My hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him. In his case, quite frankly, presumed familiarity has led to unfamiliarity, unfamiliarity has led to contempt, and contempt has led to profound ignorance.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a desire to encourage a deeper understanding of Jesus among those who think they already know him, highlighting how familiarity can breed misunderstanding and contempt.
Dallas Willard emphasizes the importance of approaching the figure of Jesus with a fresh perspective, particularly for those who feel they are already well-acquainted with his teachings. He warns that presumed familiarity can result in a superficial understanding that leads to contempt and ultimately to ignorance, suggesting that it is essential to re-examine one's beliefs and perceptions to truly grasp their depth and significance.
In practice
In a sermon about deepening faith, one might reference this quote to encourage introspection among congregants.
The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who, by profession or culture, are identified as ‘Christians’ will become disciples – students, apprentices, practitioners – of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.
The first act of love is always the giving of attention.
So many people would like to have guidance from God because obviously, if you have a word from God, it's the best possible thing. But they don't relate that to life as a whole. Often they want guidance as a way of opting out of the responsibility of making decisions.
What is truly profound is thought to be stupid and trivial, or worse, boring, while what is actually stupid and trivial is thought to be profound. That is what it means to fly upside down.
The basic question 'will I obey Christ 's teaching?' is rarely taken as a serious issue. For example, to take one of Jesus' commands, that is relevant to contemporary life, I don't know of any church that actually teaches a church how to bless people who curse them, yet this is a clear command.
When I left home after graduating high school, I left as a migrant agricultural worker with a Modern Library edition of Plato in my duffel bag. It sounds kind of crazy, but I loved it. I loved the stuff. Before I knew there was a subject called philosophy, I loved it.
Godliness is more easily feigned in words than in actions
All men would be masters of others, and no man is lord of himself.
What seem our worst prayers may really be, in God's eyes, our best. Those, I mean, which are least supported by devotional feeling. For these may come from a deeper level than feeling. God sometimes seems to speak to us most intimately when he catches us, as it were, off our guard.
Wasn't he the one who said you shouldn't trust anybody who calls himself an ordinar man? - Naoko
In the glad old days, before the rise of modern morbidities...it used to be thought a disadvantage to be misunderstood.
I found I could extinguish all human hope from my soul.
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