In response to research recently released by the Pew Center on “Why Americans Go (and Don’t Go) to Religious Services,” I’m attempting to analyze and to provide candid commentary with the hopes that church leaders and faithful laypeople will see some of the issues that are hindering their church from being the kind of spiritual “magnet” they were created by God to be for a lost and dying world.  So far, we have discussed the issues of disassociation (lack of rooted-ness) and disinterest (lack of engagement).  Today, we uncover another key issue: disappointment, an issue of expectation.  This dilemma corresponds to two popular responses in the study, “I haven’t found a church I like,” and “I didn’t like the sermon.”

I find it interesting that the positive responses in the study that showed why people attend religious services frequently are “to become closer to God,” “so my children will have moral foundations,” “to make me a better person,” and “for comfort in times of trouble/sorrow.”  In varying degrees, each of these positive responses reveals expectations that were met.  To say it another way, when people go to church, they expect to meet God.  They expect their children will be taught Judeo-Christian principles.  They expect to hear God’s Word challenge them to evaluate their life priorities, relationship struggles, and personal disappointments.  They expect to hear gospel-centric words of hope when they encounter seasons of trial and/or loss.

Unfortunately, their expectations are often unfulfilled, not in fault to the Word of God’s power and relevance. Instead, they are too often disappointed when the pastor or the teacher failed to relate the principles of God’s Word to their human plight.

As a pastor, I regularly ask myself this question, “when people come to church this Sunday, what are they carrying within them?”  It’s easy to see in some people, for their countenance shows it, and if you privately ask them, some will tell you quickly that they’re…

• Exhausted
• Worried
• Overloaded
• Bewildered
• Confused
• Disgusted
• Angry
• Powerless
• Hurting
• Lonely
• Defeated
• Sorrowful
• Hopeless
• Concerned
• Impatient

I could add more “state of affairs” to this list, and you could too.  Now, does God’s Word address these topics?  Absolutely!  Yet, many preachers and teachers (Let me be the first to admit this) fail to bridge the truths of their sermon/lesson text with the issues that trouble the human heart.  This is what I mean by expectation.  When people come carrying their burdens to your church, they expect some kind of word that will help them practically with the load they’re carrying.

There’s a second question I often ask that parallels the first: “when people leave church this Sunday, what do I want them to receive?”  This helps me in my biblical study and sermon preparation:

• If they’re exhausted, I want God’s truth to offer them rest.
• If they’re lonely, I want the Holy Spirit’s presence to fill them as we worship.
• If they’re hurting, I want the glorious truths of redemption to salve their pain.
• If they’re angry, I want God’s Word to confront their motives to see if they are godly.
• If they’re broken, I want the promises of Scripture to bring encouragement.

The Bible doesn’t have an “expiration date” on it! God’s Word is timeless, powerful, and able to answer any and all the issues human beings face in this or any age.  Where the church (preachers and teachers especially) often experiences deficiency is in the ability to “incarnate” the truths of Scripture to address human need and the dilemmas of the human condition, regardless if the preaching method is “expository,” “topical” or “textual.”  This is what many people expect when they come to church, and why many leave deeply disappointed and despondent.

When Jesus, the “Word that became flesh,” ministered, he was “able to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15 stated positively). His example of identifying with people must serve as our model in preaching, teaching, discipleship, community outreach, world missions, Christian Education, and worship, if we ever hope to turn the tide of expectations favorably back towards the church and her incarnational place in society.