Pro. 27 NLT

²¹ Fire tests the purity of silver and gold,
but a person is tested by being praised.

I can’t say that I’m praised or flattered a lot, but I feel that I’ve got a good share of nice things said about my work.  Being a preacher is sort of like a performance artist in that others critique you.  Just yesterday, while I was preaching my wife was giving me the “get on with it” sign.  Later, others said that the part where I received the sign was very entertaining.  We figured that my wife had just heard all of that story before.

I have to be very careful not to rely on praises or jeers too much.  There will always be evalution, but ultimately I have to preach the way I think I should.  So, being praised is a test.  If it is like a refiner’s fire, it prooves us, makes us better, makes us seem more valuable.   The image is a rich one, and should take some thinking through.