Think of all of the things you use for something other than what it/they were created or are commonly used for. Using a foot to close a door, credit card for a windshield ice-scraper, business card for a toothpick, piece of paper to level a table or keep a table from rocking, a paper clip for pushing the reset on an electronic device, a hanger to open a car door, a screwdriver to pry open a paint can lid, duct tape as rope, a chopstick as a hair pin, a chair as a ladder or step stool, a book to boost a child in an adult chair, rock as a paper weight, microwave as a clothes dryer, a clothes dryer to remove dog hair from already dry clothing, a brick to keep a door from slamming in the wind, a bobby pin as an electrical connector, a sewing needle to remove a sliver. Or how about the cycle of misused items: a bad dvd as a Frisbee, a Frisbee as a dog dish, a dog dish as a cat dish, a cat dish as a shovel, a shovel as an axe, and axe as something with which to smash a bad dvd movie- a full cycle of misuses.
The same can be said of our words. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I have used someone’s quote for purposes completely foreign to the original speaker’s intent. And, the same could be said of the ways in which I have been quoted. People get something unintended by the speaker all of the time.
People also will often misuse speech. Expressions, idioms and malapropisms are often used far from their originally intended use. For instance, “Raising Cain” does not mean to cut loose and be wild, but to raise someone who does something wild. “Reign of Terror” is not for something to rain down from the sky, but for a king or someone who is reigning in a way that produces terror in his/her subjects. “Whet your appetite” means to sharpen it by arousal, not making your mouth wet with something. “Waiting with bated breath” means to have slowed breath as if one is too nervous to breathe. It is not the opposite as some suppose, breathing with stirred excitement.
I say all of this to say, it is commonplace for us to have other motives and other uses. Paul spoke of this when he said to the Philippians, “that whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached” (Philippians 1:18). I am well aware of people who have odd understandings of our Lord. I am convinced that the cultic deviations disappear when a person comes into a true, relationship with the true Jesus. All that said, some folks have very limited understanding, but great benefit from their connection with Christ. It is somewhat like the blind man in John chapter 9 who knew very little about Jesus but he did know that Jesus was the one who brought him sight (verse 25). Limited understanding. Full experience. Now just think about how deeply powerful it becomes when we match a fuller understanding and the fullest experience. Then there are no cross purposes. Just great joy.