As Americans, we believe we have the right to pursue happiness. As Christians, we have access to joy in Christ.
For the believer, Jesus is the source of all real joy. He bought and paid for our joy along with the rest of our unspeakably wonderful benefits package.
However, just because joy is Christ’s gift to us doesn’t mean it comes our way easily.
Every human culture in every era has contained anti-gospel elements, and ours is no exception. That’s because Satan uses worldview to indoctrinate humans with his lies.
Consider just a few Western cultural paradigms which can snatch our joy:
Busyness — We tend to live out beyond the margins, filling every spare moment with activities. We are driven to accomplish, produce and achieve.
Problem is, If we rush through our moments to get to the next thing, we will never taste the joy of the moment we are in right now. We may reach burnout and exhaustion, but joy eludes us.
Comparison — The media in general, and social media in particular, feeds this attitude. We work at being skinnier, smarter, sexier, richer, more successful, or … having a more significant ministry than the next guy. (Ouch!)
The Bible calls this “selfish ambition” (James 3:14,16). Comparison is all about pride. It’s the opposite of being secure in Christ and having a servant heart. It makes us miserable, not joyful.
Cynicism — Boy, are we good at this! Cynicism is arrogant, snarky, and too cool for joy. It puts thoughts in our heads like That’s too good to be true or Did God really say that?
Cynicism the opposite of childlike hope and faith. It despises joy and leads to despair.
Entitlement/greed — “I deserve a better ________.” Fill in the blank with job or house or ministry or spouse or kid … if we feel we have a right to the gifts God has provided, we will never be satisfied.
John D. Rockefeller was asked, “How much money is enough?” and he replied, “Just a little bit more.”
Greed and entitlement are the opposite of gratitude. They lead to discontentment, never to joy.
Isolation — Think of how much joy in your life is due to your relationships. If we lack significant connection with others, we lack joy. We are wired for community — and not just through social media, by the way.
The internet offers a dangerously false sense of companionship. We need real people., real interaction, real conversation.
So our Western worldview leads us to exhaustion, despair, discontentment and loneliness … not to joy.
We have a choice to make. Will we conform to this anti-gospel world system? Will we let Satan snatch our joy?
Or will we fight for what Jesus bought for us with his precious blood?
Here’s the thing: Our five senses ground us to reality. Put a human in sensory deprivation, and he will go crazy in short order. We are physical creatures, and for the believer, God promises a new body one day.
While we inhabit this earth, our sensory experiences are meant to connect us with the joy that is to come when we get to be with Jesus face to face. Our very best moments are merely appetizers for the feast that awaits in heaven.
So, to keep our joy from being snatched …
We need to keep the long view in mind while savoring the present moment.
We can train our five senses and our minds to help us connect to the reality of our future hope.
In Part Two, I’ll show you how. Meanwhile, be on your guard for those joy-snatchers!
Photo credit: http://morguefile.com/search/morguefile/3/joy/pop
