Good Compliments

Seeking God’s praises instead of people’s

05/20/2016

Acts of the Apostles 14:5-18 At Lystra there was a crippled man, lame from birth, who had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him, saw that he had the faith to be healed, and called out in a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet." He jumped up and began to walk about. When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they cried out in Lycaonian, "The gods have come down to us in human form." They called Barnabas "Zeus" and Paul “Hermes," because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, for he together with the people intended to offer sacrifice. The Apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their garments when they heard this and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, "Men, why are you doing this? We are of the same nature as you, human beings.

Mark Twain once famously said, “I could live for two months on a good compliment.” If we’re honest with ourselves, we could all say the same thing to a greater or lesser degree. That is, we all hunger for human praise and applause. I am convinced that the words, “I am proud of you” are virtually as vital and life-giving as the words, “I love you.” In modern lingo, people use terms like “kudos” and “props” to mean a good, sincere compliment. The fact that there are multiple words in the same language that mean the same thing indicates its importance.

One person it is easy to compliment is Fr. Stephen. Are you getting tired of hearing me say nice things about Fr. Stephen? Well, I am too, and I promise this will be the last props for that priest. Have you received a thank you note from Fr. Stephen? I received one for the pizza peel that I got him for Christmas. And I was impressed. His thank you notes are personal not generic, they are on special stationary not the back of a napkin, and he even uses different color ink to make his point even more poignant. My thank you notes, on the other hand, can be summed up by the blithe phrase, “Love you, mean it, never change.” In a sense, Fr. Stephen’s thank you notes are a genuine compliment to anyone who receives them, and probably helps them live a little longer, too.

In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas land in Lystra and get some serious props for their pastoral ministry. They cure a crippled man, and the people spontaneously shout: “The gods have come down to us in human form.” The passage goes on to say: “They called Barnabas ‘Zeus’ and Paul ‘Hermes,’ because he was the chief speaker.” If Mark Twain had heard that compliment for himself, being called “Zeus,” he could have lived for two decades, not two months. But Paul and Barnabas decline the praise and the props of the people. They answer: “Men, why are you doing this? We are of the same nature as you, human beings.” In other words, give the glory to God, not to us. To be sure, Paul and Barnabas were hungry for human praise, like the rest of us, but they wanted praise from God rather than from the people. Why? Well because they did not want to live for two months or two decades on earth. They wanted to live eternally in heaven. Even better than a skillfully crafted thank you note on special stationary from Fr. Stephen will be to hear the heavenly Father say, “I am proud of you.”

My friends, if we are honest (and it’s easier not to be), we will admit we work very hard for human praise. I believe this desire underlies the allure of social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and the like. We post something that we hope people will like, and then we wait anxiously for their responses and comments. If one of our posts went “viral” and was viewed by millions of people, we could paraphrase Mark Twain and exclaim: “I could live forever!” That is, until everyone forgot about your post because someone else’s post went viral a day later.

Instead of seeking props and kudos on earth, may I suggest we be like Paul and Barnabas and hunger for heavenly praise from God? And God’s praises are showered on us when we do things other people don’t notice. When we take time to pray in our room, where only God sees us. When we give money in the poor box and we do not get a tax-deduction. When we sacrifice our schedule to listen lovingly to someone who’s hurting, which ends up making someone else mad at us. When we swallow our pride and self-righteous anger and choose to compliment someone rather than criticize them. None of these things will win us any kudos or props or likes on social media. But they will not go unnoticed in heaven.

A good compliment may help you live for two months here on earth. But a good compliment from God will help you to live forever in heaven. And that’s why you should give no more compliments to Fr. Stephen.

Praised be Jesus Christ!