Realistic Expectations From the Church

The church is made of broken people.  Those that form the church grew up in the world, and they share the same  brokenness, mindsets, attitudes, imperfections that the world has. If we  are to express love, understanding, patience, kindness, etc., to  the lost, how much more should we express these to our brothers and sisters  in Christ? We should learn to expect that, out of their brokenness, our  brothers and sisters in Christ will hurt us just as much as anyone in the  world might.

Now, let me clarify that I am not  talking about abusiveness here. If a Christian is purposely sinning and  hurting people, there is a much different dynamic at work and it needs  to be address through the discipline process that the bible outlines, but  that is a different topic. I am talking about every-day hurts and offenses  here.

What would happen if, instead of  expecting our brothers and sisters to behave according to our own definitions  (and expectation) of sinless perfection, we expect them to hurt us  every  once in a while and choose, beforehand, to express forgiveness to them?  What if we expected them to make the human mistakes that we are so eager  to forgive when we make them ourselves? What if we expected them to have  different opinions, mindsets, ways of thinking and understanding than we  do?

What would happen if every Christian  chose this attitude, instead of choosing to become offended and react out  of their own hurt and pain?

I think that we would experience  a much different church, a more relevant, tolerant, and understanding church,  a church that is much more appealing to the lost as well as the saved,  where members flock to in order to experience true, intimate, SAFE, fellowship.  I think we would see much more unity in the body, instead of church and  denominational splits every other week.

What are your expectations of your  fellow believers? What attitude do you choose to have towards your brothers  and sisters? What attitude do you think Jesus would have you choose towards  them?

Realistic Expectations From the World

What do you expect from the world  and others?

The bible is clear that we should  expect to be persecuted, but do we really have this expectation?

Why do we get so upset at the world  when they promote sinfulness? Why are we surprised at hearing the sin that  goes on in the world?

Let me add that sometimes we are,  hypocritically, surprised and even offended at the sins of the world; and  yet the church is doing the same things (i.e.: divorce, sexual immorality,  pornography, materialism, you name it). Why are we so surprised that lost  people behave like lost people?

We should learn to expect the world  to behave sinfully, idolizing everything and anything that they think might  satisfy that craving deep within all of us. This craving, that in Christians  should be satisfied by Jesus alone, leaves those that do not have Christ  feeling empty and running to anything to find satisfaction. We need to  learn, and make a habit of, seeing this as a deep rooted need that can  only be satisfied by Jesus. The same need that is in all of us, instead  of judging them for being "sinful" or doing things that you might  not do.

And this understanding needs to  be based on a sense of compassion towards them and thanksgiving towards  God. Thanksgiving because he chose to reveal himself to you and not to  them, yet. Out of this sense of compassion and thanksgiving, our hearts  should plea to God, in reverence and love, for him to have mercy on the  world and open their eyes and hearts so they may see that He is the answer  that they are looking for.

This is the compassionate and loving  attitude that we should have toward the world. When everything is said  and done, the world is really just as sinful as any saved Christian. The  only difference between the two is that God chose to extend his grace towards  the latter and not towards the earlier group.

If you had been born under the  same circumstances as they were, and God had not extended his saving grace  towards you, would you be that much different from them? Would you want  to be shown mercy and compassion instead of judgment and indifference?  How did Jesus treat the lost and hurt? Ask yourself these questions the  next time that you are confronted with something or someone that you find  offensive, and you will see your heart attitudes towards the lost change,  and you will find yourself able to love you enemies, those who hurt you  and persecute you, with greater ease.

Today, I challenge you to accept  those that do not have Christ in their lives as people, just like you or  I, who need Him, but do not have him and, therefore, do not know how to  satisfy that God-sized/shaped hole within their hearts.

Father, help us by like you towards  our enemies. Help us extend your love towards those that do not have you.  Help us see our own sinfulness and sinful nature more clearly, that we  may understand that any difference that there might between the Christians  and the lost is not because of our doing, but because you chose to be gracious  to us, reveal yourself to us, and make us new creatures. Let this revelation  change our heart towards you and those that hurt and offend us. Let it  produce humility and love in our hearts, that we might be more like Christ  and less like the judgmental Pharisees. Let us understand that our salvation  is your doing, and not our own, that we might boast in you and your grace,  and not on our accomplishments and strength, which are null. Thank you  for your amazing grace Lord, let us shine brightly for you, with unwavering  and unconditional love towards everyone, because we all need it. Let us  be transformed, by the renewing of our minds, and the way we look at, and  understand, the world.