Two types of people that should be handled with care are those who are full of praise for you/your church when they’ve only just arrived, and those who all too readily tell you everything that’s wrong with the last place(s) they were at. Be doubly careful with people who do both.
(This is true in contexts outside of ministry, obviously)
Problem is, when someone comes along and tells us how fantastic we are, and how much better our church is, and wants to be involved in various ways where you’ve got lots of needs it’s hard to say ‘No’, or even ‘Wait’.
But you should.
Someone once gave me a ring binder full of their various certificates and qualifications within a few weeks of their attending so I could better appreciate their capacity for ministry.
As they say in the classics: ‘Danger, Will Robinson.’
Daniel Darling explains some more at Gospel Coalition: Flattery Can Kill.
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