a few days ago i posted a little note about happiness.

not-so-ironically, joy was the topic of conversation at mosaic this week (interesting how God works sometimes).

someone asked erwin, “why are christians unhappy?”

his response: “because they’re shallow. because they don’t realize it’s ok to be happy. they believe in Jesus, but they don’t trust Him. so they destroy themselves like everyone else. God created you to enjoy life.”

:: insert awkward silence and the occasional chirp of a cricket ::

have i missed something fundamental in my attempt to be a follower of Christ? perhaps I skipped psalms and philipians, john and nehemiah when I was doing my Bible in a year program in youth group.

one thing we can find in these books is that joy is central to the life we were meant to live. it is joy that brings strength to our life …

we actually need joy in order to have the strength to live the life God has created us to live.

and, as someone who claims (not as loudly as I used to) to be a follower of Christ, my desire is that, people will be brought into conversation with the living God, not because of a cool church service or a great worship band or even through a rad podcast … but through relationships with people who are actively engaging the heart of the living God and are fully alive.

this also goes back to pursuing things that are inherent to who we are. i can identify the moments when i have been fully alive. if i were an onlooker, searching for proof that we were meant for more … i would find hope in watching someone in those moments, rather than in the ones where joy seems to be vacant from our existence.

so … to answer my own question:

yes. it’s ok to be happy. in fact, i’d say it’s wrong to not bring happiness into a world that prides itself on cynicism and darkness.

perhaps it’s the answer to unleashing people’s capacity to love, find joy and develop into the person they were made to become.