THE POWER OF EXPECTATION
Expectation (or anticipation) is a powerful phenomenon. It possesses the ability to give anyone a true hope for the future, a false sense of security or the fear of a future negative occurrence. These three are very potent forces to deal with. Expectation is like fire or water; it being good or bad depends on a person’s tendencies.
In my walk with God for all
these years, I’ve come to realize the truth in the saying: “The atmosphere of expectation is the breeding ground for unprecedented miracles”. The writer of the book of Hebrews puts it this way:
“…for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
Hebrews 11:6
That means the one who believes God for healing and expects it, has a higher probability of getting it. Yes, God is sovereign and can do His own thing at any time, but our expectations move us to a level of readiness to receive from Him. The woman with the issue of blood is a classic example of such a high level of expectation:
“And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to herself, “If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.” But Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said, “Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that hour.”
Matthew 9:20-22
According to Jesus, what made the woman well was her faith. Now the question is, ‘what has faith got to do with expectation?’ The answer to that question is that faith has three major components and expectation is one of them (the other two are knowledge and assent). Concerning knowledge, Paul said in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing the Word of God; when you hear it, you get to know it. The next stage after hearing God’s word is that you believe it (that is, assent) and then you hope or expect to receive it. That is the totality of faith, but all three can happen within a very short timeframe. Thus expectation is a powerful force every believer must intentionally possess.
The other side of expectation is that it has the tendency of presenting you with false hope. If you are expecting your tax refund, you could make lofty plans based on your expectations. Meanwhile, it could be that your taxes have been adjusted or an error created by the preparer has been corrected, resulting in a little or no refund. In that case, you did have the expectation, but it was a false hope based on an unpredictable system.
It is so common for people to pledge huge checks in a prophetic service based on an anticipation of a future income, just to realize later on that it is not going to materialize. People have signed bad checks to the church and to church folk that they were involved in some kind of business with. Most of the time, such cases become the headaches of pastors and leaders.
False hope is what makes people think that since they have prayed all morning, manna should fall from heaven, without even considering the principles within which God operates. False hope makes church folk expect that after hearing an inspiring sermon, all their problems are going to go away immediately. False hope is what makes a person who likes singing but is off pitch believe that she can join the choir and be accepted after flunking the audition. False hope makes people fight to get into the pulpit, just to make a mess of their lives because they are not yet ready. False hope has led many young and promising ministers to leave the churches they were planted in, believing that they could do better than their Senior Pastors, just to realize later on that that may not have been their calling or the timing was just not right. False hope has resulted in people giving up or quitting church when they had not received whatever they were hoping for. False hope mostly characterizes those who are immature in the things of God and it contributes to hampering the smooth running of church.
Examine yourself and make sure you acknowledge it, if you should detect any unpreparedness for a task. Also, do not pledge out of your emotions or pressure, for you may not be able to redeem it and the result is unacceptable to God. I understand and appreciate faith giving, but that should be proper faith, not being moved by pressure or emotions.
The third kind of expectation is what I call the fear of a negative occurrence in the future. This is commonly known as the fear of the unknown, and is more dangerous than the unknown itself. Living in an era of economic recess in the United States and a global credit crunch, I have come to pay greater attention to what happens at the stock market. One of the things I’ve learned is that the financial market reacts much more to anticipation than it does to actual occurrences. That means, when people anticipate a fall or rise in any area of the economy, they react to it. It is simply human nature, but sometimes we take it to the extreme, especially in the area of doing church.
It is very common to anticipate a negative action from a fellow church member or even a colleague in the same choir or usher department, just because of previous knowledge or experience. Guess what that does to you… you rather put up a defense or a terrible attitude when the other person has not yet done anything wrong. What caused the problem? It was the expectation of a negative act that had not yet taken place. Oh, how often we bump heads in church due to our own fear of the unknown! In doing church with church folk, you’ll realize that a lot of people have issues with negative things about Pastors, leaders, church folk and even the church as a whole, that are only figments of their imagination; they just don’t exist, period. The fact that whatever they are thinking might have happened before or elsewhere does not necessarily mean it will happen again or in another place. If only church folk could deal effectively with their anticipation of negative occurrences, the church would be a better family to be a part of. In any case, that’s why the church is there – to fix us up and make us better people.
Unreasonable Expectations
There is an extreme level of false hope which is called unreasonable expectation, and it is very much alive in the church in many forms, sizes and shapes. The most basic form is when a person thinks that the church or the Pastor should be able to solve all of his problems. People expect that the pastor would suddenly perform magic to bring a solution to a problem they have spent many years creating. What an unreasonable expectation! Many pastors have been burned in ministry due to not being able to handle the irrational expectations of their congregation. Leaders have crumbled under the pressure of their people instead of letting them know what they are not capable of doing for them. Some pastors have organized and ministered in prophetic meetings, knowing very well that they are not well suited for such ministry. Prophets and evangelists are founding and pastoring churches even though they may not have the grace to do that. Pressure here… pressure there… church folk are killing their generals!
Pastors’ wives are always under assault all because people expect them to live like sisters of angel Gabriel. It is amazing how almost everything a pastor’s wife does seems not to please church folk. If they dress well, it has to be church money. If they don’t, they are not a good reflection of the pastor and the church. Somehow, the situation is always a ‘lose-lose’ for the pastor’s wife. To a pastor’s wife who happens to be reading this book, don’t let it bother you that some ladies think you don’t deserve the pastor; it’s always the same story. Even if you were to somersault or turn cartwheels, they would still not be pleased. Just be yourself! Don’t succumb to the unreasonable expectations of the people.
Sometimes the situation is the other way round. Some pastors and leaders have unreasonable expectations of their people. The fact that your congregation or team is bigger than the other church or group around the corner does not necessarily mean you enjoy greater commitment or more giving. The composition of one church or group differs from that of another. A typically immigrant church will differ from a church full of citizens born and raised in the nation. A predominantly black church will differ in some ways from a mostly white church. That is just reality. When a group of people are being pushed to accomplish something just because another group has done it, without considering their strengths and weaknesses, the end result is that everyone gets frustrated. Moved by unreasonable expectations, some leaders have extorted church folk and left them broke and regretful. This does not however mean that pastors and leaders should not have big visions. My point is that we must know the people we lead and are working with.
“Or what king going to make war against another king does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?”
Luke 14:31
It pays to know the strength of your people, be it in finances, knowledge or experience.
Somehow, people have the notion that since the church is full of saints, it must be free of any kind of wrongdoing. Well, saints are not exactly angels. Expecting that church will be a perfect place to be, with a perfect pastor, perfect leadership team, perfect system and perfect people is awfully unreasonable. In the first century church, not long after the phenomenon on the day of Pentecost, the church had its fair share of negative issues to deal with. If Paul and Barnabas had a fight, it will definitely happen in our lifetime.
“Then after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us now go back and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they are doing.” Now Barnabas determined to take with them John called Mark. But Paul insisted that they should not take with them the one who had departed from them in Pamphylia, and had not gone with them to the work. Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another…”
Acts 15:36-39
If Demas forsook Paul just as Mark had done, it will happen today.
Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica…
2 Timothy 4:9, 10
Didn’t Paul rebuke Peter for his double standards?
“Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.”
Galatians 2:11, 12
The same great apostle that preached powerfully for thousands to be saved was exhibiting double standards. Pastors, leaders and church folk are all human and can be wrong. Accept them, love them and treat them with honor. If we can stop having unreasonable expectations of others, doing church with church folk will be a lot easier.