The first Bible study I attended in college let me down terribly. I arrived armed with my new NIV Study Bible—a graduation present from my gram—and fresh out of Christian summer camp counseling mode, ready to get busy. At the meeting, nobody else had a Bible. We never spoke of the Bible. I don’t think Jesus came up much either, except as an alternative lifestyle option. After the study, I wept as I walked back to my dorm room, fearing I had missed the Rapture, for surely I was the only Christian left on earth.
Expectations sure are funny things.
Dani Sarda i Lizaran (2009), Creative Commons
We all have them, but often we don’t realize it until they’re not met. Sometimes we set them disappointingly low to avoid disappointment. Sometimes we set them frustratingly high to push through frustration. We wield our expectations like hot pokers to get people moving in our preferred direction. And we retreat into our expectations to find comfort when life goes awry.
Though expectations can be abused, they are not always a bad thing. God has expectations. God often tells his people what to expect. Jesus called his disciples with expectations (Mark 1:17), and he took care to shepherd them through their expectations preceding his death and resurrection (John 13-16).
As you study the word with others, you may find it beneficial to set and communicate clear expectations. Otherwise, you increase the danger of frustrating or disappointing yourself or others, and you may limit your return on the Lord’s investment.
What expectations should you consider?
- Content – what will you study? Will your group be a Bible study or a book discussion group?
- Meetings – how often will you meet? What time will the meeting begin and end?
- Attendance – do you expect group members to commit to attending, or are you open to sporadic involvement?
- Preparation – should attendees do anything to prepare? Do you want them to read the passage once? Five times? Spend an hour or five hours studying it before the meeting?
- Participation – is your group more of a cooking class or a cafeteria? Both have their places.
- Proficiency – will you aim the discussion at a certain skill level? Should group members have any experience with OIA Bible study before joining this group?
Through the spring, I led a pretty low-commitment, low-expectation Bible study, though I did ask members to read the passage once and consider a few questions before each meeting. The expectations were just right for the group of people we had, though by the end many of them were ready for something more.
This summer, I’ll be leading a Bible study with a higher octane rating. It consists of 13 hand-picked people who are learning to minister to others. I’ll expect them to commit to weekly 90-minute meetings and 3-5 hours of preparation. I’ll communicate up front that, by the time they arrive at the meeting, they should know the text well enough that they won’t need a Bible in front of them to discuss it.
There’s a time and a place for different sets of expectations. But if you’re not clear on them, the law of entropy will drag you down to a slow crawl every time. And disappointment may drown discovery. Don’t wait for circumstances to decide outcomes; life is too short, and Christ’s mission is too important.
But if the Lord has different expectations than you have, go with his. It’s much easier that way.
