email

Feedback

Most people are familiar with the squeal a microphone can make when the amplified sound is picked up and amplified further. This is called positive or regenerative feedback. In electronics an amplifier can be stabilized through the use of negative feedback. The principle of feedback can be observed in a small business such that customer increase or decrease can indicate a measure of business performance. For example, fewer sales can mean the prices are too high or the service quality is too low. If a customer voices a complaint, the information can be valuable to take corrective action.

With a non-profit agency, funding usually does not come from customers, but from organizations like the United Way or a governmental agency. As a result, “performance” is usually the quality of the grant proposal rather than the quality of the service provided. Feedback comes from the funding source and usually reflects the satisfaction level with what is written in the funding request.

In a church, a pastor can receive feedback however, it is usually criticism for anything new or different as most church members derive a lot of comfort from that which is familiar. This sort of feedback is resistive to change. A pastor may see a declining membership as a sort of feedback and seek to introduce actions to increase church membership. Sadly few even are able to gauge the Christ-likeness of their members much less measure if it is increasing. For Christians, this should be the most important feedback.

Some pastors are not looking for feedback. Others do not welcome it. Still others measure it by worldly standards. It can be difficult for a pastor (who is often more isolated than one might imagine) to seek out a measurement standard Even if able to correctly gauge the spiritual condition of the parishioners, a pastor may be so tied to his organizational duties that he is not able to cultivate the individual relationships through which one might exhort another to greater godliness.

The pastor should not be the only one looking for feedback. However, even if one is able to honestly measure himself, he still needs to have access to information telling him what he can do to improve. If one happens to have a pastor that is limited to blowing just one wind of doctrine (Eph 4:14), he may have to seek out an older wiser Christian from whom he can learn more.

The government bureaucrat is not interested in feedback. The small business owner may be desperate to know how he is doing as his livlihood can depend on it. As Christians, our reward in heaven depends on how well we live for God in this life (1Cor 3:12-15). To this end, it canbe critical to know if we are building gold or hay.

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. - 1 Corinthians 11:31

Information about Christianity and the Christian life.