Feedback We Can Trust

I want you to know God wants you to succeed in life and in relationships. God has amazing plans specifically for you, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

But there is a catch. We have to do it God's way, God's direction and God's timing.

Suppose I tell you that the first account of people conducting research in the Bible was in the book of Numbers. The situation: After decades of being in the desert, the Lord commanded the Israelites to survey the land of Canaan. It was the promised land that God had said they would inhabit and inherit. According to the Lord, the land was flowing with milk and honey. The problem was this was no ordinary takeover. There were people already inhabiting the land. These were the Canaanites, an idolatrous and godless people in their time.

Moses sent 12 leaders, one for every tribe in Israel. These were his research questions. He said, "Go up through the Negev and on into the hill country. See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong and weak, few or many (demographic). What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? (geography) Are they unwalled or fortified? How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? (topography) Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land. (product assessment)" (Numbers 13:17-20)  

After 40 days of exploring the land, the researchers gave two kinds of reports to the people. One was an accurate report and the other ended up being called in the Bible as a "bad report" (Numbers 13:32; 14:37).

Here's the good report: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. The people who live there are powerful, and the cities fortified and very large. We even saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan (Numbers 13:27-29)"

"The land we passed through and explored was exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into the land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us... do not be afraid of the people in the land... Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them. (Numbers 14:7-9)" 

What about the "bad report"?

"We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are... The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there... We seems like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

So, what do you think is the difference of the good report and the bad report?

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

We live in a world where there is information overload. A 2007 study estimated that the accumulated data stored in every device in the world is 256 exabytes of data. Wired.co.uk writes "That is 256 billion gigabytes, the equivalent of 1.2 billion average PC hard drives, enough CDs to make a stack which would reach beyond the moon and 15 libraries for every person on the planet"!* That's a lot of information! Not only that, we are engaging in how much conversations a day. Some more, some less depending on social activity. But if you think about it, that's a lot of information being passed around as well.

The thing is our minds can only capture as much. Our emotions, our behavior are connected to what we put in our minds. We need to start filtering our minds from negative thoughts and/or false accounts as much as we filter our data at work, assess the level of importance of calls we receive, filter the emails we read in our inbox, and even how we book and prioritize our appointments.

The first test or filter of a good report is the... 

1. Truth

It has to pass the truth test. Are we sharing something that is an accurate representation of the data we have gathered, minus the subjective judgments that can be taken differently? 

How about a good report vs a bad report on people?

I just received my annual reassessment for the music ministry where I volunteered for three years plus now. I received a criticism. The thing is I haven't reached the skill level yet of doing harmonization or voicing. It was true. Much of real feedback - whether good or bad - is based on truth. And we need those kinds of information.

Good reports are true reports even if it's a bad review, as long as it is the truth.

Let's go back to the story. If you would recall the bad report, it included subjective judgments or statements. It declares something that has not happened yet, therefore it is not something that can be qualified as true.

"We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are...(how do we know?) The land we explored devours those living in it (exaggeration). All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there... We seem like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them. (subjective perception)"

A statement that can not be verified is still not in the category of truth. Truth is point blank 100% verifiable. It is hard to verify what the bad report is saying since it was based on the fear of the person reporting it.

2. Excellence

It has to pass the excellence test. Is this data or feedback going to make my work better? Will it sharpen my skill and make me a better person in my relationships with other people, family, etc.?

From what I recall my music director's criticism made me cry the first time. The truth does not necessarily mean it's comfortable. But the difference is when I hear this truth, the goal is excellence. I am serving a great King and sacrifices made in his temple are to be of His high standards (Malachi 1:12).

3. Right

Does this report lead me to do the right thing?

What outcome did the bad report give to the Israelites? It led them to disobedience. God already told them they were to attack and inhabit Canaan. When they heard the bad report, the people complained, got angry and resented God's servant Moses and God's direction to take them out of Egypt.

Is rebelling against God's direction the right thing to do? No. Is rebelling and resenting God's servant Moses the right thing to do? No. Why did they do it? Because they received a bad report.

"Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good," (Titus 3:1)

A good report should empower us to do the right thing. It can be the right thing for our company, the right thing for our client, the right thing for the employee or the right thing for the person I should submit to as one who is accountable for me.

Perhaps God has already shared with you a direction to obey or a promise to claim. Your goal is to obey the Lord your God and think His thoughts and His assessment of a situation. I was criticized but I knew it was right (Malachi 1:12).

4. Pure

Is my motive to share this pure? Do I have an ill-intent on anyone? Is what I'm going to tell this person for his or her own good as I see it? Am I doing this for selfish reasons that will only better myself but not really the person hearing it or the subject of my report? Is the content of my report pure?

Pure reports of course not only not have impure content but they are also reported with the right intentions. Much of advertising is to inform, persuade. Much of media's intent is to inform the population as well as to influence it. Is what I'm sharing or advertising based on my initial intent to inform or persuade people? Will the people hearing this be better off that they hear this?

I believe God is also wanting to remind us not to slander and do what leads to peace and consideration of other people (Titus 3:2).


That is about as much as I can share for now. Other suggestion/s how we can apply the Philippians 4:8 test in our line of work, ministry or any field we are in?

Reference:

(Numbers 13 and 14), Holy Bible, New International Version, (Michigan: Zondervan, 2007)

*Brown, Mark, "Study estimates human information capacity at 256 exabytes," Wired UK, February 14, 2011, http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-02/14/256-exabytes-of-human-information