Keeping Your Balance, Part 2

If you've ever tried to balance a spoon on your nose, or balance a glass on your forehead, you know that it takes a little bit of time, some patience, and very...smooth...small...slow...moves.

There is a life balance that needs the same combo of smooth/small/slow moves. I wrote last time about the balance that isn't really healthy or possible in life, but the kind of balance I'm talking about today is the balance of how you let yourself feel when people give you unsolicited advice and criticism/praise.

Full disclosure: I have a deep people pleasing flaw in my personality. I want people to like me, to like what I do or say, especially when I'm using my gifts to serve. I know I represent the church and even God in the eyes of people, and how well I do that for them often is a matter of personal preference. Their opinion of how I do what I do is colored by a million different issues, from past pastors in their lives to how they view authority in general, and everything in between. So when someone comes to give me their opinion of what they see me do, I have to strike a balance between listening and absorbing. Here's what I mean:

A few weeks ago, after the 9 am service, a man came, introduced himself and asked this question: "So, is the goofiness going to stop anytime soon?" If you know me at all, you know the answer is no. He proceeded to critique my preaching style, my humor, my choice of illustrations, and basically concluded that the whole message was a waste of time to anyone over 20. I thanked him for stopping by and let him know there are other great churches in the valley he should check out.

In the past, that comment would have crashed me for a week, but God has been teaching me balance. So I shook it off and went ahead and did the same message in the 10:45 service. After that service, another man came and told me it was the best message he'd heard me do. He was totally taken by it, and was effusive in his praise.

So which of those two guys should I focus on? Neither. The best story of the day was the woman who came up with tears in her eyes and told me that her family had just started coming to church. They had very little spiritual background, but the message had taught her how to take some important steps in the right direction. God was changing her life, and I got to be a small part of that.

So the balance between sweet praise and angry criticism is to stand on the work that God is doing in me, and in other people. The balance point is Jesus. Where is He at work in what you're doing? If there is fruit, then there will be both criticism and praise. Don't let either one knock you off the firm foundation of Christ at work in you.