Our
society is obsessed with happiness. Facebook is covered in exhortations to be
good to oneself and take responsibility for one’s own happiness. Some of us
might have said to or about our kids: “As long as you are happy…”
Whether we
like it or not, human beings seem to pursue happiness. We do stuff because we
want to – because we think it will make us happy. Some of us do that more
effectively (or wisely) than others. Some of us actually enjoy a bit of grit or
melancholy. There can be a delicious poignancy to a small amount of misery, as
our desire to sometimes watch a weepy film shows. The question is not whether
to seek happiness but how.
Some
people seek happiness in obviously wicked ways. If you can bear it, think for a
moment of the child abuser, for example. No doubt the dysfunction is
complicated, and more often than not follows on from prior abuse, but seeking
some kind of thrill or satisfaction (a species of happiness) is presumably part
of it.
If how we
seek our happiness is one issue, when we seek it is another. Delayed
gratification is a key to happiness. Patience can lead to greater happiness in
the long run. And some even believe it is better to travel in hope than to
arrive. There can certainly be some pleasure to be had from anticipation. In
fact, the idea of that Michelin starred dinner can sometimes be tastier than
the reality – or so I’m told, anyway.
Christians
have had something of a conflicted relationship with happiness. Puritanism, for
example, has been rather unfairly described as the suspicion that someone
somewhere might be enjoying themselves! Some Christians have spoken of joy
(good happiness) rather than happiness (bad happiness).
Certainly
there is such a thing as duty and sometimes we should do things whether we want
to or not. But no one really wants the giver of a bunch of flowers to have
gritted teeth. Ideally we should do our duty happily! We should want to do what
is right. The magic sweet spot is where duty and delight combine – and the
Bible says they not only should but can. God can begin to transform our hearts
so that increasingly we love him and want to please him.
According
to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, that most serious of documents, the chief
end of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever. That is meant to be
one thing, not two. Glorify God by enjoying him. Delight yourself in the Lord.
At his right hand are pleasures forever more. He is the blessed, Happy God, who
wants to share his happiness. He overflows with joy. As John Piper, a
contemporary American Baptist preacher has put it: “God is most glorified in us
when we are most satisfied in him.” He wants us to be happy, but rightly so.
So, to
recap: granted that we all seek happiness, what does Christianity say about the
how and when of it? How: in the love and smile of your heavenly Father. May the
joy of the Lord be your strength. When: in part, really now, and increasingly,
whatever our outward circumstances, but fully and finally in the glory that is
yet to come for all who trust in Christ. There is more. This is not all there
is. “Fading is the wordling’s pleasure, all its boasting pomp and show. Solid
joys and lasting treasures none but Zion’s children know”. And the Christian
can say why too. For the glory of God, which is not unbridled egotism on his
part, but what he deserves. The glory of God is not only our duty but our
delight, our highest good. Our happiness, it turns out, is not only desirable
but properly considered it is an ethical imperative. Rejoice in the Lord always
is a command. Like all God’s other commands, it’s not one that we are always
very good at keeping. But we ought to seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness and this too will be added to us. Ironically, if we pursue
happiness we are likely to find that it is always beyond our grasp. But if we
go after God, we might very well find that happiness creeps up on us unawares.
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