This last Wednesday night I was sharing with the kids how God wants us to be happy. We were looking at specifically how we as Christians can be happy. We begin to "live our Christian life," and then look for something else to make us happy. We treat Christianity like it's our 'job' and then we find other things to fill our leisure time. I'm guilty of that all the time, but the truth is that if we are truly living our lives the right way, we find that satisfaction and happiness living right and building the kingdom.
I looked up the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) and read them from The Message. Not that they mean anything differently there, but I saw them in a new light. I always read them like they were blessings given to those that worked their 'job' properly or suffered. That there were separate from their leisure time...their happy time. But as I read them in The Message and even reread in my Bible, I see that it isn't just a blessing to suffering martyrs, but a blessing to those that found happiness in their Christian lives.
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule."
"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embrace by the One most dear to you."
"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."
"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. he's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat."
"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourself cared for."
"You're blessed when you get your inside world--your mind and heart--put right. Then you can see God in the outside world."
"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family."
"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom."
"Not only that--count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens--give a cheer, even!--for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble."
This isn't a 'blessed are the hurting' message, it's a 'this is what Making Happy Happen looks like' message. It's about getting yourself taken perfectly care of when you quit trying to take care of yourself and instead focus on others and the work of the Holy Spirit through you. It's about finding happiness in all areas of life--your job, your marriage, your kids, your passions--because you let God own it all. It's not about suffering now so you can be blessed or rewarded in heaven. It's about the reward of happiness that you will find even now here on this earth. It's about becoming a better friend, husband, wife, parent, co-worker, etc. It's about knowing God in a way that you know you don't and know you should.
This message, the 'Sermon on the Mount' (Matthew 5-7), began with those words and ended with these:
"But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
2 years ago
8 comments:
That is a wild translation. I've seen "The Message" on the shelves of my local bookstores, but never picked it up. I've alway stayed away from "strange versions" of the bible. Primarily ignorance I'm sure.
I don't have much experience with these type of translations other than you and I as youth quoting my mother's NLT to make our point that women (read: youth girls) need to hush their mouths in church just as Paul had "commanded".
Perhaps the amount of trouble we got into for that is one of the causal factors of avoidance.
I listen to Chip Ingram quite a bit and a phrase he coins in his messages is 'Holiness over Happiness'. It sounds as though you nailed that concept during your teachings.
As a parent, when I ask my child to clean their room, their happiness is not my primary agenda.
Often we (Christians, generally) justify such atrocities as divorce under the guise of "I'm sure God wants me happy". However when it comes to matters of holiness, our "happiness" is the not on the forefront of God's mind.
Well, 'loose' translations like that I see more as interpretations than translations. As long as you have a more legitimate translation handy, it's really nothing more than a preacher reading a passage and following with, "So what it's saying is..."
But I agree with what your saying about holiness. Once your heart is right and you're headin' in the right direction, they become one in the same. I look at all of the positiveness (is that a word?) in Paul's letters...especially the ones written from prison. That really puts it in perspective and tires me of the "whoa is me" people of the world who do nothing to change their situations.
And ya, we were just outnumbered by the girls and had to do something, but being outnumbered at 14-15-16 yrs old wasn't always such a bad deal either.
John Piper calls being "happy" in God "Christian Hedonism." He does want us to be happy but above all to be happy in Him! Thanks for sharing.
"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."
John Piper
Well, I've read your blog for some time and I've always been too afraid to put myself out there and blog (in fact, this is my first comment!!!) I've noticed how important your marriage is to you and what you wife means to you (like I'm jealous of her--but in a good way!; and you have a beautiful family). I couldn't help but see the parallel there with marriage too. If we just try to be a spouse and find satisfaction in other areas of life, we can miss the true satisfaction of marriage. I've learned the hard way that I didn't put enough into my marriage (and neither did he!), and now it's gone. Your insights and even ventings have helped me through some long days.
Scott, I think you're right on with the concept, but maybe the word "happy" is tripping people up a little. Happy (I think) is a superficial response, whereas joy is a state of the spirit, deep inside. I heard a preacher say once that God cares a lot more for our growth than he does our comfort. If we have that deep sense of joy, our attitudes will be different, even if we're feeling a negative emotion.
Glad to see you aren't sold out to the Message. I see it just like you do-an interesting tool to get another perspective. I read, but don't know if it's true, that Eugene Peterson (is that his name-the guy who wrote it?) was very upset when he saw pastors preach from it from the pulpit and it being called a "translation" not a paraphrase.
Keep up the good blogging! You've got good stuff here!
Well I was using the term "happy" because that is the term people use to describe their current situations..."I'm just not happy" "I'm finally happy" "I just want to be happy." Right, happy is what they think they want, but when they search for it ('it' being what it takes to fill that 'hole') the right way they discover that it is filled with joy, holiness, etc. instead.
Gotcha. Sorry if I missed that the first time ;)
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