As Long as you're happy...

“I just want them to be happy.”  “Well, as long as it makes you happy.”  “Ultimately it is your happiness that I most want for you.”  "You know, all mom and dad want for you is for you to be happy." There’s a major flaw in each of these statements.  It comes from a total misunderstanding of God. The misunderstanding portrays God as a dotting old grandfather who would do anything to see his kids happy.  And if that is what God wants surely it’s what we want as well.

Somebody, sometimes needs to say - “you may think that happiness is the goal, but you are living in sin” and that leads to misery.  The fact is that there are plenty of people who find joy in the temporal pleasures of sin. Seventy’s comedian Flip Wilson may have gotten a good laugh out of his “if it feels good do it” but what makes for good comedy, in this case makes for weak theology.

Listen, I like the euphoric thrill of happiness as much as anyone. And God's not a cosmic killjoy who seeks your misery.  God doesn’t want you happy more than anything else. He wants you faithful. Serial marriages, congregations, addictions may bring said happiness for a season but they ultimately are empty and lead to a feeling of lostness that comes from being lost.  No. I want more, I want better for my kids than happiness. I want joy that comes from a life lived in the Spirit (Romans 14:17), I want peace that comes from a healthy communicative relationship with God (Philippians 4:6-8) and I want faithfulness which is like God (2 Timothy 2:13).