Torch, Spring 1993

En though a few people identify a somber face with being a Christian, believe it or not, it really is okay for Christians to be happy people! Our Christianity is designed to cause us to "love life and see good days" (1 Peter 3:10 quoting Psalm 34:12). That implies we feel a deep sense of joy and well-being within and that we can project a positive, smiling presence to those about us. Both Peter and David affirm the propriety and possibility of believers enjoying their earthly pilgrimage. Why then do so many of us look so somber? Why do we struggle with being truly happy people? While our Christian experience seems quite capable of fitting us for heaven, we strain to enjoy it now. "Loving life and seeing good days" seems little more than an elusive pipe dream for too many of God's children. One reason is because we allow kill-joys to come in. Yes, kill-joys. We allow certain attitudes and practices to become attached to our Christianity like barnacles on a ship. These barnacles suck the life out of our Christianity and kill off our joy. These misconceptions can become so closely attached to our understanding of Christianity that we can even confuse them with true Christianity. But they are little more than barnacles and must be recognized as such and removed from our hearts. Then we will "love life and see good days" as the people of God. The world already thinks we can' t be happy as Christians. Our task is to show them otherwise. We can be happy though Christians. ;t;!f-ilofl 1: If /{life RalfP ;tfelfta/;'tf We tend'to view Christianity as purely a vertical relationship and not a horizontal one. We know we need the Lord and we cultivate our relationship with Him, but we do not functionally believe that we need people as well. Yes, we are saved as individuals but immediately upon being saved we land in a group-whether we want to or not, whether we know it or not. The "one anothers" of the New Testament automatically include us, too. Consequently, we cannot view ourselves as Lone Rangers, rugged individualists serving alone in the cause of Christ, disconnected from any sense of real dependence on others. Rather, we must come to view ourselves as connected to other believers in a network of interpersonal relationships. Even Paul, fierce individualist that he was, acknowledged his need for other people and the joy they brought to him. He was not just being polite when he wrote to his Philippian friends, "I have you in my heart," and "God is my witness how greatly I long for you all," and "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you" (Philippians 1:7,8,3). We will be "happy campers" when we, like Paul, admit our need for other believers and cultivate solid friendships with them. ;t;!l-ilo1 2: ;tf t1jQl"flfj (JI( ;tf;l((Jl"J'/ ;tf;l((/l"l'trj (JI( ;tf9/(Jl"J' Not only did Paul want his friends to sense a real camaraderie with him, he also wanted them to grow in discernment so as to "approve things that are excellent" (Philippians 1:10). In other words, he wanted them to think straight, to realize the difference between the good, the better, and the best, to distinguish between the major and the minor. Did you know there were such categories within Christian thought? Some things actually are more important than others, and Paul wished for his friends to be able to distinguish such priorities. We need to discern the same realities today. As Lee Iaccoca said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." What the Bible clearly teaches is major; what the Bible is silent on is minor. We must be willing to fight for the major and just as willing to flex in the minor. Each area of doctrine has its majors and minors, for example: rr;h-t for inerrancy for the virgin birth for the deity of Christ for substitutionary atonement ;:-1e,)! about which versions to use about how to celebrate Christmas about which miracles He performed in His power, which in the Spirit's about the actual day of the week on which Christ died for Christ's bodily resurrection on the number/order of His post-resurrection appearances We will be much happier when we learn to balance majors and minors, stressing what is truly vital and giving liberty in what is peripheral. ;t;!!-ilo? 3: /&;M'-11eth1'tf Why do we fee[ guilty when we relax? Many Christians tend to be perfectionists by temperament. We drive ourselves to the breaking point in order to achieve or at least pursue excellence. We feel we must "give every flying minute something to keep in store." In other words, life is too short to waste any of it on leisure or relaxation. Our self-image tells us we do not really deserve "a break today," and our understanding of Christian responsibilities drives us relentlessly. Those who love people think, "There is always someone else who needs me." Those who love work remember, "There is always something else to do." Those who love practicality reason, "There is always something more important on which to spend my money." So we give ourselves unstintinglyto meet others ' needs, our "things to do" list keeps growing, and we rarely spend any of our hard-earned money for something we might enjoy. Torch 7