I am reading the account of our Lord’s visit to His hometown where, at first He enjoyed a great welcome.  Yet things turned south quickly, and after speaking well of Him at first, within a short period the people were all about destroying Him.  “No prophet is welcome in His hometown,” He had said; and then went on to tell of how the earlier prophets Elijah and Elisha had ministered not to the Israelites, but to those of other lands, to pagans.  

What strikes me are the Lord’s words as paraphrased by commentator David Brown:  “Too much familiarity breeds contempt.”  I cannot help but think that this applies to we in our day concerning the person Jesus.  

I understand that presently there is a generation rising up that ‘knows not the Lord’; whereas, in a more general sense, America is an evangelized nation.  That is to say, there is no want for professing Christians, churches, Christian media, Christian literature, and overall Christian culture.  Yet the title of Phillip Yancy’s book, The Jesus I Never Knew, comes to mind.  Most people do not know Jesus Christ, nor do they pursue knowing Him; He has become all too common to them.  Jesus Christ is taken for granted in our land.  

I know this to be true simply by considering those in my extended family.  While I have not surveyed them, from what I have observed I would say that they would all, upon asking, profess a belief in God and Jesus.  And though I have not consulted Barna recently, but have read the data at some point in this last year, most Americans would likely say the same thing.  But does Jesus Christ occupy the life?  Motivate the soul?  Fill the mind?  Is He worshipped on Sundays? Any day?  Hardly.  Church attendance is on the decline, and these days even those who sincerely believe in the Lord do not consider going to church a necessity.  

Yes, there are those who hate the Lord and all He represents; they would wipe Him and all the vestiges of a believing nation from the land.  And that they have done to some degree; they have removed Him from the public square, from the public schools, and even from some of the churches!  But still, Christians and Christianity is commonplace.  Jesus Christ is even among the curse words Americans use, and not for praise.  

What is needed?  If Americans do not know the One they profess, if our familiarity with Him has bred contempt–what then?  They must see another aspect of Him they haven’t seen; they must come to know Him as He really is.  How would that be?  

I shall from here speak randomly, writing as things come to mind.  

First of all, let the truth be told.  “Truth has stumbled in the streets,” the prophet Isaiah wrote.  Since the church is “the pillar and support of the truth,” and since she has been more or less silent for many, many years, let her rise up and call a spade a spade.  Let her speak the truth in love. Let her address the issues of the day on behalf of the One who has the answers.  Let her confront the lies being perpetrated by the chief of liars, Satan.  

Second, let there be a demonstration of a true, experiential knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.  When the Bible speaks of knowing God, it is not just head knowledge–my goodness, the world has enough of that!  “Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.”  It is not the theologian that exhibits Christianity, but the person who is living in communion with Jesus Christ.  This is seen by the relationships Christians have with one another.   “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  Christ and Christianity will be seen to be altogether uncommon if the life of the believer stands out in stark contrast to the rest of the world.  And this in his love for his fellow Christians.

Third, let the power fall.  I think of Che Ahn’s book, Say Goodby to Powerless Christianity,  which is certainly what must happen to dispel our familiarity with the gospel.  “The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk,” Paul writes, “but of power.”  In another place he says, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”  

Perhaps the single most greatest need of the hour is for a display of power.  I believe people seeing and experiencing God’s power will knock familiarity with Christ right out of the park. 

I say “let the power fall” because that is crucial; we need God to unleash His power upon and through His willing people.  A good example is from my own life just recently.  I know a man who is so much like those I have described above.  He would, and has, professed Jesus; yet there is no evidence that he is an active follower of Jesus Christ–at least as I understand it.  They say he is going blind in one eye.  So one day I laid my hand upon his eye and prayed it be healed–this, in accord with our Lord’s own words in Mark 16 (which I believe with all my heart!).  But, so far, nothing has happened; his eye remains as is.  What if, when I laid my hands on him his eye was instantly and forever healed?  I think his relationship with Christ would be dramatically changed!  

Christianity is indeed all too common in these United States.  There is a Jesus we have never known–at least not in modern times.  There is even a contempt for Him and His followers.  All of which needs to change.  The truth of God’s word must be told–no more watering down Scripture to save our necks, fear confrontation, or avoid losing church members.  The life of Christ must be demonstrated in the church if it is to be exported.  And God’s power is absolutely critical if we wish to reach those who take Jesus for granted.  

With regard to which, this last need, I close with a prayer prayed by the church in the book of Acts:

“And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30).