Posted by clay in Discipleship | 5 Comments
Expectations
I’m not planning on posting a big article today. What I do have though, is a question. I’d love to have your feedback either in the comments here, an email, through Facebook or Twitter, or even a phone call.
My question is what do you feel is expected of you both as a member of the church where you worship and as a member of the Church as a whole? Are the expectations too high? Too low? Or do you not even know what they are?
This will have a point. I (as always) have a definite opinion about this, one which my home group has already heard at length. I’d like to see how many responses I can collect on this over the next day or so, then I’ll put them together in a post for Friday. Don’t just throw out the first thing that you think of either. Mull this over a little before answering.
Once again, thanks to all of you who read. I appreciate the comments and the notes that I receive. We’re a small community but we are growing, and each of you are a part of that. Thank you!
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- What did you expect? – part 1 | claywginn.com - [...] asked the question a couple days ago (go read it here) about what are your expectations of the church ...
- Failure of expectation | claywginn.com - [...] == "undefined"){ addthis_share = [];}It’s funny, because I just spent the better part of a week talking about expectations on here, and ...
I expect, as a church member, to give of my time and finances. I expect a church member to respect and support their leadership. To the church as a whole, I think it means reaching the lost through missions and relationships. Also, supporting other believers through relationship who are not a part of your congregation.
I don’t know about the requirements at the church I’m currently attending because I haven’t become a member yet. But I think it’s a great idea to require members to minister in some way.
Great thoughts, Rachel. I think I understand what you are saying about not knowing the requirements since you aren’t a member yet. There are definite expectations once you commit to a body of believers, overt and otherwise. Thanks for the comment!
I think people LOVE the excuse that they are not “gifted” for this or that specific task. Don’t get me wrong. I believe 100% that God gives each believer specific gifts and talents and often serves up “good works that He has prepared in advance for us to do” but I also believe two other things:
1. I believe that God sometimes equips us (in our obedience)with abilities that are WAY beyond us–because, well, that is sort of the POINT. I don’t know of many better ways to express unbelief than to walk away from something that God has called ME to do, because He has not yet provided what is HIS to give.
2. I honestly don’t believe that God has “gifted” many people to change the nasty nursery diaper, clean up after an event, or pass the collection plate. These are just things that need to be done. We do them for the same reason I expect my kids to do the things they (BELIEVE ME) are not necessarily gifted at–because they, and we, are part of a FAMILY.
These are local church examples, but I believe the same for The Church as well. I guess I have more of a soap box than I thought. At the end of the day though, it is only God’s expectations that matter and it is equally easy to drown the sound of His voice with the busyness of all our GOOD activity, or with selfish unwillingness. I am ashamedly guilty of BOTH.
While I agree that God has not gifted many to serve in those capacities, there are those who are distinctly able to do that. I’m married to one of them. That point is well taken though. These are jobs that need to be done, and it falls on the members of that congregation to fulfill those jobs.
Thanks for the comment!
Expectation? I don’t think they are too high or too low, I feel as if the Church “community” understands that we all have many facets/obligations in our lives and takes that into consideration; however is still firm in it’s belief that certain things are required of us. We should first and foremost honor God, honor each other, our families and our community. I feel that these are “deal breakers” if not adhered to. We are not forced or think a certain way, we are given a road map so to speak and the tools to reach point B from point A. I am not as eloquent a speaker/writer as you Clay, this is simply my impression.