Two weeks have have gone by since Emergent '04 - San Diego, and I'm still unpacking from the two-day Critical Concerns Course with Dallas Willard. In particular, I've been thinking about how Dallas put his finger on the problem of contempt in our culture.

“'Contempt' is a big problem -- discounting people; saying that they don’t matter, etc.' Much of today’s conversations are filled with contemptuous words. Jesus endeavored to 'remove contempt' between people – this was HUGE to him. Even the very notion of “unclean” is a type of contempt..."' It's common in our culture to act contemptously. For example: “Business is Business' – what does such a person have in mind when they say this to us?" [answer:] “I’m about to do something that’s not entirely (or morally) “right”. We need to teach people that business cannot just be business.

So I'm wondering... what are some other common sayings that may reveal dubious motives in how we relate to one another? And what should we do about it? Well, Dallas answered this from one angle in particular:

"People’s character needs to change. This cannot be reduced to a series of steps (which has “action” as it’s orientation). This is also a process that unfolds in time. We must be very patient with people. [And] in order to successfully teach, we must move to the level of who we are.”

The work of reproducing "disciples" (Dallas favors the word 'apprentice') is a LONG process. This runs contrary to the "disciple strategies" which characterize much of evangelical Christianity. We've been enculturated into pursuing more immediate results. And so lives haven't been transformed at the depth that they should. But what the heck! Business is business, right?