One of the saddest sights the Church has to offer is the sight of a Christian having lost his sense of expectation. He might go to church, socialize with other Christians, listen to sermons, pray occasionally, or even preach from a pulpit, yet all about him testifies of one thing: ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’” (Zephaniah 1:12).
Then you have those who have left Jesus in the backstage. Their expectation is rather rooted in the fame some preachers have acquired through the years. Invite one of these marketable Holy Joes and you are assured to have a full house. The sad thing about it is that these blessing-seekers seem to have forgotten the words Jesus spoke when He said:
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).
Surprisingly, many evangelicals seem little affected by such a promise. Maybe they are not too sure whether or not they are meeting in Jesus’ name when they have a normal meeting, or maybe they simply don’t believe the words of Jesus, for would they believe them they would meet with an overwhelming sense of the divine. Their hearts would be awakened and their eyes looking up.
A lamentable state of affairs
There was a time Christians went to their local assembly with the hope of receiving something from above, viz. a visitation able to revive them, or a revelation bearing on their very behavior, or perhaps a fresh anointing, just to name a few. But today we are told—directly or indirectly—that what we can get in a normal church meeting cannot be compared to what is being received in spectacular evangelical events. It is precisely this post-modern evangelical assumption that leaves me astonished. After all, the Christ of God has made clear that the size of an assembly, or the fame of a place, or the prestige of a preacher doesn’t increase the chance of Him being present. His words are clear enough:
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20).
To limit our expectation to the celebrity of a few preachers is indeed deplorable. It is a sort of spiritual globalization stemming from a distorted concept, a globalization slaughtering the small gatherings in the name of international expertise. Obviously, it is not the result of faith but rather of unbelief. The tragedy is aggravated by the fact that a large sector of God’s people loves to have it so (Jer. 5:31).
Who is the greatest?
Let us not adopt the attitude of them to whom these words were directed:
The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:42).
Today, huge numbers of evangelicals are moved by the “greatness” of renowned preachers. They are willing to travel to the end of the world to hear their wisdom regardless of the cost. Their “faith” is set and they will reach their destination even if lands and seas need to be crossed.
These anxious pilgrims seem unaware that One much greater than these evangelical bigwigs was in their little assembly the Sunday before. But they were absent because they were busy looking for airplane tickets to fly, God knows where, in view to see, God knows whom. This is surely a colossal expression of unbelief and a clear sign of spiritual disorientation, a disorientation that is being encouraged by the preachers benefitting from it.
Peter never fell in that trap. His words were: “… why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? … … His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all” (3:12, 16).
Out of ignorance these people were looking earnestly at Peter and John. Their expectation was wrongly directed.
The same thing happened with Barnabas and Paul. When they worked miracles in Lystra people thought they were gods. These servants had to speak up to restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. But today there is little speaking up. Several preachers love to be the center of attention and insinuate that Jesus is more present when they are present and more absent when they are absent. So Jesus is partly subdued—at least thus it seems—to their whereabouts and conditioned by their schedules. The fraudulence is so powerful that masses of evangelicals sacrifice their money, their time and their energy to meet these well-intended usurpers.
It is time to realize that God Himself is the protagonist, and he will not share His glory with others (Isaiah 48:2). The psalmist had it clear:
My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” (Psalm 62:5).
From where is your expectation? Some Christians expect nothing from the omnipresent God. As backslidden Israel they have their anticipation bound to a geographical place. They seek Bethel, enter into Gilgal, and pass to Beersheba (Amos 5:5). In their spiritual stagnation they put their faith in a location where God has manifested Himself in the past as if these centers had acquired some special anointing of their own.
The blessing of the believer
Blessed are the poor of this world that are rich in faith (Jas 2:5) . They might not have money to travel across the world to hear the “great preachers”; in fact they might not even have possibilities to go to bigger churches where the musicians are better and the meeting place warmer or cooler. But there they are, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith. You find them satisfied as with marrow and fatness while their mouth praises their Savior with joyful lips (Psalm 63:5). This is the blessing of those who look at Him with expectation, and it shall not be taken away from them.
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