What did You Expect?

“When John’s disciples left to report, Jesus started talking to the crowd about John. ‘What did you expect when you went out to see him in the wild? A weekend camper? Hardly? What then? A sheik in silk pajamas? Not in the wilderness, not by a long shot.’” Matthew 11:7,8

Why is it we treat ministry as if it should be a quality performance living up to the participant’s expectations? Our worship “services” are structured so as to make most pastors, worship leaders and other ministry feel like they will be reviewed next day in the Christian press?

“Fine sermon, pastor.” “Wow, you must have been talking right at me!” “Good message, the Holy Spirit was all over you.” “This week you were really good.” “Ah, the anointing, the anointing was here!”

I don’t mean to berate the perception of God’s work within the context of our worship. But, most of the time it is about that primarily; our perception. Do we not know that Jesus has promised to be present any time there are two or three gathered in His name? Don’t we recognize that the “anointing” always is present when God’s Word is honored? Why are we so quick to want to have some sort of measure of the “amount” of Holy Spirit was present in a particular service?

But that’s the way the people of Israel judged John the Baptist’s ministry. He lived alone in the wilderness and ate extremely unusual meals of locust and honey. He wore camel skin (off the rack, not designer) and had a strong message telling people they could no longer fake their relationship with God. God’s kingdom was on the way and He was requiring everyone to turn away from pursuing their own schemes and seek God’s plan instead.

This simply did not sit well with some, especially those who thought they had the corner on all the God-stuff and everyone else needed to repent. His style didn’t sit well with those more accustomed to well-tailored togas. His approach did not appeal to those who preferred Temple educated doctors of religion. He just wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

But he was anointed, no matter what anyone’s opinion was after leaving an evening of preaching and baptizing. He was accomplishing exactly what God called him to do, no matter those who remembered “how it used to be.” He was preparing the way for Jesus, the Messiah, despite the distaste some had for his style.

I honestly believe we miss great masses of God’s best because we presume what a “good service” looks, sounds and feels like. We measure ministry with our spiritual Geiger-counters, quantifying the amount of anointing we think is present. How silly we are. How absolutely ridiculous. We are slaves to style, and it doesn’t matter if we are old and like it the way it was “back then”, or are young and expect anyone over the age of 50 to be boring. We must put aside our preconceptions of what the “anointing” looks like.

We blow off opportunities for God to do important things in our lives when we measure one worship experience against another. “What did you expect when you went to see John in the wilderness?” Jesus asks us the same sort of question. Perhaps He might ask it this way:

“What are you expecting when ‘in church’? Are you waiting for your favorite song, wishing you had a bigger band, hoping the pastor won’t preach so long? Or, are you on the prowl for God? Because, the honest truth is, the anointing follows the hearer much more than the speaker. Everyone who hears Jesus’ words and acts upon them, that person has experienced the anointing.”

Father, forgive me for judging ministries. Help me to be honest about the styles I prefer, and admit they are only preferences, nothing more. Help me to throw away my expectations of the “perfect service” and simply open my heart at every opportunity I have.