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| Joyance n: delight, enjoyment One of my favorite comics appeared in a Christian publication several years ago. An old and rather haggard looking man in an overcoat with a briefcase on his lap is sitting next to a woman on a subway train. He is turned toward her and the caption reads, “No, ma’am, I’m not a preacher. I’ve just been ill for a few days.” Ouch! The cartoonist is certainly making a comment about what often comes to people’s minds when they think of a preacher. I suspect that this same caricature may also be a common perception of Christians (followers of Christ). Today if someone takes his Christian faith seriously it is commonly assumed that he will be a dour person who looks like he has been weaned on a dill pickle. We think that he will be the kind of person who is against more things than he is for, as if he lives to call balls and strikes on everyone else. We expect such people to talk disparagingly of society’s morals and values but we strongly suspect that their rhetoric simply betrays their own arrogance and self-righteousness. Unfortunately such “profiling” is rarely helpful, instructive, or edifying. Instead, it serves only to confirm one’s own prejudices. That one can actually find Christians and preachers who fit the profile is beside the point. Of deeper concern for me is how antithetical such a caricature is to actually following Christ. Read through the gospels and you will discover that Jesus’ primary mission was to draw people to God. And his focus was not that a person has to be good enough, moral enough, or meet a certain minimum standard of ethics. It is not that sin and immorality were not important; it is just that Jesus was drawn to sinners, loved them, and cared about them. Christ is not morally neutral. It is not possible to be associated with justice, mercy, goodness, and benevolence without making judgments on what they entail. But Jesus did not spend a lot of time pronouncing judgments on people or condemning their sin. Most people were well enough aware of their sinfulness. He was, however, extremely critical toward those religious people who were arrogant and self-righteous – oblivious to their own sin – which should be a warning to all of us who are religious, and especially to those of us who make a living being religious! He had two chief complaints with the religious establishment. First, that they were not as close to God as their outwardly religious activity made them feel. Second, they were accountable as leaders for actually subversively leading people away from God. What a terrible irony that today, followers of Christ should be so closely associated with the religious curmudgeons whom Jesus Himself thought were furthest from God! Jesus was accused of being a glutton and a drunkard (Matthew 11:19). His first miracle was turning 180 gallons of water into premium wine at a wedding party (John 2:1-11). The Apostle John actually refers to this as a sign and not simply a supernatural manifestation, because it points to something deeper. The rabbis had a saying, “Without wine there is no joy.” Wine was a symbol of joy and Jesus, at the very outset of His ministry, was serving notice that He was here to bestow joy. But this sign was not merely about an abundance of wine; it was about the abundance of joy that is found in being near to God. David understood this when he wrote of God in Psalm 16, “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Later Jesus would declare, “I came that they might have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Among His last words to His closest associates, His disciples were, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:10-11). If you are a follower of Christ it is clear that one of the outstanding qualities that should mark your life is joy. Furthermore, joy is related to your proximity to God, not to your success or the material trappings of success. If you are not a follower of Christ, please understand that He came not to condemn you but to offer you life and joy by drawing you into God’s family. |
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by Dr. J. Patrick Curtis, Senior Pastor |
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