one last word on happiness

"So there was great joy in that city." 

- Acts 8:8

This past Sunday we wrapped up our month long mini-series "Shalom: Holy and Wholly" at United Life. After exploring Anger, Fear, and Sadness, you might think this week's topic, Happiness, was the easiest. Strangely enough, it was actually the hardest, something I think that could be telling in terms of our strengths and weaknesses as a ministry, and for all followers of Christ in general. 

In any case, one thing that was hard about discussing what place happiness has for someone who has been born anew in Christ is that happiness is not something people want to be transformed from. It's easy to get people to see how the sanctification of the Holy Spirit is a good thing when it leads to healthier ways of dealing with our sadness, anger, and fear. Trying to show how God wants to transform our happiness and joy seems almost paradoxical. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? 

Yet happiness is, like the other emotions, a gift from God that has indeed been broken through sin, even if it's harder to see what might be broken about it (on Sunday we focused mainly on the human problem of trying to manufacture and control happiness). Today I'd like to take some space to share one more thing about happiness that I couldn't really get to on Sunday. That is, that joy is an integral part of, even a sign of health for the body of Christ. 

Acts 8 begins with an update on Saul's pogrom against the early church. After mournful followers of Christ bury their brother Stephen, they return home to find Saul's momentum growing, his men kicking down their doors, dragging other believers off to prison. But then, those who manage to escape do something amazing: even as they run, they spread the news of why they are running: Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of God. One particular believer, Philip, goes to the Samaritans, a group of "half-Jews" long rejected by the other Israelites. As they listen to him tell them about Jesus, they listen eagerly. Then, when he begins to perform healings and exorcisms in the name of that same Jesus, they are filled with joy. 

As I look at our ministry, and at the state of the church in general, I can't say that joy is the first word that comes to mind. Granted, I'm kind of a perpetual critic, but it's hard to say that the world looks at the Body of Christ and thinks, "I want that kind of joy!" If any thing, I think that they see the few smiles that do happen on Sundays and assume that they are the smirks of self-righteous, holier-than-thou, fire-insured hypocrites. 

Yet we cannot just slap happy masks on, nor do we need to. The Samaritans, when they saw what was happening in the name of Jesus, were filled with the joy that naturally comes when we see God at work. I feel the same way when I hear someone share a powerful testimony of how God changed their life, or when I hear a word of advice or encouragement from a mentor that sounds like it's coming straight from God. I even feel it when I see a beautiful landscape, or a finely crafted piece of art, both evidence of God's hand at work. 

We are not meant to seek after happiness for its own sake, but God has built us with the capacity for great joy. And just like an athelete needs to stretch her muscles before she competes, those who follow Christ must allow God to stretch and fill this capacity. This might look like taking time to thank Him for His handiwork, whether in our lives or in the world around us. It might look like setting aside our worries for a moment and just remembering that, in Jesus Christ, nothing can separate us from His love. It may even just be a matter of knowing that it's okay to feel deeply, deeply happy. 

One last thing: this is not something we have to do alone. As a Body of Christ, I'm pretty sure this also means patting each other (and ourselves) on the back every now and then. Encouragement and gratitude shouldn't be a reward handed out to the worthy, but a trademark characteristic of a forgiven people.