Holiness Over Happiness

"Holiness, not happiness, is the chief end of man." I attended a funeral yesterday and couldn't help but think about what Oswald Chambers once said. As my husband's beloved grandfather was laid to rest I kept thinking that nothing mattered but the legacy he left for his children on earth. Not his achievements. Or his money. Or even his relationships. When he stands face to face, naked, before the The King, what matters isn't that he made his children happy. Or that he provided for them or gave them a good life. The only thing that matters for him is that he lived a holy life. I've come far enough in my walk with Christ to say that I strive to choose holiness. Struggle as I may, I understand the true meaning of life so even when it's hard, I strive to choose holiness in the end. But this "holiness over happiness" concept becomes a whole new ballgame when it comes to my son. What if he comes to me one day, miserable, in say his marriage? What if he says those dreaded words, "I'm not happy." What if he says he can't make it for 50 years and that he made a mistake? You see, I can endure hardships. I would take my son's pain all the days of my life. But telling God that my child is off limits, that his happiness trumps holiness, does him and myself a great disservice. I mean, doesn't this sound familiar? Did this ""holiness versus happiness"" choice not confront Jesus in the Garden? He prayed to His Daddy to take his cup of suffering, yet at the end of His prayers what was that He said? ""Not My will but Yours be done." How do you think God The Father felt as He heard the gut wrenching cries of His One and Only Son. Yet in His prayers, God empowered Jesus to say, "not my will but yours be done." Wow. That I could be so bold, so eternally minded, for my child. God knew the weight of what Christ was asking. And He knows the weight of what we are asking. For ourselves and for our children. We do ourselves and our children great great great harm when we try to short circuit what God intends for glory. 1 Peter 3:21, "For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His steps." I've chosen holiness too many times to ignore the fact that it ALWAYS leads to long-term happiness. And that choosing temporary happiness always leads to sorrow. I've got to make holiness consistent in my life. It's too important, especially when it comes to my beloved son. I don't care if he's unhappy in the moment. It's my job to point him to glory. If God could point His Own Son to glory then who do I think I am not doing the same? Because you better believe that when I'm standing face to face with My King, I will not regret choosing holiness for myself and my loved ones. And when my son is standing at my grave, I pray that he says, "She chose holiness."

Endure

I've been watching The Bible on The History Channel and last night's episode showed Christ’s Crucifixion. Maybe it’s because I’m older or more motherly but watching Jesus die gutted me to the core. It physically hurt me. And this may sound sick, but I think I should watch it everyday. Like it totally puts my petty little problems into perspective. While watching, I noticed something that I’ve never noticed before. When Jesus was forced to carry the cross, it occurred to me that he didn't just lift the cross and walk with it.... he embraced it. Whenever he dropped it, he’d go right back to it and hug it. I swear I even saw him kiss it at one point, but that could be Hollywood. Since watching Christ die, one word has been ringing louder and louder in my ear. The word "endure". I googled the definition and it means, "to suffer patiently. To tolerate someone or something." So here's my question: what current issue has God placed before us that we’re refusing to endure? What areas of life are we refusing to suffer patiently in? I’m claustrophobic. I hate elevators, airplanes, all those scary, enclosed spaces. I basically can't stand smothering of any kind. Physically. Emotionally. You name it. So my first, natural reaction when anything gets too hard or uncomfortable is to get the heck out of dodge. And unfortunately, we live in a day and age that welcomes such faulty thinking. Hate your body? Take a pill. Have surgery. God forbid you endure a diet. Unhappy in your marriage? Leave. Find someone new. Hate your job? Quit. File unemployment. Our world knows nothing of endurance. I know nothing of endurance! I still get surprised when something bad happens to me. And as much as I hate to admit it, I still have a part of me that feels entitled to a cush life. James 1 says to consider it pure joy, whenever you face trials. It  doesn’t say “if” you face trials. It says, “when” you face trials. 1 Peter 4:12, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.”  The Bible is soaked with verses on suffering, but here’s my food for thought. If God allowed His Beloved and Only Son to suffer, for His glory, why do we think He wouldn’t also allow us to suffer? Are we so pompous that we feel beneath suffering? I still have days where I so badly want to stay in my little box. Where I don't want to get out of the boat, as Peter did, and walk on water to Jesus. How is this enduring my cross? If all of life is for the glory of God, how can I not welcome suffering? Embrace it. Kiss it? Romans 8:18, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” On the walk to Golgotha, Christ got it. He understood that this was all for God’s glory so he endured. He hugged His cross and carried it to glory. What, in all of life, could be harder than that?

Our epidemic

This world is evil. Sneakily, scarily evil. And had a few things not been revealed to me in recent weeks, I may have continued to keep my big toe in it. Thankfully, God brought me to Romans 1, where I read about God's wrath against mankind. Verse 18: "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them."

I'm not talking to atheists or non-Christians here. I believe with my entire being that we can't win anyone to Christ by judging or calling out their sin. We can only win them to Jesus with love. What I'm talking about here is men who "suppress the truth." Because we Christians, we the church, suppress the truth everyday. I suppress the truth everyday. Christians have joined the world! Paul warned us to be in the world, not of the world, but in our great fear of offending someone, we've glazed over some serious issues. We tell ourselves God's biggest commandment is love and somehow we think that translates as remaining silent. Well, of course our greatest commandment is to love, but Paul is very clear that Christians should call out other Christians living in sin. That's not judgment. That's Biblical. And that, my friends, is love. If I'm walking in darkness, you better be VERY sure I want to be called out of my pit. Love is calling me out of my pit, even when I'm so far in it that I've twisted the Bible to say what I want it to say.

Verse 21: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." We Christians are now part of an epidemic, and I dare to say that many Christians aren't living by the Bible. A very clear, black and white book has become gray. Sin is being condoned and glossed over in churches. Rick Warren said, "Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that is you disagree with someone's lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate." Did you hear that? "You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate." Love is the greatest commandment, but last time I checked, love isn't allowing a brother down a path of destruction. Love isn't condoning habitual sin for fear of not being politically correct.

In Matthew 10:34, Jesus says, "Do not suppose that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." I'm no Biblical scholar, but I can tell you that a sword divides. I'm not saying we should draw lines in the sand. I'm saying we should love. Oh my goodness, we should love the mess out of each other, but we have to be different. We're not different. I'm not different. Christ was different, yet He exuded love beyond measure.

I'm heart broken this morning, as I think of the world in which I'll be raising my son. I'm ill as I think about all the missed opportunities, where I could have been different. Where I cowered for fear that I may be called judgmental. This has got to stop. We have got to speak up in our churches, in our homes, and in our communities. This isn't happening, and until it does, more and more Christians will fall ill in this epidemic.