Familiarity

Familiarity breeds contempt, or so the saying goes. Such was the case for Jesus in His hometown.

• [1] Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. [2] When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. "Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! [3] Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.
  Mark 6:1-3 (NIV)

It’s interesting; the hometown folks’ response to Jesus was both to be amazed and incredulous at the same time. While they were awestruck by Jesus’ teaching and the miracles He preformed, they also carried the memories of Jesus together with His mother and siblings that just made it all too hard to believe. Jesus was the carpenter; what right does He have to say such things. Their familiarity if not a seedbed of contempt, it was certainly a roadblock to faith.

I wonder if familiarity breeds anything else too. What I mean is, has the life story of Jesus and our Christian faith become too familiar or too common for many of us within the Church? None of us who believe in Jesus would ever disdain or look with condescension upon our Lord (that’s contempt means). But is it possible that we ‘take offense’ and look that way at other believers within the body of Christ?

I’m on dangerous ground now, but before you start casting stones lets think about it. What is your attitude towards those who may not be as spiritually “mature” as you are and struggle with sin? Or how about those who take a different doctrinal stand on various teachings that we hold to? In other words, could familiarity also breed self-absorbed pride? Perhaps pride is too strong, so could it be that familiarity breeds a spiritual comfort zone that makes us lazy in our relationships with other believers and our personal study of God’s Word?

When was the last time we let God really speak to us through His word that opened our eyes in a new way to the truth about ourselves forced us out of our religious boxes? Could it also be that our familiarity keeps us from hearing the ‘still small voice’ of the Spirit?

Have we become too familiar with Jesus? And if so what has it bred within our hearts? These are some tough questions that don’t have easy answers. What do you think?