Expectation: An Argument Against Misunderstood Strawmen Who Have Upset Me

Many times in my life I've heard from the pulpit, 'Don't come into church asking what you can get, but what you can give.' Nothing kills expectation better than that statement. In effect what the pastor has just said is 'We're not here for you, but you should be here for others.' Beyond creating a community of arrogant, resourceless sheep, this also seems to highlight utilitarian, pragmatic programs. None of the pastors I've heard say the above phrase ever meant to communicate such things, but as a congregant this has been the transliteration that finally seated itself in my impression of the church. There's no doubt that we ought not come into the church in order to defend our own interests, but the church must be a place where our needs can be met.

You'd think that with congregations full of people asking, 'What can I give--What can I give?' that this sort of need-meeting would happen naturally and organically. While personal sin and the corruption of the human heart are the most obvious obstacles to having congregations full of people who meet one another's needs, it seems that there's one specific obstacle that must be addressed: No one expects anything. We also need congregations full of people asking, 'What can I get--What can I get?' We need people who know that God has placed a family of the forgiven in their lives so that he can answer to his children through his children. The kingdom of God is a place for a thousand expectations and our churches should be, too. Worship grows out of, among other things, our experience of God's goodness in his people. We ought to be able to enter our churches with high expectations for what we will see God do in our lives through his people. When being needy in God's church is no longer scary, being humble as God's church will no longer seem unnecessary. Admitting our neediness is the quickest remedy for arrogance; and making our whole selves available to one another fills our churches with resources beyond Zondervan's wildest imaginations. We need pastors who will say from the pulpit, 'We want you coming in here asking what you can get. As you receive what we have to offer, our prayer is that you will be compelled and excited to give what you have to offer.' (So it's not as catchy or Kennedy-ish, but it's more meaningful) Or, as my Worship professor pointed out all week, 'You can't give what you don't have.' The church must be a reliable source of what we have to give.

All the same, the issues of sin and our dirty hearts still remain. The best we have to give, then, is the lived experience and personal knowledge of being made one with Christ and therefore with all those other redeemed sinners who are in Christ. We ought to expect this as we come into our churches, and others ought to be able to expect it from us as they come to the church.