Two weeks ago, a young woman walked into a Nashville church-school and took six lives. Three were employees and three were students just nine years old. Though every school shooting is horrific, three unusual components of this school shooting make it even more difficult to process. The killer was a woman, the target was a Christian school, and the killer’s mental illness included transgenderism—she identified as “he.” So far, the police have refrained from releasing the manifesto prepared by this young woman to explain her motives. Until they do, we cannot be certain what her goals may have been. These tragic deaths are troubling enough. But perhaps even more disturbing has been the media coverage, which has been taken hostage by critical theory. Media outlets have directed their sympathy toward the shooter and partially blame her parents and Christians for her behavior. Again and again progressive voices in the media proclaim that the real problem here is the Christians, who are evil, dangerous, and transphobic. Shane Morris, producer of the Colson Center’s Upstream podcast summarizes:
They identify white Christians as a powerful and historically privileged group who can take care of themselves, and whose collective complaints of persecution amount to “bourgeois tears.” Transgender folks, on the other hand, are still seen as a beleaguered and persecuted minority, one that excites all the maternal instincts of those who consider themselves enlightened, urban guardians in an otherwise benighted nation of would-be Klansmen. This is how you get the outrageous spectacle of mainstream journalists preemptively wringing their hands on behalf of “the trans community” when it was six Christians (not all white) who were actually gunned down by a murderous trans individual.
This depressing media response could not have happened as recently as ten years ago. In 2023, how are Christians supposed to exhibit the spiritual fruit of JOY in an environment which mirrors the moral decline of Rome described in Romans 1? God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise…and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind… How can JOY be a part of life in a culture descending into darker and darker spiritual blindness?
It turns out that an OT prophet named, Habakkuk found himself in a similar situation—watching the steep moral decline of his nation, Israel, as it worshipped the demon, Baal, and practiced infant sacrifice to Molech. Habakkuk’s passionate prayers for the condition of his nation were going unanswered; so, he takes his complaint directly to God. He begins his book with the words, Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear. But although everything on the outside continues to go wrong, Habakkuk ends his book with… yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (3: 19). How did Habakkuk move from despair to rejoicing in the God of his salvation? And how does the Holy Spirit produce the fruit of joy in our lives, as well? That is the topic of today’s episode.
Happy Easter to all of you. I hope you had a joy-filled day of celebrating the resurrection. Let’s get down to figuring out how God intends us to take the joy of this day with us into the rest of the year. Today’s episode is the second in a series on the fruit of the spirit entitled, Building the Mental Toughness of Jesus. Christ-like character is the mental toughness to overcome feelings, negative circumstances, and bad attitudes. It is locking our mental focus on the Biblical truths that transform our thinking into godly attitudes. Here are 3 ways that joy is produced in us by the Holy Spirit through the resurrection power of Christ to defeat sin. We will then examine what the spiritual fruit of peace, which is called shalom in the OT, looks like in a world of relationships, fractured by sin.
A. CHOOSE TO ENJOY GOD
The word for joy, CHARA, describes more than superficial happiness based upon feeling good and goes deeper than the bodily pleasure that results from gratifying physical appetites. God created us to enjoy such pleasure; but joy is deeper. CHARA refers to a deep-rooted rapture that has a spiritual quality to it.
One way such joy is produced in us is by choosing to enjoy God. In fact the Westminster shorter catechism tells us that enjoying God is part of the very purpose for which God created us. “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.” As my Young Life leader used to say, “Eternal life doesn’t start when you die; it starts right now!” DELIGHTING in God now is foundational for filling our emotional tanks and aligning our loves in correct order. That is what Habakkuk did. His words are a classic refusal to set his focus on his outer circumstances but on the character of God. Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. (Hab 3:17-18). Just as love and the other fruits of the spirit are produced by making a choice, so is the spiritual fruit of joy. The Biblical command to rejoice in the Lord and decisions of God’s people to do so are woven all throughout Scripture. Here are a few.
- O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults! …you make him glad with the joy of your presence (Ps 21:1,6).
- Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart (Ps 37:4).
- Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say, rejoice (Phil 4:4).
- Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Th 5:16-18).
Psalm 16:11 gives a foundational principle of joy. In your presence there is fullness of joy. Joy is the result of SEEING the Lord. If you are like me, one of the experiences that produces great joy is seeing God answer a specific prayer. Last week, I was preparing to give my neighbor a set of Christianity Explored videos. I’d been meaning to drop them off all week. But my time-window was closing, since I was leaving town the next day. I thought, “I can knock on the door to hand him these, but it would be better if giving him them were more natural.” So, I prayed, “Lord, please have Joe come outside so I can walk over and hand him this thumb drive.” Three minutes later, Joe came outside to cut his grass and for a few seconds my heart was flooded with joy. There is such joy in seeing God answer prayer! I think it is because seeing HIM brings joy.
I believe that taking time to delight in my Lord is parallel to husbands and wives taking time to delight in each other, when they make love. Both fill our emotional tanks. Delighting in the Lord means carving out time to gaze upon the glory of Gods’ perfections. The process is described by David, who invites all who know God to join, I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! (Ps 34:1-3). So, pathway #1 to joy is choosing to delight in the LORD.
B. CHOOSE TO PRACTICE GRATEFULNESS
Scripture is amazingly clear about the evil of ungratefulness. Paul teaches that it is at the root of sin. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth…For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or GIVE THANKS TO HIM. (Rom 1:18ff). Ellen Vaughn, in her book, Radical Gratitude, writes,
“Ungratefulness—the refusal to glorify and thank God—is the clearest manifestation of the mother sin, rebellion against God. It opens the door to a slippery slope where God lets us go…Ungratefulness can become a heart-hardening habit. First comes complaining, then bitterness, anger, then feeling victimized or entitled to things that we’re just not getting.”
Gratefulness to God is so fundamental to God’s covenant people that Israel is severely punished for not experiencing the joy in the Lord that was to accompany his blessings. In Deuteronomy 28:47, we read, You did not serve the Lord your God WITH JOYFULNESS AND GLADNESS OF HEART, because of the abundance of all things (that God provided) therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you (vs 47-48). In fact, in Deuteronomy 16, the Feast of Booths, was specifically for the purpose of rejoicing over God’s abundant blessing. Vaughn continues to explain gratefulness.
“Cultivating a grateful heart is not just an add-on tip of the hat to God as we steamroll through our day. A posture of purposeful, perpetual thanks to God is central to Christian character. It is the key defense against Satan’s temptation to despair, distrust, dysfunction. It protects us from sin and self. It is the hallmark of heaven. It does not exist in hell.”
A heart of gratefulness is a joyful heart. Paul seems to give us a formula for finding joy in the Lord, when he instructs the Thessalonians, Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (5:16-18). Giving thanks in all circumstances and seeing God answer when we take our needs to him seem to be the formula for REJOICING ALWAYS!
C. ADOPT THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF FULFILLMENT
In Scripture, joy is the result of satisfying our deepest desires the right way. Paul’s approach to sexual sin in Corinth was, You were made for God and God is the answer to your deepest longings (1 Cor 6:13). “First satisfy your hunger for intimacy by enjoying God, basking in his love. With your greatest thirst for intimacy quenched through delighting in God, the polluted wells of false intimacy—sexual sin will appeal to your thirst less.” John Piper argues similarly,
“One reason lust reigns in so many is that Christ has so little appeal. You were created to treasure Christ with all your heart—more than you treasure sex or sugar. If you have little taste for Jesus, competing pleasures will triumph. Plead with God for the satisfaction you don’t have. Quote Psalm 90:14, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we might rejoice and be glad all our days.” Then, look, look, LOOK at the most magnificent person in the universe until you see him the way he is” (Desiring God).
As we grow into Christ our desires begin to align more and more with the way we were CREATED to be FULFILLED. Psalm 37:4 is a promise. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. I believe this verse teaches that when we delight in the Lord as our first love, God is free, as it were, to bless us with every other good gift, because he knows they won’t compete in our hearts with Him. As Scripture and the Holy Spirit realign our fallen desires and set our focus on heart satisfaction as it was designed to be, we are more and more enriched with satisfying the truest desires of our hearts. That is deep joy.
Another example of this kingdom process of heart-realignment is seen in Jesus’ teaching of the beatitudes. We associate fulfillment with ideal circumstances—a comfortable home, enjoyable job, wife and children who love us, enough money for a nice vacation. But Jesus begins each beatitude with the word MAKARIOS, translated “blessed.” This Greek word described the fabulously lush island of Cyprus that was believed to contain everything anyone would ever need to be happy, satisfied, fulfilled. “Full satisfaction,” says Jesus, “is an inside job. MAKARIOS is not based upon outward circumstances but inner ATTITUDES, like humility, mourning over sin, purity of heart, mercy, etc.”
This same kingdom process of heart realignment is behind the opening words of James, which appear to be such a shocking contradiction: COUNT IT ALL JOY, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness…that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing (Ja 1:2-4). James says, “when you understand that God’s very purpose in redeeming us is to be able to look into OUR soul and see JESUS—that God’s purpose is that we be conformed to the image of Christ—even our very trials can bring us joy. The spiritual fruit of joy is produced through spiritual maturity that embraces the true path to fulfillment.
PEACE
In contrast to the works of the flesh like, enmity, strife, dissensions, divisions, and envy, the work of the Holy Spirit in us moves us towards harmony in all the relationships of life. The Greek word for peace, EIRENE, and the Hebrew word behind it, SHALOAM, are loaded with historical and theological significance. Cornelius Plantinga explains,
“The webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment and delight is what the Hebrew prophets called shalom. We call it, “peace,” but it means much more than just peace of mind or cease-fire among enemies. In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight—a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, all under the arch of God’s love. Shalom, in other words, is the way things are supposed to be” (Engaging God’s World).
Behind the NT word, EIRENE and the OT word SHALOM is the concept of restoration of fractured relationships that have been broken by sin. Steve Corbett and Brian Fickert, in their book, When Helping Hurts, identify four relationships required to be in harmony for humans to flourish:
- Relationship with God
- Relationship with self, (i.e. internal wholeness)
- Relationship with others
- Relationship with the rest of creation
The good news is that though Adam surrendered his kingdom to Satan, sin, and death, which have been ravaging that kingdom, Jesus, the Second Adam, has defeated those powers at the cross and has begun to fix everything broken by sin. He began by repairing the inner fracturing of US caused by sin. In Paul’s words:
If anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:17-18).
PROMOTING HARMONY IN THE FOUR RELATIONSHIPS OF LIFE
Inner peace: The major thief that steals our inner tranquility is anxiety. A key secret to overcoming worry is given in Phil 4:6-7. Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in earnest and thankful prayer, and the PEACE OF GOD which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds as they rest in Christ Jesus.
Peace with God: In Paul’s mind the primary way to promote shalom in the culture was to share Christ with others. 2 Corinthians 5 continues, Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. We cannot be faithful followers of the one who said, “I have come to seek and to save the lost,” without an intentional plan to share Christ with the lost whom God has placed in our lives. We may be the only message from God that they ever read. Who are the non-believers you are building a relationship with? Are you praying for the right strategy to deepen the relationship and right opportunity to discuss spiritual things?
Peace with each other: The destruction that sin brings into the world is perhaps nowhere as devastating as the fracturing of marriages, families, and even, today, the institution of marriage. God did not begin the world with the government or even the church. He started it with a wedding. And that is how this age will end. Marriage was built into this world’s fabric from the beginning of time. Marriage is the basic building block of all civilizations, establishing the context within which future generations would be procreated and preserved. Christians have led the way in divorce recovery, stopping the sex slave industry and showing the love of Jesus to sexually exploited women. In 2023 we must add to our resume doing more to support the institution of marriage and preservation of the family unit.
Restoration within our culture. Because we see every human as an image bearer of God, we are drawn to the oppressed, the weak, the helpless. Mother Teresa devoted herself to the dirtiest and most diseased in the slums of Calcutta, referring to them as “Jesus in His most distressing disguise” (Smith & Stonestreet, Restoring All Things).
The spiritual fruit of PEACE—fixing relationships that have been broken by sin—is wonderfully exhibited by a man named Loren Miller, the founder of Horizons Ministry in Freemont County, CO. With several women’s prisons nearby, Miller had discovered that when a woman gives birth while incarcerated, her child is automatically placed in foster care. Since the deadline for reclaiming their children typically falls while they are still in prison, most never have the chance to be reunited with their babies. In 1991 the Horizons ministry took power of attorney over its first infant. Since then, it has cared for more than 142 children. Today, if a woman gives birth while she is in prison, she can assign power of attorney to Horizons Ministry, who will immediately send over a nanny to pick up her baby. The nannies are typically young women 20 years old from the Mennonite communities with which Miller has developed a relationship. The infant is raised in a loving Christian home. The nanny and baby visit the mother in prison every week, giving the mother a chance to see her baby grow. Upon the mother’s release, the baby is returned to her, giving the mother and baby a second chance at being restored to being a family. The third fruit of the Spirit is promoting PEACE, SHALOM, the restoration of relationships broken by sin.
For Further Prayerful Thought.
- Why would you say it is important to delight yourself in the Lord?
- What obstacles get in the way of having a grateful heart?
- Why do you think Paul might have deliberately linked rejoicing in the Lord, praying without ceasing, and in everything give thanks?
- What do you think it means to be assigned the role by Jesus of being an agent of reconciliation. What prevents you from doing this more successfully?
