Thursday, February 3, 2011

Expect More

“Expect more – pay less.” I believe that is Target’s motto. I think it means that we should expect quality and service, but that it shouldn’t cost us a lot. In many ways, it is a motto that reflects the expectation of most of us as consumers. We want good quality, but we don’t think we should have to pay a lot for it – at least that’s what we want. The other side of the coin when it comes to motto’s is “You get what you pay for.” My Dad worked to ingrain that in me. He always encouraged me to pay a little more, especially for things like shoes, tools, and appliances, because they would last longer and would be less likely to have problems.

It’s an interesting contrast when you bring these into the conversation about faith, following Jesus, and church. When we view church as a consumer, we can easily embrace Target’s motto. I expect a lot from my church (attention, programs, quality, etc.), but I don’t expect to have to give much to get it. My role is to come on Sunday. The church’s role is to meet my expectations. I’m the consumer/customer and the church is the purveyor of religious goods and services.

But most of understand that this doesn’t really work when it comes to relationships. If I don’t “invest/give” in my relationships, I know they won’t be what they could. If I just make demands on my wife and/or son/daughter but don’t invest in them, care for them, listen to them, and serve them, then I end up with broken, strained relationships with those closest to me. It may be a little crass to describe this as “getting what we pay for,” but the principle is true.

Target doesn’t have many expectations on its customers. It is doing everything it can to get you in the door and get you to buy its products. But it’s a business that wants your business and so keeping the customer happy is a primary goal. As consumers, it seems to be true that when we get a lot and don’t have to spend a lot, that we are most happy, so companies like Target live by keeping the customer happy.

But faith, following Jesus and church are not Target. The goal is definitely not to keep the customer happy.

I do think an appropriate motto might be “Expect More.” I believe that part of the reason the church is struggling and becoming less influential in our lives and culture is because our expectations have all but disappeared. I’m not talking about the unhealthy expectations we can bring into the church and even in relationship with God where we really believe the purpose of the church and God is to make us happy and keep us free from trouble. I’m talking about the expectations we place on ourselves in following God, the expectations we place on our friends/family to encourage us to follow God, and the expectations we have of God to actually act like God today. I think we expect so little of ourselves, each other, and in turn, God. We need to expect more!

We need to expect that we’d sin less and serve more. We need to expect that we’d listen to God’s direction and do what He says. We need to expect that we’d sacrifice for Him as he’s sacrificed for us. We need to expect that we’d really love our wife/husband like Christ loves the church. We need to expect that we’d raise our children in such a way that Jesus is priority, the Bible is true and incredibly helpful, and that God really does do supernatural works today.

What really do you expect of yourself in your relationship with Jesus? What do you expect of yourself as you consider your part in Christ’s body, the Church?

The only one who is really –at the end of the day- hindering your growth and keeping you from experiencing His life is YOU. We expect so little of ourselves. It’s OK not to pray, not to read the Bible, not to love people that are hard to love. It’s OK to gossip some, covet some, keep the stuff God gave us for ourselves. It’s OK to get intoxicated, lie a little, not make disciples, and definitely not share my faith with someone else. It’s OK to leave the faith development of my children up to the church.

It’s not OK! Expect more. Expect more of yourself. The “fair weather” Christian who is more driven by worldly values and avoiding discomfort actually HINDERS the gift of Jesus being experienced by others. I think it is important that we see this truth personally. If you choose to expect very little of yourself in terms of following Jesus, then you become a barrier to the people in your life seeing and receiving the gift of Jesus.

Our lukewarm approach to faith makes God sick to his stomach. He wants to spit us out.

We should expect more of each other. We’ve allowed accountability to be defined as judgment and defined judgment as bad. We’ve embraced the relativistic view of personal faith. If it works for you, then who am I to judge? We may clamor that we don’t do that with other religions, but we definitely do it within Christianity. We look away from the trees that claim to be rooted in the good soil of Jesus but yet bear no fruit. Not following Jesus has become OK in the church, as long as I keep coming to church. Church attendance has taken the place of discipleship. We should expect more of each other. I believe that is what love does and what Jesus expects of us.

How can we really call each other friends and family when we don’t talk about or share our faith? How can we define love if Jesus isn’t a part of the conversation? How can I say I love you and not encourage you to grow and be willing to rebuke complacency and sin? We like reading Paul and celebrating Jesus’ life, but we definitely might think a little differently if they wanted to be our accountability partner.

Expect more of your brothers and sisters in Christ AS you are expecting more of yourself. Nobody can follow Jesus for you, but as you expect more of yourself, it is imperative that we ask for help and expect help from fellow followers of Jesus.

Expect more from God. In no way does God need to give more. He is perfect and there is nothing He needs to do differently. But we ought to expect more of God to be seen in our lives. When we start expecting more of ourselves, we start to live by faith. When we live by faith, we open the door for God to act, and we see that God is faithful and that God can do abundantly more than we can ask for or imagine. God can heal any broken relationship. God can heal any disease. God can change any heart. God can help us walk through any tragedy. There is nothing that God can’t do. We should expect Him to act like and look like God in our lives. He may not do what we want, but it doesn’t change the fact that He could do anything.

When we live by our strength and ability, not much is possible. Hence, we don’t often risk or step out of what is comfortable. But in His strength and ability, all things are possible, so there is always HOPE.

Expect more. Give yourself away. Watch what God will do. You have nothing to lose (that's worth keeping) and everything to gain.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Power of US

I remember the instructions clearly, “You have to get over the 12 foot wall.” I looked at the wall. It was smooth. There was no way I was going to jump high enough to reach the top. “It’s impossible,” I thought to myself. I wondered if the folks I was with felt the same way.

Then it occurred to me that I wasn’t supposed to get over the wall on my own. I wasn’t asked to do something that was impossible. It was only impossible if I didn’t take advantage of the people I was with.

So we began. A couple of the more athletic guys stepped forward. They bent down and began to push another up the wall. They were both about six feet tall, and the person they pushed up was six feet tall, so with their arms extended, they reached at least fourteen feet high. The person on top grabbed the top of the wall, and with some pushing from below, pulled himself over the wall. He did it. One of our team members was over the wall. Instead of taking off and leaving us behind, he turned around, leaned over the wall, and began to help the next person who was being lifted up by the two athletic guys. In a matter of a few minutes, almost all of our team was over the wall. But now what? We had two on the ground left. One of them put the other one on his shoulders and slowly but surely the one on the shoulders began to reach up the wall. He was being slowly pushed up by the one who was carrying him, while at the same time two of the people on top of the wall reached down and grabbed him and began to pull. Just like that he was up and over the wall. Only one left.

How was this last one going to get over the wall?

One of the people on top of the wall leaned over really far, so far that others on the wall had to grab his legs. They slowly lowered him back down the wall so that he reached about 1/2 of the way down the wall. The person on the ground reached up and jumped. Miss. Miss. Miss. Almost . . . miss.

But then about the fifth try, after the person was lowered as far as possible, they linked hands. The folks on the wall began to pull the person up who was grasping the person on the ground. Slowly but surely the team lifted both people up over the wall. The entire group had accomplished what was impossible for one person to accomplish. I was amazed. I was one of the people who went over the wall even though at first I thought it was impossible.

“Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” John 14:12-14

What a promise that Jesus makes to us! We will do “greater works than these,” the works that Jesus himself did? That is what the text says.

From the very beginning, we see our tendency to approach life with a “Let ME do it” attitude. It is not at all unhealthy when it comes to a lot of life, but when it comes to the “faith based” approach to life, it fails. It is impossible for us to follow Jesus and keep His commandments and reach the world IF we try to do it on our own. Jesus didn’t ask us to do anything on our own. His approach is “Let US do it.” It is community based. It is relational. It reflects dependence upon others and Him to be able to climb the walls He asks us to climb.

Your marriage isn’t what is ought to be. Hear Jesus says, “Let US do it.”
You’re not making disciples. “Let US do it.”
You’re stuck in sin. “Let US do it.”
You’re overwhelmed with guilt and shame. “Let US do it.”
And on and on it goes. Whatever wall you face, Jesus is saying, “Let US get over it together.”

So often we spend time focused on the wall. I could have jumped and jumped to try and get over the 12 foot wall on my own. I could have sat in despair because of the hopelessness I felt looking at the wall. But the change came in me when I stopped looking at the wall and started to focus on US. I saw the US and began to realize it wasn’t up to ME to get over it. I felt so much more hopeful when I began to see the power and strength in US.

As Jesus asks you to follow Him, maybe it is a better plan to focus more attention on the US. We tend to live in the ME, but as we focus on the US, I think, we began to realize that no wall is too high, no relationship is too broken, no task is too great for US to overcome.

US = you and me and our brothers and sisters in Christ and the Trinitarian God (Father, Son & Holy Spirit).

There is nothing that US can’t do.