Thoughts: Being a Christian is not being a sourpuss or kill joy as some have expressed. Being a Christian is not being a naive, overly positive, somewhat fake person. Being a Christian is not being a hater (ironically, Christians are persecuted and even martyred for this misnomer). Instead, being a Christian means being like Jesus whom we follow. He was not a kill joy- but brought people real joy- teaching the way of love instead of hate. Christ had deep joy that even his mockers and those who crucified Him could not take away. There is a deep joy in the Lord- and Jesus came to show us where to find that joy.
Where the misapprehension and mislabeling comes in is when we see Christians denying or pushing themselves back from what the world enjoys. Christians when they follow orthodox teaching (in theory, in teaching, and in practice) try to push themselves away from animal-like behavior. Christians do not teach that everyone is out for themselves and their temporary material wealth, power, or self-indulgence. Christians speak of a more permanent treasure and find their joy there. Jesus did say that if anyone wants to follow Him they must deny themselves and pick up their cross. Denying selfishness and facing our suffering with courage are Christian mainstays=oft misinterpreted- but that is not all.
The positive side is that we are to glorify and enjoy God. This gives us purpose and joy in life. To live in this faith also brings us into peace and fellowship (communion) with God. This is not just something we acknowledge intellectually, but is the joy and purpose that we live into. The abundant life and true joy is not found in selfishness- a survival of the fittest idea; but in selflessness. Altruism is an alternative truth to selfishness and blood-lust behavior. The joy in the Lord is the Christians hope and strength and abundant life. Knowing God is not a souring thing, but just the opposite. We were designed to know God, to honor and enjoy Him. When we do this it is like having oil put into our machine of life.
Prayer: Help me, O Lord, to choose joy by choosing you this day.
The great purpose toward which each human life is drawn is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Each member of the church glorifies God by recognizing and naming His glory, which is the manifestation and revelation of His own nature. Each member of the church enjoys God by being so united with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit as to become a participant in that divine nature, transformed from one degree of glory to another and escorted by Christ into the loving communion of the Trinity. So we confess our faith not
as a matter of dispassionate intellectual assent, but rather as an act by which we give God glory and announce our membership in the body of Christ. We trust that when God’s glory is so lifted up and when His nature is thus made manifest in the life of the body, the church will be a light that draws people from every tribe and tongue and nation to be reconciled to God. (Essentials, Fellowrhip of Presbyterians)
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