The only non-sports t.v. I watch is when I'm on a treadmill at the "Y". Oprah was on the other day and they had the "Sex in the City" chicks on (there were either three or four of them). As Oprah was talking to each one, they went on and on and on about how happy they were. One had had breast cancer, a couple had divorces, substance abuse, etc. BUT none of that mattered because at that particular moment, each one of these women was EXTREMELY happy.
Then I went home and perused a Reader's Digest which my mother-in-law (bless her heart) had brought us. The leading article was "10 ways to become happy." The article was full of secrets to be, "ridiculously, outrageously, uproariously" happy.
Maybe our greatest modern idol isn't sex or stuff or power. Maybe it's personal happiness. How many times have I heard a man say he divorced his wife because, "I just wasn't happy"? Drugs and suicide are rife in our society (especially amongst the deliriously happy celebrities), one is an attempt at happiness, the other is the result of not finding it.
The Church must show this happy crazed society the joy of Christ. As we worship and fellowship together, we show the world a kind of joy that sacrifices for others and can exult even in the midst of hardship.
Have mercy upon us, Lord Jesus.
3 comments:
I sort of know what you're saying Jed, but I think I am not quite understanding what you mean the Church should do. I don't really like to contrast happiness with Christianity as if the two can't exist together. I am not saying you are doing that; I'm just not sure. I just think that our arm of the Church often retaliates against that other "health and wealth" stuff and talks about Jesus as a "man of sorrows" and points out the hardship in Paul's life and other saints' lives, and basically equates the Christian life with miserable circumstances, but insists that the true follower of Christ won't mind. Or something like that. Maybe that is my misinterpretation of the whole John Piper club. But it seems that the Church is not really offering anything to those who want to be happy. God gave us emotions, and of course we want to be happy. I am not saying do drugs or divorce or sin in any way to be happy, I am just saying that I think it unfortunate that the Church that I have known has not often recognized happiness as something human, something normal and okay. Rather, we are urged to be selfless to the point that our feelings don't really matter. There is something demeaning about telling a person that their happiness does not matter. I don't think that is something God would say. A person's happiness is not the only thing, or even the most important thing, but I do think God cares about our feelings and desires.
George says you will agree with what I am saying, in which case, I guess I am just saying this is why the Church is not relevant to these people, because it is not perpetuating an idea that Christianity and happiness can coexist.
I think it gives God pleasure when we are happy, but as Christians, that's not the be all and end all that it is to the world. Ecclesiastes talks about there being a time for everything. In other words, we will be happy sometimes, and we will be unhappy and seriously discouraged at other times, and it is ok to recognize both circumstances. It is not and all or nothing situation.
Ever read "Brave New World"?
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