there is a difference between people who can't hear and people who don't hear...

"the Christian novelist [or writer] is distinguished from his pagan colleages by recognizing sin as sin. According to his heritage he sees it not as sickness or an accident of environment, but as a responsible choice of offense against God which involves his eternal future. Either one is serious about salvation or one is not...." ~Flannery O'Connor

The parables that Jesus told were not to comfort listeners, but to confront them with their own sin. ~bret lott