Great Expectation
Matthew 22: 34 – 40 and Matthew 28: 16 – 20.
Introduction.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been re-reading a couple of books—Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t (Jim Collins,
Good to Great is a business book about eleven companies that made a transition from being good companies to becoming great companies. Breakout Churches is based on the research of Good to Great but tells the stories of thirteen churches that made the same transition from Good to Great.
Both books make similar points about the differences between Good and Great. As long as we are satisfied with being good enough, we will never make the changes necessary to become great. If we are happy with good governments, we will never have great government. If we are happy with good schools, we will never have great schools. If we are happy with good marriages, we will never have great marriages. As long as we are happy with good churches, we will never have great churches.
While re-reading these two books, I also discovered a good quote. (I used this quote last Sunday night in our Town Hall Meeting, so some of you have already heard me say this.) “If you want to be happy, lower your expectations. If you want to be great, raise your expectations.”
In many ways, I think this quote describes an important choice we need to make as a church. On one hand, we could make it our priority as a church to be a happy church. If so, we should take a good look around at the way we are doing church—attendance, budget, preaching, worship, work performed by our staff, etc… The simplest way to become a happy church is to adjust our expectations to what we experience week in and week out. Then, a year from now, we can lower our expectations when our experiences begin to change. On the other hand, if we want to become a great church, we need to set our expectations a little higher than what we are experiencing right now. We need to expect our members to attend more regularly, expect our members to give more money to the church budget, expect our preaching and worship to be the very best in Angelina County, expect our staff to be the highest functioning church staff in Angelina County, etc…
Since the church does not make up its mind based on what the pastor tells you to do, that means you have to make a decision. Are you willing and ready to raise your expectations for our church to become great? Or, do you want to adjust your expectations and be satisfied with a good church?
Before you answer that question…Let’s take a look at two places in the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus describes his expectations for us. Interestingly, Jesus’ expectations for us are Great Expectations. We even use the word “Great” to describe these two passages: the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
The Great Commandment—Matthew 22: 34 – 40.
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together.
35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"
37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
(NIV)
Something about this story is difficult for us to understand. We would never try to rank the commandments in the Bible. So, we assume that other people would not rank the commandments either. However, that has not always been the case. In the ancient world, Jewish scholars often did rank the commandments. One teacher emphasized the moral aspect of the Old Testament Law. Another teacher emphasized the parts of the Law related to the physical
This is why the Pharisees wanted Jesus to answer this question. It was their way of leading Jesus into a trap, or at least an impossible situation. No matter how Jesus answered this question, he faced the risk of making someone mad.
However, Jesus didn’t fall into their trap. He answered their question by summarizing the entire Old Testament Law into two commandments—Love God and love your neighbor as yourself.
We need to interpret Jesus’ commandments in light of the biblical understanding of Love. In a biblical sense, Love is not a feeling. Love is an action.
Jesus helps us to understand this by his words to his disciples in John 15: 13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
In other words, Jesus gave us a radical re-interpretation of Love in the way he demonstrated his love for us. Jesus did not feel warm affection toward you and me. Jesus sacrificed his own desires and lay down his life for us. Jesus lay down his life in order to meet our needs—the needs we could not meet on our own.
In a biblical understanding, this is what it means to Love. Love is meeting needs. Therefore, Jesus summarized the entire Law by telling us to Love God and to meet the needs of the world around us.
If we think of Jesus as our example, it is not very difficult to figure out how we can Love others and meet their needs. Jesus fed the hungry. Jesus healed the sick. Jesus cast out demons. Jesus gave life and dignity to all people—men, women and children—and all races—Jew and Gentile.
The Great Commission—Matthew 28: 16 – 20.
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""
(NIV)
This passage took place after the resurrection. After dying on the cross and rising again on the third day, Jesus spent forty days with his disciples. He reminded them of everything he had taught them and everything he had done to meet the needs of other people. Then, Jesus gathered the remaining eleven disciples on top of a mountain to give them his final instructions. According to the Gospel of Matthew, these were Jesus’ last words to his disciples before he ascended into Heaven.
The Great Commission contains only one commandment from Jesus: Make Disciples. But, Jesus did give his disciples three illustrations of how they are expected to Make Disciples—Going, Baptizing and Teaching.
The Greek word for “disciple” is a word that can also be translated “student,” “learner,” or “apprentice.” The Greek verb “make disciples” means to change people from non-students into students, from non-learners into learners, from non-apprentices into apprentices. This is what Jesus expects us to do as well.
One aspect of making disciples involves evangelism. We need to witness to people who don’t know who Jesus is. We need to share the Good News about salvation. Sometimes we share the Good News with people, and they immediately make a decision to become a disciple of Jesus. Most of the time, we share the Good News so that people can take the next step in their journey of faith—move from atheist to agnostic, from agnostic to seeker, from seeker to disciple.
Another aspect of making disciples involves teaching. I have been a Christian for 30 years. (Wow. That makes me feel old.) Some of you have been Christians longer than that or shorter than that. But, there is one thing we ought to have in common. We are not supposed to remain the same. We are growing in our faith and in our understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. This growth takes place by learning and applying the teachings and example of Jesus. The goal of making disciples is to help people to continue to take the next step in their journey of faith. Just as atheists become agnostics, agnostics become seekers, and seekers become new disciples, new disciples must take the next steps to become growing and maturing disciples.
The third aspect of making disciples involves going. We cannot make disciples by staying inside the church. We have to make an intentional effort to meet and develop relationships with people who are atheists, agnostics and seekers. If we do not reach out to people who are far from God, there will not be a next generation of Christians. There will not be a next generation for our church.
The Great Expectations
When we read the Great Commandment and the Great Commission together, it seems obvious that Jesus has set Great Expectations for us. In fact, Jesus does not give us one Great Expectation. He has given us two Great Expectations. Jesus expects us to Love Others and to Make Disciples. We don’t get to choose one or the other.
There are some Christians who choose to follow only one of Jesus’ expectations. They may not admit it with their words or their theology. But, they don’t have to admit it. Their actions speak louder than words.
I know some Christians (and even some churches) who do an excellent job of feeding the hungry and ministering to the needs of the poor. But, they never speak the Good News of salvation.
I know other Christians (and other churches) who spend all of their financial resources and human resources on evangelism. But, the hungry go unfed and the poor go overlooked.
Both of these groups think they are meeting Jesus’ expectations. The problem is that both groups are only half-right. They met one of Jesus’ expectations and neglected the other.
If we want to become Great Christians individually and a
High Expectations
“If you want to be happy, lower your expectations. If you want to be great, raise your expectations.”
If we acknowledge that Jesus has set the expectations for us as Christians and for us as a church, then it seems to me that “lowering our expectations” is not an option. Since Jesus set the expectations for our church, he expects us to be a
Higher expectations bring an increase in pressure and stress. The school district of
Let’s not be so quick to judge the teachers in
Jesus expects us to Love Others and to Make Disciples. Some churches cheat by saying these are really one and the same.
Some churches believe the best way to Love Others is to preach the Gospel. So, they convince themselves that they are faithful by preaching and not serving others. This is cheating.
Some churches believe the best way to Make Disciples is by feeding the hungry and doing mission projects. They never preach the Gospel, but they don’t think they have to. People will see the joy in their hearts as they minister to others, and these people will begin to follow Jesus. This is cheating.
Some churches believe the best way to Love Others and to Make Disciples is to hire a staff of professionals. After all, the pastor and the other ministers are employed by the church to do the work of the church. As long as the staff is meeting Jesus’ expectations, the rest of the church is off the hook. This is cheating.
Conclusion.
I read something in Breakout Churches that really bothers me. According to Thom Rainer and his research team, the churches that made the transition from good to great had a “conversion ratio” of 20:1. That ratio means that it takes 20 church members one year to make one conversion. Stated a little differently, these churches baptized one person for every 20 people on the church membership roll.
How do you think we are doing as a church? Does our church measure up to this 20:1 ratio? Does your Sunday School class or department measure up?
How long has it been since your Sunday School class or department welcomed a new Christian? Did it happen in 2011 or 2010? Has it happened in the last 20 years?
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