working for it.
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**God is trustworthy ...**
Can we somehow restore trust? How do you restore trust under complete control?
Usually, we are allowed to travel 1st class, but to save money all scientists
in my unit only travel 2nd class. Does that restore trust? To some extent it
does. We pay personally for our organisation, to make more things possible and
support the work we do.
Also, trust can be restored at the source of all trust. The Lord is the source of
life and love, of faith and trust. He is trustworthy himself, and he is trusting
us. He gives. He gives resources and also the freedom to use them. Some people
might misuse the resources, but many others use them well. Freedom means that some
things might fail. But they also release creative power, which is the basis
of most of the things we have in our modern society.
Trust is my favourite! I want to trust the people around me and I need to trust.
There is no life in total control. Humans are made to be free and to freely come
to faith, to one another and to God. Let us work on restoring trust everywhere,
in our families, in our churches, and at our workplace - as far as possible with
wise measures to support healthy habbits!
(Roland Potthast)
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