From a ChristianityToday interview of N.T. Wright:
"In other words, don't assume that you've got God taped, and fit Jesus into that. Do it the other way. We all come with some ideas of God. Allow those ideas to be shaped around Jesus. "
It requires us to come with humility, and being willing to learn. It means changing what we think and believe in light of what we read.

"the gospel is that the crucified and risen Jesus is the Lord of the world...That has always been at the heart of the Lord's Prayer, and how we've managed for years to say the Lord's Prayer without realizing that Jesus really meant it is very curious... It's quite clear in the text that Jesus' kingdom doesn't start with this world. It isn't a worldly kingdom, but it is for this world. It's from somewhere else, but it's for this world."
This is a helpful way to think about what is important and how to balance two tensions. I think of it as three types of relationships: with God, with Christians, with the world. We need to be giving and receiving in each of these.