We all have expectations. It’s a way of life. If you are a pastor or church
leader you deal with expectations everyday. The expectations of your people,
your staff, other leaders, and even yourself. It’s good to have expectations
but I want to challenge you to keep them in perspective. We all want to grow
and get big as fast as we can (church planters pay attention to this) but to
borrow a phrase from the great game of golf, “it’s not how you drive, it’s
how you arrive.” In other words, it’s not how you start, it’s how you
finish.
a fan since I was a small kid and have been through all of the ups (I was at
Nolan Ryan’s 7th no-hitter) and downs (I was also at their last, prior to
this year, home playoff game, a loss to the NY Yankees) and am very proud
that they even made it to the World Series. As we all know they got beat by
the Giants in the Series so why would I be proud? My expectations at the
beginning of the season. I would have never expected them to make the playoffs, much less the World
Series. Many people felt manager Ron Washington should have been fired even
before the season started as a result of testing positive to a drug test
last year. On April 30th they won, making their record was 11-12 and they just moved
into a “tie” for last place with the Mariners, who happened to lose that
day. On May 31st a 4-game losing streak had them at 26-24 and still one game
behind the division leading Oakland A’s. Then something happened. On June 30th the Rangers record was now a very
impressive 47-30 (21-6 over the last month!) and they had a 4.5 game lead in
the American League West and they never looked back. We all know what
happened next. They had impressive wins over the Rays and the Yankees in the playoffs and
were now in the World Series. I used to try to count all of the people I would see wearing Ranger t-shirts
everytime I would go to Walmart or the mall. I couldn’t keep up.
Nobody remembers how the season started but everybody remembers how it
finished and the Rangers will have a much larger fan base when Spring
training rolls around in March. The Cowboys on the other hand, what can you say. Predicted by pretty much
everybody to win the Super Bowl, they were destined to become the first team
to play in a Super Bowl they hosted. Head Coach Wade Phillips got fired and
most people were dumbfounded that the Cowboys were 1-7. In spite of all of
the talent they have, all of the expectations, they were one of the worst
teams in the league. What made it that much worse were the expectations. I
know Jason Garrett led them to a solid win over the Giants this past Sunday,
but unless they reel off 7 more wins and somehow sneak into the playoffs and
make it to the Super Bowl, this season will be considered a major flop to
most. The expectations of greatness were so high for the Cowboys going into the
season that nothing short of perfection and a Super Bowl win would live up
to them.
Because we are only halfway through the season the jury is still out on how
they will finish but it doesn’t look good.
That’s what I think but here’s the reality. If they go 6-1 the rest of the
way and finish 8-8, as long as there is still hope that somehow, by some
miracle they can make the playoffs as a Wild Card team and there is actually
a chance (meaning they haven’t been mathematically eliminated), most people
won’t care how much they stunk it up to start the season. Why? It’s not how
you start it’s how you finish.
What has been your experience in dealing with expectations, both your own
and those of the people you lead?
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