The munch - great expectations #3 | City Bible Forum
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The munch - great expectations #3

Are there unstated expectations with God? Is that why I am frustrated with religion?
Mon 28 Jul 2014
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Mark Leong just started working in City Bible Forum earlier in the year. Before this, he worked as a tax consultant (don't hold it against him) at Ernst & Young after which he took a career break which became a career change. Having just completed a degree in theology, he still likes to act how he looks rather than his age which worries his wife and 2 year old daughter.

Unstated expectations – you don’t know of them until you stumble upon them and as with any stumble, either you or someone else gets hurt. That’s been my experience of the sinister underbelly of expectations. Expectations can be the tonic to get us a through a tough period – there is light at the end of the tunnel whether it’s a holiday, the arrival of a baby, the promotion – but when expectations are unstated, rarely does it turn out pretty. Sometimes I’ve been on the giving end and sometimes on the receiving end. Either way, unstated expectations stuff up work, family, friendships and all other areas in which they surface.

Given the above, it should come as no surprise that unstated expectations is a subject the Bible covers. If, at the heart of being a Christian is in fact not being bound to a code of conduct but instead relating to God as one would to another person, then unstated expectations can stuff up knowing God as well. Indeed, the Bible is so conscious of unstated expectations that it calls people to be prepared and ready.

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”

Mark 13:32-37

These verses state clearly what we ought to expect from God. That God is coming is clear. As the owner, he hasn’t abandoned what is his, and so expect him to come. Indeed, the verses are so clear that it even states what we don’t know – the precise time. It’s like childbirth. While the precise date is unknown, you know it’s going to happen and so you prepare for it. To borrow the language of the passage above – everyone should watch, be on their guard, be alert. Otherwise, you might be asleep in which case, it’s no longer a case of unstated expectations but just ignored expectations.

When it comes to relating to this God, we are clear as to what to expect. God states it for us. He is not negligent in leaving the tenants to run amuck but will come. The question is are you prepared to meet him? I guess that’s the flip-side when expectations are stated: you know where you stand.

Here are some questions to munch over during the week:

  • When have you come across unstated expectations? Do you have unstated expectations?
  • How does God's stated expectations make you feel? Do you have unstated expectations of God?

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