Expectations

I was reading blogs this morning, and ran across two entries which are completely unrelated -- or are they?

1. This one, on Out of Ur, is called Is Manliness Next to Godliness? It's another one of those posts describing another one of those churches which is trying to attract men through testosterone enhanced Christianity (that's my phrase). There is a theory in these churches that if we decorate the space with masculine colors, talk about hunting and karate, and tell men to "grow a pair" (that's from lyrics in the article), then we will bring men into church.


2. Then there is this post, a book review from Beth Quick, about the book Quaker Summer. Read this paragraph from Beth's review:
   
   

   I think that this book does an excellent job of zeroing in on the conundrum of many Christians, especially middle-class or affluent Christians (people, really) living in the United States. There is a longing, deep within, a knowledge, a lure, a feeling, that we are living in such a way that misses the point entirely. And yet, we are unable to free ourselves, change our lives, take any steps to let go of the things that are tying us down to an existence that is also killing us. We have a feeling about what we should do. We just can't seem to do it. Fear doing it. Desperately try anything other than doing what we should be doing.

One more unrelated statement. Our new pastor at JM is putting homework in our bulletin. He's listed the lectionary readings for the following week in each Sunday's bulletin. He doesn't "sugarcoat" it -- he calls it homework. What do you think calling it "homework" does in our minds? It says, at least to me, that there is an expectation that this will be done. It says to me (and to other people, I hope) that there is preparation to be done for worship. Come to worship having thought about God and his Word each week. Dig in, and put some effort forth. Those people to whom I have talked about this new addition like it. Could it be that we want the church to expect something from us? Could it be that we want to give of ourselves to our church, but that unless someone expects us to do so, then we won't?

Connect that the Beth Quick's review. She states that we each have deep longings that leave us with an emptiness. Sometimes we are afraid to take the step to meet those needs. Perhaps we need someone to have an expectation that we will take steps to grow closer to God? Could that deep longing we share be a longing for God?

Returning to where we started, I think this finally connects for me one of the reasons that I always have a problem with "man-church." We all -- men and women -- have an emptiness that needs filled by God. The attempts to have no expectation that men will bring any effort with them to church is like candy. It's sweet, but it's not nourishing. People need expectations. We need challenged. Presenting Jesus as a warrior who would have had no humility and no peacefulness makes him one dimensional, and assumes that men cannot stretch to understand the Jesus that is and was. It's demeaning to men because it sells them short. It offers no expectations. It doesn't fill the emptiness, and I wonder if it will lead to spiritual growth.

And isn't spiritual growth -- bringing people to God so that they can go out into the world -- the purpose of a church? Why do we so often fall into the trap of believing the purpose of a church is to increase attendance?

Image: Leaf on boardwalk railing at Spring Heights