I wrote two articles. First, an article about being right with God through faith rather than through works. Second, an article about my views on homosexuality and homosexual marriage. I gave them very plain titles and verbalized my thoughts in very plain ways. I was careful to think through everything before I wrote it to avoid mistakes. One article about being right with God in all things…justified. One article about a lifestyle preference…homosexuality.
It seems to me that the more important issue of discussion is justification. Am I wrong? Are we not concerned with our justification? To weight our interest in these two topics as we have is like being more concerned about the color of the train car than whether it’s on the tracks. We are more concerned with pursuing happiness than pursuing God.
It seems we are more concerned with getting what we want than asking what He wants. In fact, we are willing to twist and distort what He has said to make sure we get what we want. Many have lost the fear of the Lord and abused scripture references such as ‘boldy approach the throne’ or ‘all things are possible’ on their way to disrespecting God with prideful demands. A humble heart understands the authority in charge.
Deeper than your disagreement with my stance on homosexuality or the way I worded the article is the problem of justification. Are we concerned with justification? I contest that most are assuming the position of lord of their own life. A humbled servant would never adopt a battle cry demanding the right to pursue happiness.
Watchman Nee once said, “God must bring us to a point – I cannot tell you how it will be, but he will do it – where, through a deep and dark experience, our natural power is touched and fundamentally weakened, so that we no longer dare trust ourselves… At length there comes a time when we no longer ‘like’ to do Christian work – indeed we almost dread to do things in the Lord’s Name. But then, at last, He can begin to use us.”
Christianity is not about happiness but holiness. Stop pursuing what makes you happy and start pursuing what is Holy.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8
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Watchman Nee gets way to dark, I think. It’s not that he’s wrong, but that his experience of holiness is not the way everyone experiences.
For those whose hearts are turned to God, holiness IS happiness. It’s the only happiness.
I think that when we sharply distinguish between happiness and holiness were are prone to a vision of God that is distorted. Ultimately what he wants is good because it is good for us. Otherwise good loses its meaning.
I know, this is aside from the point you are trying to make, and I think you made your point well. However, the implications of your language, I think, reach somewhere very dark.
I saw the danger of a dark interpretation of what I wrote. My hope is that people felt comfortable with the assumption that I don’t think happiness is bad. (Of course, joy would be a better term for what you and I are referring to.) Perhaps a better title would have been ‘Happiness through Holiness’. My goal was to approach the problem of getting the cart in front of the horse.
I tend to take a darker view of things than most but I do certainly enjoy being happy. As I have grown to trust Christ and walk in faith by His leading I have much less desire to take care of myself. The idea of pursuing happiness becomes more and more foreign as I pursue Him. I know you were making a side point, but it was still an important one. Sometimes I wonder what draws/pushes on people about our faith. It doesn’t seem like most people want to surrender much. Hard to be happy that way.
I agree, you were getting the cart before the horse. Our happiness is not our primary concern. God pours himself selflessly into us, and so our proper response is to pour ourselves selflessly into him. So we do not worry about our happiness, but entrust it to God, who has promised to make us happy. It’s very circular, as it is supposed to be.
I tend to be really dark myself, which was partly reaction to the fluffy, cotton-candy style faith I was fed as a kid. Also, it suits my preference for things like rust and fire and dirt and conflict, all things which are dirty and heavy.
But I think I’ve started to moderate my darkness, and I think it came about through my study of John. In the beginning, I did what all good evangelicals do when they want to ‘get serious’. I embraced Paul the missionary, the preacher, the moral guide. Then I wanted more wisdom, so I embraced Peter, the administrator, the elder, the rock. But it was when I wanted to go deeper than that, that I found the greatest depth in John, the visionary, the beloved, the mystic. And John is the least dark of the three. And I think that is what is making the change in me.
I guess we’ll see.
I forgot, what I was actually going to post, rather than the directly above:
In the nineties there was an amazing but obscure Christian band, called at first Precious Death, and then Blackball.
A song on their last album went something like this:
“You know I hated to pretend that life was beautiful, that love was good and never ends. I never wanted to be the one to tell you that everything would be all right.”
It still gets to me, because I’m a converted cynic. I say all the things that I once rejected, but I mean them now. For instance, what I said above about happiness. Anyway, all this to share my darkness alongside yours.
Wait! I said that wrong. You weren’t getting the cart before the horse. You we’re getting the horse before the cart. You were fixing the mistake, not making a mistake. I hope you took that the way I meant, not the way the words meant. Sorry.
I assumed that’s what you meant. I was pointing out the problem and you agreed with me. You just misused the ‘cart/horse’ analogy.