Has the Gospel become too familiar?

Greetings from Chicago: A place that has LESS snow than Greenville, SC.

These past few weeks have been a time of great examination in my own life. It has been a tremendous privilege and blessing to have spent these past 15 months or so studying the Gospel of Mark. I have been consumed in chapters 14-15 for the better part of two months now and  cannot escape the reality that I have allowed watercooler theology to cloud my purpose.

Let's be honest: The more familiar something becomes to you the less appreciative you are of it. I grew up in Vermont, one of the most beautiful states in all of the U.S. Thousands of people come every year to experience the beauty of that which I had at my disposal my entire childhood. And yet, because I saw the mountains every day and experienced the autumn foliage every year, its beauty and majesty was lost in my familiarity of it. I had taken for granted that which others greatly desired.

I think this is what happens to the gospel in our lives. We become so familiar with the gospel that it becomes unfamiliar. We know it; we can even preach it; but do we really love it? Do we stand back in amazement and say, "How can this be? I have never seen something so beautiful."

I found this animation a couple days ago and was reminded of how complacent I had become with Jesus. I'm usually not one for theatrics, but this song and visual helped renew my understanding of Christ's substitutionary atonement for me. I trust it will do the same for you .