Joy To The World
Joy To The World
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
We human beings are odd creatures. Just a simple trip to Walmart can quickly confirm that statement. But it is our oddities that make us so unique in the realm of God’s creation. I am reminded practically every week of our tendency to conclude that our feelings are the final arbiter of reality when, in fact, often times it is precisely the opposite. Emotions are funny things. They are capable of instilling us with such euphoria while at the same time burdening us with such dread despite the fact that the reality of a particular situation might not lead to either of those things. I heard someone once say (in relation to humans): What do you do with a people who reason with their hearts?
It's a great question. Don’t get me wrong…I have no problem with emotions. They are part of our very being. They can give us such amazing feelings. However, especially when it comes to our relationship with God, they can be an obstacle to living the life God has for us to live. When I was assigned to the USS John F. Kennedy (an aircraft carrier that has been decommissioned for some time), I was responsible for the main Protestant worship service on Sunday mornings. And one thing that was really cool about that environment was the fact that so many people that worshiped there came from such diverse theological backgrounds. There was this one group of folks that used to come that came from a theological position that emphasized generating emotional responses in worship. Certainly there is nothing inherently wrong with that…at all. But it did lead to an interesting conversation one day.
After the service I was in my office when a young man came in to talk about how much he enjoyed the service. He said, “Chaplain…I know God was in the service today.” I replied, “How do you know that?” He quickly retorted, “Because I felt Him.” So, I asked another question. “What happens when you don’t feel Him?” Now, I know what he meant. Many times worship does produce a wave of positive emotions even to the point of being moved to tears of joy and thanksgiving. I’ve seen it happen to others. I’ve seen it happen to me. Please hear me when I say that an emotional response to worship is a very natural, and positive part of the entire experience. I get that. I’m guessing you are suspecting a “however” is just around the corner.
However (there it is), we absolutely have to understand that emotions alone are not an arbiter of truth. Our emotions are fallen just like the rest of us. Emotions can be wrong, manipulated, tricked, lied to, and in error. As a result, our emotional response to our relationship with God cannot be the litmus test that the relationship is sound and healthy. I don’t believe that God is with me because I feel Him. I believe God is with me because he said he would be (Matthew 28:20). I don’t believe the Holy Spirit lives within me because I feel Him. I believe that because God’s Word tells me that is the case (1 Cor. 6:17-20). Because let’s face it. Sometimes God feels like He is 1,000 miles away from me. When I am in the depths of some kind of pain and suffering He often feels. In CS Lewis’ heartbreaking and inspiring book “A Grief Observed” he wonders aloud if God is not only NOT at the door knocking…but that maybe He even has bolted and double locked the door.
That is where a dependence on feelings related to God can actually lead us to despair. If He is with me only when I feel Him…then it stands to reason that he is not with me if I don’t feel Him. But that is most certainly not true. Why are we talking about this anyway? Because this week of Advent focuses on joy. And being the emotional beings we are, the vast majority of Believers will automatically connect joy with happiness. They will deconstruct the Biblical construct of joy to the point that it will actually rob us of the joy that is a miraculous gift from a loving God. Joy will come to be seen as an emotion that can ebb and flow like a winding river. Therein lay the problem of emotions. They come and go based almost exclusively on our circumstances. I can be the happiest guy in the world one second…get a devastating phone call…and then be the saddest guy in the world. That is the fickle nature of the wonderful and maddening aspect of our lives we call feeling.
In God’s Word, joy is not a feeling. It is not an emotion. It is a spiritual state of being that God miraculously gives us that is not subject to the blowing winds of circumstance. I can be the happiest guy in the world and have joy. I can be the saddest guy in the world and still have joy. Biblical joy is not dependent on our circumstances…it is dependent on the One Who graciously gives it to us. No matter how dire our circumstances may be…our joy can still be complete and obvious. Not as a feeling…but as a state of being. In 1 Peter, Peter describes this joy as “inexpressible” (1 Peter 1:9). It is beyond belief…why? Because it is not joy because of our circumstances…it is joy in spite of our circumstances. It should not exist in the natural world…which is why it is a supernatural gift…given by a loving God to His children.
How else then could James, in the epistle that bears his name, write with such confidence: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). That’s doesn’t make any sense if joy were merely an emotion. In the world, trials do not produce joy. They produce the opposite effect. But if our joy is understood as a promise that is there in our worst times, then our worst times will not quash our joy. Because it is not our joy…but His. Let’s let Jesus have the last say on this subject: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).
-Dr. Danny Purvis
By: Dr. Danny Purvis
We human beings are odd creatures. Just a simple trip to Walmart can quickly confirm that statement. But it is our oddities that make us so unique in the realm of God’s creation. I am reminded practically every week of our tendency to conclude that our feelings are the final arbiter of reality when, in fact, often times it is precisely the opposite. Emotions are funny things. They are capable of instilling us with such euphoria while at the same time burdening us with such dread despite the fact that the reality of a particular situation might not lead to either of those things. I heard someone once say (in relation to humans): What do you do with a people who reason with their hearts?
It's a great question. Don’t get me wrong…I have no problem with emotions. They are part of our very being. They can give us such amazing feelings. However, especially when it comes to our relationship with God, they can be an obstacle to living the life God has for us to live. When I was assigned to the USS John F. Kennedy (an aircraft carrier that has been decommissioned for some time), I was responsible for the main Protestant worship service on Sunday mornings. And one thing that was really cool about that environment was the fact that so many people that worshiped there came from such diverse theological backgrounds. There was this one group of folks that used to come that came from a theological position that emphasized generating emotional responses in worship. Certainly there is nothing inherently wrong with that…at all. But it did lead to an interesting conversation one day.
After the service I was in my office when a young man came in to talk about how much he enjoyed the service. He said, “Chaplain…I know God was in the service today.” I replied, “How do you know that?” He quickly retorted, “Because I felt Him.” So, I asked another question. “What happens when you don’t feel Him?” Now, I know what he meant. Many times worship does produce a wave of positive emotions even to the point of being moved to tears of joy and thanksgiving. I’ve seen it happen to others. I’ve seen it happen to me. Please hear me when I say that an emotional response to worship is a very natural, and positive part of the entire experience. I get that. I’m guessing you are suspecting a “however” is just around the corner.
However (there it is), we absolutely have to understand that emotions alone are not an arbiter of truth. Our emotions are fallen just like the rest of us. Emotions can be wrong, manipulated, tricked, lied to, and in error. As a result, our emotional response to our relationship with God cannot be the litmus test that the relationship is sound and healthy. I don’t believe that God is with me because I feel Him. I believe God is with me because he said he would be (Matthew 28:20). I don’t believe the Holy Spirit lives within me because I feel Him. I believe that because God’s Word tells me that is the case (1 Cor. 6:17-20). Because let’s face it. Sometimes God feels like He is 1,000 miles away from me. When I am in the depths of some kind of pain and suffering He often feels. In CS Lewis’ heartbreaking and inspiring book “A Grief Observed” he wonders aloud if God is not only NOT at the door knocking…but that maybe He even has bolted and double locked the door.
That is where a dependence on feelings related to God can actually lead us to despair. If He is with me only when I feel Him…then it stands to reason that he is not with me if I don’t feel Him. But that is most certainly not true. Why are we talking about this anyway? Because this week of Advent focuses on joy. And being the emotional beings we are, the vast majority of Believers will automatically connect joy with happiness. They will deconstruct the Biblical construct of joy to the point that it will actually rob us of the joy that is a miraculous gift from a loving God. Joy will come to be seen as an emotion that can ebb and flow like a winding river. Therein lay the problem of emotions. They come and go based almost exclusively on our circumstances. I can be the happiest guy in the world one second…get a devastating phone call…and then be the saddest guy in the world. That is the fickle nature of the wonderful and maddening aspect of our lives we call feeling.
In God’s Word, joy is not a feeling. It is not an emotion. It is a spiritual state of being that God miraculously gives us that is not subject to the blowing winds of circumstance. I can be the happiest guy in the world and have joy. I can be the saddest guy in the world and still have joy. Biblical joy is not dependent on our circumstances…it is dependent on the One Who graciously gives it to us. No matter how dire our circumstances may be…our joy can still be complete and obvious. Not as a feeling…but as a state of being. In 1 Peter, Peter describes this joy as “inexpressible” (1 Peter 1:9). It is beyond belief…why? Because it is not joy because of our circumstances…it is joy in spite of our circumstances. It should not exist in the natural world…which is why it is a supernatural gift…given by a loving God to His children.
How else then could James, in the epistle that bears his name, write with such confidence: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). That’s doesn’t make any sense if joy were merely an emotion. In the world, trials do not produce joy. They produce the opposite effect. But if our joy is understood as a promise that is there in our worst times, then our worst times will not quash our joy. Because it is not our joy…but His. Let’s let Jesus have the last say on this subject: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).
-Dr. Danny Purvis
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