Video Transcript: Sources of Feedback

Well, here we are, again, we're back at this lecture on personal and ministry assessment for  Christian workers or Christian leaders. And we're so excited that you have chosen to come  back to visit with us. And in case you wondering, this is our fifth lecture in this particular  course. And if you recall you with us in the last lecture, we focused on our divine design, and  we pretty much laid a basic foundation for understanding what scripture has to say about our  divine design. And the whole focal point of that particular lecture was on for us understanding that, that God, as our father has uniquely created us, he has uniquely fashion and shaped and formed us as human beings and, and we will examine Psalms 139 And verse 14, and just just  basking in the glory of that particular text and what David the psalmist, David had to say  about how God had uniquely shaped and reverentially You created him, and to how God has  also marked him out as a unique and separate and distinct individual, you will recall, just by  way of just kind of digressing a bit here on that is that your David, Noah was a warrior, David  was a musician, David was a great administrator. And so David had a number of different  gifts, talents and abilities that helped him to fulfill the role that God had placed him in his  kingdom. Again, David was a great warrior. He was a great military strategist. But but we also  see the artistic side of David David was a a musician, he not only was able to play music, he  was a harpist, he was able to play on the harp. And when we first saw David in the Scripture  he played for so he was a musician for Saul, the Bible said that David would play skillfully,  before Saul. And as you remember, the story of David, when he first went to work was all his  primary job was to play because the scripture says that the soul was was tormented by these  evil spirits, and David will play and the hue and the evil spirits would would leave David now,  and I don't know about you. But I've always found that somewhat fascinating, that that when  David played it, I believe the scriptures are being exaggerated when they talk about these  evil spirits, because I do believe that evil spirits and demons exist and things like that, but but the but the power of music is shows you in one respect how powerful music is. And now we  can't take like the the impact that the music plays and, and the role that it plays in our  worship and how important it is for us to understand how powerful music is. And so he's on a  rabbit trail, but I think it's a good rabbit trail nonetheless, because I think your music is is  vitally important. And we see that in the life of David and, and you see, the whole book of  Psalm is nothing more than the than the the hymn book of the nation of Israel. And most of  those songs, not all of them were written by David, he was a composer of music. And so  David had gifts, talents and abilities that allowed him to function in these different roles that  God had called David to function. And that's really my whole point in this little digression  here. But I think it's a digression that that is worth our time. So. So we looked at Psalm 139,  verse 14, and then we looked at Ephesians chapter two, and Paul saying that we were, for  God's will God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto good works. And so not only is  God at play in creating us as human beings and then giving us gifts, talents and abilities to  navigate life here on this planet as human beings. But when we become members of the Body of Christ, when we surrender our hearts and our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, God further  equips us to help us to make meaningful contributions in the kingdom of God as well. So if  you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you may not know what your gifts talents and abilities are,  but just know that you have them. But it is incumbent upon you to discover what they are. So  that brings me to this lesson. So you may be wondering to have not now rod I agree with you  You that, that fascinated by that last study and God has equipped me I know that I'm unique.  And but I don't know what my gifts, talents and abilities are. How do I find that out? Well, I'm  glad you asked. And you come to this lecture providentially. And so I want to transition now  and talk to you about how do you figure this out? How do you find out? Well, I believe that  there are sources of feedback there the avenues and we call them sources of feedback that  give you feedback into how God has uniquely designed and equipped you. So we want to talk  about these types of feedback, but about one of Paul's first to ask you that as you reflect back on your personal life, what different sources have you looked to, in order to learn more about  yourself? Now, some of you may be a little bit more sophisticated in this than others. For  some of you, you may have taken some assessments like the DISC profile, you may have  taken the Myers Briggs, you may have taken a spirit of gills inventory, you may have taken a  number of different assessments. And so in your life experiences, you've been able to draw 

upon some of those resources that are out there that have provided you will have some  insight into who you are, and how God has uniquely designed you. Some of you may have not been privy to those things. But but even if you haven't been made privy to some of these  different instruments or assessments, that still doesn't mean you can't come to understand  some things about yourself. And again, I'm going to show you that in just a few minutes. So so as we transition here, I like to as, as we, as we do in all of our elections like to, like a pause  before we dive into the content in earnest is to stop and just kind of ask you real quickly to  think about a couple of questions. The first one being is how can other people help us learn?  Remember, the Christian life is is is is not one that is to be lived alone or to be lived in  isolation? How can other people help us learn? And we're going to address that as it relates to how you deserve your divine desire? What are some of the sources that you can, can you can  draw from to know something about who you are and how God has designed you, and what  kind of feedback you can get from them. So So I want you to be thinking about this, how can  other people help us learn? And again, we're learning about ourselves. And what I often tell  people, regarding how can other people help us is this. And this is a, this is a powerful phrase  that you should write down. And that is, the phrase is this, you cannot be yourself, by  yourself. I'm gonna give you a chance to write that down. And I reiterate, as you think about  this, how can other people help you learn. And remember, you cannot be yourself, by  yourself. God intended for you and I to live in the context of community. There are things that  I know about myself today that I learned from other people. It was because I was in certain  context is because I was in certain situations. I grew and understanding about myself because I was involved with other people. I've learned a whole lot in my 29 years of being married,  from being married to my wife. And I'm sure if you married you learn a lot from your spouse,  your spouse has taught you a lot about who you are, as a person you've learned about your  capacities and what you can and what you can't do, what your limitations are, because you've had the blessing of having others in your life. Your parents, your relatives, your friends, church members, they've all been there to provide you insight to help you learn and I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute. And how can other people hinder our learning. There's some  people that they kind of get in the way of keeping you from becoming the person that God  has, has designed for you to be my wife has a nice way of saying this and that is there there  are people in your life for season four reason And then I can't believe I'm forgetting the other  part. But there's a reason a season and a purpose. No, no, no, no, no, no scratch that they  resist a season. A lifetime. Yeah, there it is. Thank you Holy Spirit for reminded me. So my wife says, Some people can hear you are learning. Because sometimes we hold on to people who  need to be let go. So remember, there are people in your life for a reason for a season for a  lifetime. So now, as we get ready to look more deeply at some sources of feedback that you  can glean from to learn more about who you are, as a person, I like for you to think about this  quote. This quote by John Stearman says, all learning not a misprint, all learning depends on  feedback doesn't matter if you're in an academic setting, where you're taking a course and  you have an exam, and the teacher give you feedback, that this is what you need to improve.  I just finished seminary, I just finished working on an MDM. And also have a degree in  education. And whenever I would get my papers back from my professors, they would always  have come in on those papers that invariably has helped me to become a better writer.  They've helped me to become a better thinker. My, my seminary professors have helped me  to become a better preacher. And they did that by giving me feedback on the things that I  was doing well, about firmly me, but also challenging some things, critiquing some things,  saying that I need to get rid of some things. When when I took preaching, we went out when I  was in preaching, and preaching lab, we would have to construct sermons, and get up and  present our sermons in front of our peers. And Professor was there and we have forms that we had to write observations on. And then we, once we got finished preaching, then the  professor, in addition to my fellow classmates, had to give feedback. And the goal and the  objective of that was to help us to grow as preachers to become better communicators of the  Word of God, and to make us aware of maybe some quirks that we had some what they call  vocal fillers, well, ah, well, or anything that becomes annoying. And maybe you've noticed  that I've probably said, had a few of those vocal fillers along the way. And I'm sure my 

professor would, would would get on to me about that. But But suffice it to say, my point is, is  we become better at what it is that we do when we have feedback. And so I think this this,  this, this quote, by John Sturman is spot on, in communicating the fact that we need feedback from others in order to grow, and to develop into the people that God would have to be. So  now, what are some different sources of feedback, and we're going to look at these in deeper  level, but let me just get these up here. One source of feedback is reflecting on personal  experience. We all have personal experience, I'm, I'm 50, 54 years old. And so I have a lot of  experience to draw from, to help me gain insight into who I am as a person. And I can just  look back at the things that I've done, the different jobs that I've had the different  opportunities that I've been exposed to, and what those life experiences have taught me.  Then, secondly, feedback from others. And again, I alluded to that. Earlier, I alluded to my  wife in the feedback she's given me, I've gotten feedback from my kids and got feedback  from my parents. And I've got feedback from, from my employer, my supervisors, bosses that  I've had, that have helped me to grow as a person. And then finally, formal evaluations. I  alluded to some of those earlier. But I'll wait to delve into that in greater detail in just a  second. So so now let's, let's reflect back and talk about reflecting on personal experiences.  Again, we have a wealth of prior experiences from which to draw from, to give us some  insight into what I gifts, talents, and abilities are, as you think back to those things. that that  gave you a great deal of interest those things that came natural to you, those things that that you you found yourself energized from doing it brought great excitement, enthusiasm, things  that you do better than the next person things that that you found yourself being consumed  with you, you find yourself being lost in time in doing and it is something about this particular  thing that excites you and get your juices flowing, that you just love to do. So you just think  back on all those things, man. And as I reflected on all the things in my personal experiences,  the one constant, and all of those things in different roles that I have had, is that I've always  had this passion for, for for teaching, this passion for the mind. And this passion for ideas has  been a consistent no matter where I have been. So as I reflect back on all those things, that  yeah, man, that's what got my juices flowing. So you, you need to sit down and reflect and,  and maybe write some stories about what it is that brought you joy in life, what things really  kept captivated your imagination in your your personal experiences, the good, go back and  look at when you were a kid, those things that that excited you those things that really  interest you all the different jobs that you have, examine your likes, and your dislikes, go  back, just go back in your memory and examine all of the experiences that you have, and  start connecting the dots, start connecting the dots of all those things that really resonated  with you, that gave you a sense of purpose, those things that again, that just resonated with  you. The second source of feedback as as, as we talked about is having feedback from others  and, and I really cannot emphasize the importance of having other people in your life. Who  will speak the truth to you, those individuals that will provide you with with feedback about  how well you are doing certain things. I'm not talking about the the American Idol type of  feedback, where, where where you've, you've seen American Idol, I'm sure where people have never been told, told that they're tone deaf that they really can't see. And, and, and it's  unfortunate that you have people that go through life who've never been told the truth with  love, about their talents, gifts and abilities. And so sweetheart, that's, that's not something  that you're good at. And you have to be honest with that. That was a time I thought I wanted  to be a chiropractor. Early on in my life, I started going to a chiropractor because I hurt my  back. I was fascinated by chiropractic, and I play sports all my life. And so as a kid, so I was  kind of interested in being a chiropractor. Well, that ended when I had to take organic  chemistry. And I realized that I just didn't have the the mental acumen I didn't have the  mental stuff that it took to navigate those difficult subject matters in order to become a  practicing chiropractor. And I was told the truth, you may want to consider something else.  Because that's not your that's not where your your your your mental capacities are, you got  to have this kind of skill set mentally. So I found my sweet spot. And then I've been running  into it ever since. But I've gotten feedback from others. I've gotten feedback on my job again,  every year, I have a performance evaluation on my job. And the beautiful thing about the  performance evaluation that I get it my job is not punitive. The purpose is for me to become a

better overall person, to be sure in the context of my work, and obviously to become a better  worker, but also learn a lot about me. I learned a lot about me from my co workers, I get  affirmed by my co workers that I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. My gifts, talents and abilities get affirmed in the context of my work. And in the context of the people that I'm  around, and I constantly receive honest feedback from others. Again, this is why you need to  have significant other people in your life and remember, you can't be you just being around  you. You got to have some other people in your life. God has blessed you with a whole lot of  people to be around drawl from those folks ask them questions. Tell you a quick story. When a church that I used to attend, the pastor had a little boy, who's right now, this is when he was  about four or five years old. Little boy, his name is Austin. Austin's got to be 24, 25 years old,  he and my daughter around the same age. And when Austin was a little boy, Austin would  come into the sanctuary of the church and man, he will make a beeline to the drums. And he  will get on the drums. And he's just got way in the way making all kinds of noise on the  drums. It would drive people to church crazy, of course, he would do this before church  started, and everything, but his mom would grab it, and the dads would go get all studies on  those drums again, and we get through the service and serve was awesome and wonderful.  But as soon as service was over, and his mother wasn't paying attention to him, Austin would  take off. And the next thing we knew, we heard that sound again, the sound of Austin on the  drums. Austin on the drums. So he was banging away those drums. And this was a constant.  This was a one Sunday, this was every single time Austin entered the sanctuary. And then one day, I just I guess, I was inspired by the Holy Spirit. I told his dad, the pastor, you need to buy  Austin's some drums. And he said why I said, because I believe those drums are calling him.  As always, as a well, I don't know, maybe it is. Well, the kind of make a Long story short, also  is that a mom bought him some drums. And Austin became an incredible drummer. As a  result. What was that call? Feedback. And in this case, the feedback came from me. And I'm  sure you can think of cases where you have given feedback to others. And in the context of  the church setting where I came from, you'll be around those old older saints who, who see  you as a kid see you growing up, which is why I'm a big advocate for intergenerational  ministry. I understand people do. I'm not a real big fan of kids necessarily against a question  away from from adults, and especially older adults who've been around a long time, those  senior saints will be walking with the Lord a long time. And we have a whole lot of wisdom and insight are benefited tremendously from those older saints, those those grandmas and those  grandpa, and granddad's and those aunties and church, who nurtured and shaped me and as  for words of encouragement, who saw things in me, and in your cases, it may not even been a person in church, you may not have gone to church. In some cases, it could have been a  game leader on the block in your in your neighborhood, you may have grown up in an urban  context, I grew up in a rural South, but you may have grown up in it up north in Detroit, or  Newark, New Jersey, or New York or Chicago or somewhere else around the world and urban  setting. And it could have been that gang leader on the block of that drug dealer who started  up and saw something in you. They said, No, no, no, no, you're not going to get involved in  this because I see something different in you. You have a future, you got to make it out. And  they spoke that to you, because you couldn't see it. You thought you were trapped into that  world. But someone spoke life to you, someone saw something in you to say, look that I'm  going to happen to you, you're going to get out of here, what would they doing? They were  giving you feedback, they saw something in you. And so no matter where it comes from, it  could be a coach could be a teacher, somebody who spoke something into your life and  provided you with feedback that you have, to this day you're drawing strength from so do not  undermine the power of feedback from others in gaining a sense of who you are as a person  and the gifts, talents and abilities that you have. And then thirdly, formal evaluations. As I  indicated earlier, some of you may have taken different diagnostic instruments, such as the  DISC profile, you may have taken the Ken Blanchard Situational Leadership Model that gives  you a sense about your leadership style. You may have taken the Myers Briggs, that gives you a sense about your your, your personality, type, you may have taken it well, there's a lot of  different instruments out there for you to avail yourself of again, you may have taken the  Spirit to give him the tour to give you a sense about your spiritual gifts. But suffice it to say 

there are a lot of different formal evaluations out there that that help provide you deeper  insight into who you are as an individual and how God has uniquely gifted you. Now another  thing to remember about formal evaluations is this. There's no one inventory that's out there,  that's going to tell you everything about you. This is why if you have the opportunity, if you  have access to these evaluations, I would encourage you to take as many as you possibly  can, because they're designed to provide you with a small window into who you are. And  when you take them all together, you have more panes in the window. So we have more  panes in the window, it allows you to see what's outside in a greater degree, and we just have a small window in a pain, you can just see primarily a small space. But if you get a bit more  pain in the window, it opens up a panoramic view of what's on the outside. And in this case,  these formal evaluations provide a panoramic view taken in total, they provide you with a  panoramic view of who you are created by God. So take as many of these evaluations as you  can. Now again, you may be in a country where you don't have access to this because these  things do cost money. But But even if that isn't the case, let me encourage you to at least  draw strength from reflecting on your own personal experiences, as well as drawing straight  join insights, joining tourismus from others around you. So even if you can't gain any insights  from formal evaluations, as a result of, of limited funding, that's still not a reason, I want to  give you an out, you still have access to find some things about yourself by using those other  two sources of feedback. And when this becomes available to you, then make yourself avail  yourself of these, these different evaluations, as the law provides. And I'm sure if you pray  and seek the Lord that God's will will make away much in the same way as he's making these  courses through the Christian Leadership Institute. He's making this available to you, then  God can make these available to you as well. So summary, what have we learned through  this, this lecture on sources of feedback that will help you to, to gain insight to who you are  and how God has uniquely designed you as a person? Well, number one, feedback is  essential. And as I say, at my church sometime, I can just tell it, if you could just save this  with me. Right where you are, just just save these words that see back is essential. Let me  see if I hear you out. I think I hear you. But what else we want to say with this that feedback is essential for personal growth and development. feedback to the center, you got to have it if  you want to grow. If you want to develop, you need to have feedback. Secondly, multiple  sources of feedback, provide greater insight into who you are, again, taken in total if you are  able to reflect on your personal experiences. Get feedback from others, family members,  friends, the community that you are in teachers, coaches, pastors, elders, deacons, members  of the Church, whoever. And then if you're able to also on top of that, if you're able to access  and you're able to take evaluations, formal evaluations, when you put these all together, it  gives you greater insight and greater depth into who you are as a person so the multiple  sources are vitally important, then, thirdly, remember this, this is key. Receiving Feedback is  an ongoing process. Receiving Feedback is an ongoing process. And I like to say it like this is a phrase I learned when I was in graduate school for education. Our professors used to say this, that we're always striving, never arriving. always striving, never arriving. In other words, the  journey of self discovery, you never arrived there. God has so desire you and I, that that we  will never exhaust learning everything there is to know about us. Beautiful that your life is, is  such that you you should never be bored, because there's always something new to learn  about you. And so receiving feedback from others is an on going process is ongoing. And  again, the more you know about yourself, the realize how much you don't know about  yourself. School has really helped me with that. And that's why I'm so excited that that you  are here. And you're you're taking advantage not only of this course, but you're you're taking  advantage of the opportunities that have been made available through this incredible Ministry of Christian leadership institute that is providing theological training and education around  the world. And so, so you're able to receive ongoing feedback from professors, and perhaps  even some, some colleagues and fellow students from around the world that will help you  grow and develop into the man and woman of God that he's called you to be. So, so receiving  feedback, it doesn't stop, it doesn't matter how old you get, doesn't matter how many  degrees you get, is an ongoing process. So stay open to receiving feedback. Now as we bring  this session to a close, as always, I'm your prayer man, I want to pray for you. So if you bow 

your heads right where you are, let's close with a quick word of prayer. Father, we thank you  for this, this session on sources of feedback. And I just thank you again for for those who have tuned in to avail themselves of this, this session this course. And I pray that you will help  them to, to reflect on their own personal experiences, that they will open up their their ears  and request feedback from others placed them in a posture of being willing to receive  feedback from others and not view receiving feedback in a punitive manner, but in a way that will help them grow and develop as believers and as leaders in the kingdom of God. Thank  You, Lord. I give You praise in Jesus name. Amen. And God bless you