Lemon Juice Faith or Joy Unspeakable!
As promised a few days back, I am beginning a series of posts on the topic of joy. Joy is a distinct mark of biblical faith in relationship with the living God. I heard it said recently that "a joyless pastor seriously misrepresents God." It is true. It's also true that a joyless Christian does the same.
Someone has said that judging from the faces and lives of many Christians, one could get the distinct impression that they were baptized in lemon juice. This simply ought not to be--and if I have my way about it the reflections of the next few days will help us be full of joy in our God who is Himself full of joy!
I'm going to confine myself mainly to the writings of Luke in this series since that is where my devotional times have been of late and since joy seems to be a major theme of the historian. The fact is that if we looked at all the Bible we'd see that there are many hundreds of joy texts, maybe even a thousand or two. I'm not at all hesitant to say that joy is one of the most prominent themes in the whole Bible. It simply is everywhere!
This may surprise some of you since your take on faith may be more austere and melancholic. But let me say it: Lemon juice faith is simply unbiblical. A faith that is not genuinely, visibly and, yes, expressively joyful is simply deficient faith at least as the Bible defines and describes it. It is biblically safe to say that if our joy is not noticeable and pronounced, then we simply do not have enough of it.
I've found it interesting, convicting, and transforming, that Luke--as he aims to recount for us the history of the coming of Jesus and the birth of the church in Luke/Acts (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3) reveals that joy was prominent in the hearts of those connected to these great events. By implication, he intends for us--who remain connected to those great events, by faith--to experience that same joy. I count up at least 45 joy texts in Luke's two-volume set.
One reference that is somewhat defining for the early church is Acts 2:46. Others include Acts 8:6-8 and 13:48. As I begin can I ask of each of us--and of the churches we represent: "Would observers of our lives say of us what observers of the NT churches said: 'They have glad hearts and they have much joy?'" Is joy a distinctive mark, a defining characteristic of our life as the church?
If this cannot be accurately said of us, then we have some soul-searching to do. Will you join me in the exercise? And if you're inclined why not ask a few friends who don't normally read the blog to follow along as we pursue joy together?
Someone has said that judging from the faces and lives of many Christians, one could get the distinct impression that they were baptized in lemon juice. This simply ought not to be--and if I have my way about it the reflections of the next few days will help us be full of joy in our God who is Himself full of joy!
I'm going to confine myself mainly to the writings of Luke in this series since that is where my devotional times have been of late and since joy seems to be a major theme of the historian. The fact is that if we looked at all the Bible we'd see that there are many hundreds of joy texts, maybe even a thousand or two. I'm not at all hesitant to say that joy is one of the most prominent themes in the whole Bible. It simply is everywhere!
This may surprise some of you since your take on faith may be more austere and melancholic. But let me say it: Lemon juice faith is simply unbiblical. A faith that is not genuinely, visibly and, yes, expressively joyful is simply deficient faith at least as the Bible defines and describes it. It is biblically safe to say that if our joy is not noticeable and pronounced, then we simply do not have enough of it.
I've found it interesting, convicting, and transforming, that Luke--as he aims to recount for us the history of the coming of Jesus and the birth of the church in Luke/Acts (Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-3) reveals that joy was prominent in the hearts of those connected to these great events. By implication, he intends for us--who remain connected to those great events, by faith--to experience that same joy. I count up at least 45 joy texts in Luke's two-volume set.
One reference that is somewhat defining for the early church is Acts 2:46. Others include Acts 8:6-8 and 13:48. As I begin can I ask of each of us--and of the churches we represent: "Would observers of our lives say of us what observers of the NT churches said: 'They have glad hearts and they have much joy?'" Is joy a distinctive mark, a defining characteristic of our life as the church?
If this cannot be accurately said of us, then we have some soul-searching to do. Will you join me in the exercise? And if you're inclined why not ask a few friends who don't normally read the blog to follow along as we pursue joy together?
Labels: Affections, christian life, Joy, Religious Affections
posted by Tim Shorey at
6:57 AM
2 Comments:
OK, ready... I will do some soul searching and join you in this exercise of pursuing joy together. A melancholic myself, I'm up for a fresh look at JOY.
I'm ready. Thanks for this blog, I'm excited to read about having joy in the Lord. How can we not be joyful that we are being sanctified and one day glorified! I will pray that this mindset will be in me in the easy times AND the tough times.
Anna =)
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home