The backslider likes the preaching that wouldn't hit the side of a house, while the real disciple is delighted when the truth brings him to his knees.
Interpretation
This quote contrasts the indifference of those avoiding truth with the appreciation of those seeking genuine understanding.
Billy Sunday's quote reflects on the difference between those who shy away from genuine truths and the disciples who embrace them, even if it means facing uncomfortable realities. It suggests that true seekers of wisdom value the moral and spiritual revelations that can challenge or humble them, as opposed to those who prefer superficial teachings that do not provoke change or growth.
In practice
This quote would be perfect for a sermon discussing the importance of accepting difficult truths in one's faith journey.
Whenever a day comes when I can stand and preach God's Word without an agony of anxiety lest the people will not accept Christ; whenever a day comes when I can see men and women coming down the aisles without joy in my heart, I'll quit preaching.
Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.
The saloon is a liar. It promises good cheer and sends sorrow.
I don't believe there are devils enough in hell to pull a boy out of the arms of a godly mother.
The trouble with many men is that they have got just enough religion to make them miserable. If there is not joy in religion, you have got a leak in your religion.
The church is not a dormitory for sleepers, it is an institution for workers; it is not a rest camp, it is a front line trench.
Fair speech may hide a foul heart.
The bigness of the world is redemption. Despair compresses you into a small space, and a depression is literally a hollow in the ground. To dig deeper into the self, to go underground, is sometimes necessary, but so is the other route of getting out of yourself, into the larger world, into the openness in which you need not clutch your story and your troubles so tightly to your chest.
When you accept what is, you are grateful for whatever situation arises.
While the right to talk may be the beginning of freedom, the necessity of listening is what makes that right important.
Know mankind well, don't degrade every man as evil, and don't exalt every man thinking he is good. He who cannot discover himself; cannot discover the world.
I've heard people say that God is the gift of desperation, and there's a lot to be said for having really reached a bottom where you've run out of any more good ideas or plans for everybody else's behavior; or how to save and fix and rescue; or just get out of a huge mess, possibly of your own creation.
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