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Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Familiarity Breeds Contempt
Words of Faith 10-21-16
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2016
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
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John 6
[41] At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." [42] They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
[43] "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. [44] "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. [45] It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. [46] No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. [47] I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. [48] I am the bread of life. [49] Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. [50] But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. [51] I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

There were some around Jesus who were grumbling. For some reason they simply could not accept that Jesus was the “bread of life that came down from heaven”. It seemed outlandish and they said so! After all, they KNEW Jesus and His family. "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
There is a proverb found in Aesop’s tale of the “Fox and Lion” which says, “Familiarity breeds Contempt”. It seems these grumblers were too familiar with Jesus to really see Him for who He was!
It is difficult to see someone you grew up with as a prophet. It is hard to see someone you helped diaper in infancy as God. This may have been the most difficult group to reach. Jesus noted on another occasion that "only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor" (Mark 6:4). Familiarity can breed contempt.
The question for us is whether familiarity could breed contempt in our own spiritual lives? It sounds strange even to make the suggestion. After all, one of the primary goals is in our Christian life is to attain a closeness with Jesus. We study His life and teachings. We commune with Him in prayer and meditation. Could such closeness breed contempt? Possibly. We must understand that there is a difference between familiarity and intimacy.
Intimacy with Jesus grows in respect; familiarity does not. Intimacy grows in honor toward Jesus; familiarity does not. We grow familiar with Jesus when we know all ABOUT Jesus but don’t really KNOW Jesus. We grow familiar with Jesus when our relationship with Him is reduced to empty prayers, rituals, and motions. We grow familiar when we take for granted His lovingkindness and treat His grace as a cheap commodity. Out of such familiarity arises contempt.
We may recoil. "I cannot imagine 'contempt' in the church." But it is there. Contempt that arises from such familiarity is not an outward animosity. Contempt for the Lord is more characterized by a lukewarm religiousness that has lost its first love. Contempt born of familiarity is complacent. The contempt that arises from familiarity fails to respond to the leading of the Lord knowing that there will always be another day.
Contempt for the Lord replaces relationship with religion. We show contempt for Jesus when we re-shape Him into our own image rather than allow Him to conform us to His image. We show contempt in a thousand different little rebellions that we justify because we know “He will forgive us”. We show contempt for the Lord when we seek to fill needs in our lives with something other than Him.
What is the answer to familiarity? What will save us from the snare of contempt? Genuine intimacy! That is really what the “Bread of Life” is all about. The Father calls us beyond religion to feed upon a relationship with Jesus that really gives Life. This deep feeding is anything but familiar!
In this relationship with Jesus we are taught by God Himself! In this relationship, Jesus is our window to the Creator of the universe. In this relationship we grow more and more awed by His majesty and less "familiar" with the wonders of His love. He is new every morning. In Him we find everlasting life, unlimited life! In Jesus we are fed by something greater even than the manna consumed in the desert by the children of Israel.
Does this sound familiar? How is your relationship with Jesus? Intimate or familiar? Real or religious? He offers you Life this very day. He invites You to the Bread of Life.

Jesus, forgive me for any neglect of our relationship. I long for the real thing. Feed me with the Bread of Life. Fill me with Your Life. In Jesus’ Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2002, 2016
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.