Have you noticed how often these days we are asked to take short surveys.  I’m talking customer feedback surveys.  You speak to your insurance company about a claim and after the matter has been resolved the lady on the other end of the phone tells you the company will email you a brief survey about your experience with the company - and would you kindly fill it in as it only takes about three minutes.  We recently had some electrical work done and when the invoice was later emailed to us it came with a request to provide some feedback for their web page.  Since we were very happy both with the work that was done and the cost of it, we willingly obliged with a glowing reference.

The problem is that these days every man and his dog is asking the question: “How did we do?”  It even gets to the point of the ridiculous.  I recently used an ATM in the local shopping plaza to withdraw some cash from our bank account.  When I got home there was an email waiting for me: “We notice you used our ATM...!  So, how did we do?  Please take this brief survey to tell us about your experience.”  Starve the lizards!  It was only an ATM...!  I was tempted to tell them I was thrilled with the way the money came out of the machine.

Okay... it’s getting ridiculous - I got three different survey requests this week alone - but isn’t some feedback not only helpful but often also important?  It was the philosopher Socrates who once remarked: The unexamined life is not worth living...!  Every survey we do is a kind of examination.

I thought about this for a while in relation to my own work as a preacher and pastor.  I have to admit that there have been moments when I lamented a lack of feedback.  I preached regularly for a time in a nearby church that was without a pastor.  After some weeks I commented to one of their elders that I found their congregation a rather unresponsive bunch.  I explained to him that I was used to my preaching producing some discussion, comment, reaction, questions or even disagreement.  Here I missed any feedback.  I’ve always insisted that my own church elders regularly assess my preaching and my pastoral leadership.  That has meant moments where I had to eat ‘humble pie’ and face up to some criticism.  It also meant moments when I had the satisfaction of knowing my labours were appreciated.

I guess a lot depends on the reason for wanting feedback.  The problem is that feedback can come in the form of brickbats or bouquets.  We prefer to duck the brickbat missiles but love the perfume of a bouquet.  So do I want only good feedback to revel in my successes - or am I also prepared to cope with the criticisms that will push me to improve my performance?  It’s nice when someone tells you after church, “John, you said ‘Amen!’ much too soon.”  It’s decidedly more difficult when you overhear someone telling a friend that “he was so long-winded this morning that I thought we’d never get out of church!” Looking back I think that in my years of ministry I did appreciate feedback and while I was blessed with some bouquets I probably learned more from the brickbats.

Feedback... it’s just as important for companies and tradesmen as it is for preachers and pastors.  But what about us ordinary mortals?  Maybe we could begin by accepting the criticisms of our husband or wife as feedback to help become better people.  I was struck recently by a question asked of me by a friend.  He asked: “John, if you become aware of something in my life that I need to deal with, will you please tell me?”  In other words he was inviting feedback.  He knew that Christians are ‘a work in progress’.  Sure, through faith we are credited with the perfection that Jesus achieved for us - but we still need to put that into practice moment by moment in our daily life.  And that is a lifetime challenge.  If we really want to be more like Jesus then we need feedback - both the brickbats and the bouquets.  Maybe we should draft up some questions, give them to a friend and invite them to do a survey... on us!  Come to think of it... that wouldn’t be a bad New Year’s Resolution...!!!

John Westendorp