Are You Expecting Enough From The Church?

In a recent sermon, my pastor said, “The world often times has greater expectations of the church than the church has for itself.” If this is the case, then the church body (the body of believers) is failing the world. Not because we’re hypocrites, conservative or split on the topic of homosexuality, but because the world is looking for a Savior and we’re not giving Him to them. As the Church, we know the only Savior is Jesus – not Emma Swan from Once Upon A Time or the President or the tech guy at Best Buy who fixed our computer for the umpteenth time. The world wants a Savior, they’re being drawn to the Savior, they need a Savior and we’re hiding Him from them.

The world also expects the church to heal, mend, care for, teach and enlighten. In addition, the world expects the church to overcome evil, to instill peace, to help the poor and needy – the world expects change to occur from Christians. The world expects everything that God called us to do, but we’re too caught up in our own lives, our own fear and our own agenda, to give the world what it wants and needs.

We’ve convinced ourselves that other people don’t want to hear about Jesus. We’ve made ourselves believe that in order to respect other people, we need to not discuss religion, politics and a woman’s weight. But, in reality, it’s pretty disrespectful to hear the suffering and confusion of another person without sharing with them the solution to their problem. You see, Jesus is the solution to all human problems.

We’ve become too scared to talk about Christ because we feel like every conversation is going to turn into a debate and we need to know the bible in and out before we can carry on a conversation about Jesus with anyone. We’re scared that talking about Him will ruin our reputation. We’re scared that we’re going to fail the other person, or worse, we’ll fail God. How can we fail when God has our back?

The world needs to believe in a Savior, the church needs to believe in itself. The Spirit of the Lord lives in us and it’s that Spirit that the world longs for. So, it’s about time we give them what they’ve been looking for. It’s about time we believe in our ability to make a difference, to create change, to impact the lives of others. It’s about time that we trust the Lord and place ourselves in a position where He can work through us to bring other people closer to Himself. It’s about time that we have expectations for ourselves. We must stop looking at what we THINK the world wants from us and start asking the Lord what HE wants from us. We CAN go out and be like Christ to the people who crave Him, are searching for Him and long for Him.

I want to encourage you to start your day by praying, “What would you like me to do today, Lord? My life is in your hands. Guide me into your purpose. Use me to help heal and mend a broken and hurting world. A world that desires You over all else. That is my goal for today and everyday – to satisfy You Lord by doing Your will.” Let’s stand and be the church that the world wants and more importantly, let’s do it together so we can encourage one another when we feel down, embarrassed or discouraged.

Great Expectations Prayer