Monday Morning Manna: Balancing Compliments

Have you ever received a compliment you loved, but knew it was not only untrue, but was a huge exaggeration? As I concluded a recent Interim Pastorate, the person in charge of the reception referred to me as “the Babe Ruth of Interim Pastors.” Before I could glow in that characterization, I remembered that while the Babe was a Home Run king, he also led the league in strikeouts. I love compliments like that, but always try to keep things in perspective. Paul reminded us that one should not, “think . . . more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly” (Romans 12:3). The word “soberly” in other translations, is rendered “balanced.” For me to think “balanced” thoughts about the Babe Ruth compliment, meant I needed to balance home runs with strikeouts. Paul also wrote, “If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3). “Balanced” thoughts keep one from deceiving themselves. However, balanced thinking, should not hinder one from striving to be the best, even to live up to the over-rated compliments of others. After all, it was the Babe who said, “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.”

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.