I have often wondered what type of feedback Jesus gave his disciples, and what came to mind was a passage from Matthew 17:17-20, which reads:
17 Jesus answered, “You faithless and crooked generation, how long will I be with you? How long will I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Then Jesus spoke harshly to the demon. And it came out of the child, who was healed from that time on.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and said, “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?”
20 “Because you have little faith,” he said. “I assure you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Go from here to there,’ and it will go. There will be nothing that you can’t do. (Common English Bible)
There are two things happening here. One is the disciples are seeking feedback in their question, “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?”. And secondly, Jesus is giving them feedback by his admonishment and answer to their question. These are some harsh words for the disciples to hear, but they were open and honest feedback that they needed to hear.
Feedback to me is a valuable tool, one that we sometimes underutilized. If we are the giving end of feedback and don’t give it, we don’t understand why the person isn’t changing or doing what we think needs to be done. If we are on the receiving end and not getting any, we think everything is going well and we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. In both situations is the underlying problem of the lack of communication. Feedback is important because it keeps the lines of communication open. Communication is a two-way street. Good lines of communication are important because it allows us to see each other’s viewpoints and we can work through any issues. Any past hurts can be healed, and the relationship can grow stronger.
I try my best to be for open to personal feedback with how I am doing as your Pastor. Very rarely do I get my feelings hurt if someone gives me open and honest feedback in person. What I do struggle with and normally discount, is feedback that is anonymous or starts with the statements like “They are saying” or “Some people say”. This type of feedback is not helpful because the true conversations that need to happen with the offended person, don’t happen. You might be thinking, why is Pastor Owen writing about feedback? Well, I am writing about feedback, not because there are any current issues, but because I want to live and model what giving and receiving good feedback should look like. So, I invite your feedback on how we are doing as a Church.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Owen