Great Expectations

Last night my wife and I met another couple and went to dinner and then saw the new Indiana Jones movie. (I will tell you what I thought in just a moment.) When we got home and later headed off to bed the radio was on and one of the critics happened to be giving his impression of the film we had just seen. He didn't like, he thought it stunk. He said so from about every direction possible.

I went looking around for other reviews of the movie and found that some people like it a lot and others hated it. These reviews tend fall on one side or the other of the issue depending on their expectations of the film. The higher the expectations the worse the film was for them. The lower the expectations the better the film got.

I go to movies to have a good time, I do not go for art. I am not there for social commentary. I am looking for a lark. I wouldn't go to a movie like Trainspotters. So when the movie ended I was happy. I thought it was great fun. The story went a long, the characters were great. I am not looking for some high art form. is it the perfect film? Nope, never seen one yet. But my expectation were not too high. I paid $20 for two to see thing and I left happy. I would go and do it again.

What is our expectation for worship? Is it entertainment, it is to be moved, it is to wowed with the message, is it to be engaged with the scriptures? When you walk into church with great expectations you are usually disappointed. The music wasn't great, the graphics on the screen didn't have the right words in the right ordered, the sermon was okay but not great - no new stunning revelations were handed out.

We live a time of unparalleled expectations. We expect whatever we invest in, be it time or money or energy, to be exactly what we what or need and if it fails to match our expectations we we make our disappointment known. When do our expectations become unreasonable or counter-productive? When do these demands interfere with or even diminish our lives? Is there a difference between excellence and being unreasonable? Just curious.