I've never exactly done well at taking compliments. I like to think I receive feedback a little better, but compliments just make me uncomfortable. The whole thing is especially weird when folks feel like they have to say something nice even when they really have nothing to say. Whether it has to do with how I receive them or the impulse from which they emerge, compliments are just awkward for me. Yet, sometimes you get something really fresh and totally unexpected. I still don't know how to take it but I had to share it somewhere. I didn't want to plaster it all over facebook, so perhaps this is as good a venue as any.
I should preface this by saying I don't know when I have felt so dry in terms of having a word to preach. Late Saturday, I was exhausted from a lock-in and the best I could manage were fragments of thoughts and no clear direction. We had a couple of first-time visitors in worship today (praise be to God). After the service, one of them approached me and said: "You have a gift. When you get up there you just lose any of that southern boy persona and your face and everything is different. You're just like Moses." Now, I can honestly say, I've never received sermon or worship feedback quite so unique. So what in the world are you supposed to do with something like that?
I'm still trying to figure out what is my southern-boy persona (never mind trying to figure out how they know or ever met Moses). I guess somehow the spirit moved through and in spite of me. I write all this on the eve of appearing before my PPRC committee for my annual review. Here's hoping for some uniquely genuine feedback and for the wisdom to process it.
