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“Often familiarity breeds apathy.” When Chris made this common statement on Sunday, it caused me to pause and think. I know this statement to be very true of myself, and for multiple reasons. Having read through Acts, I know that the gospel comes up time and time again, because this book is about the witness of Christ spreading. Time and time again, I am going to hear Christ proclaimed in the next few weeks of sermons.

So, what does it look like to keep my heart warm towards the gospel message? This is not just about developing a “skill”, where once you learn it you never need to revisit it. This is something that will require wisdom and tuning for the rest of my life. Here is one way I want to start pursuing keeping my heart receptive towards the gospel.

I aim to be serious about small sin. This also is a common statement that can gain my apathy, and is probably why I grow in apathy towards the gospel. If I don’t view sin (even small sin) as my greatest problem, I will not view Christ and the gospel as my blessed hope.

The temptation I find is to simply view my response to sin as a correction of action without ever having an appropriate grief. I pray that seeing my weakness will lead to appropriate brokenness, not just an outward changing of actions. (Psalms 51) Andy Stearns reminded us in Bible Training that confession is to say what God has said is true. So, true confession takes into account how God views sin. Do I view the small sins in my life the way God does?

One way I plan to implement this is by reaching out to an older saint in our church and bring them into my “small” struggles. To have someone walk with me in the areas of my life that seem inconsequential will provide a good buffer when I am tempted to think it is not a big deal, and when I am tempted to despair when it seems overwhelming.

This is a practice we should always be doing, but it is helpful to think about how does viewing my sin rightly (or wrongly for that matter) affect my desire for the gospel. And I must admit, I often do it imperfectly. I hope that having a “gospel centered” approach towards sin will help act as a buffer in growing cold, and actually make the gospel more precious.