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“Emo” Gospel
Have you ever sat in on a small group and heard someone talk about how they feel guilty because they are enjoying the jobs they are doing in the church?
This has happened in my presence on many occasions and it has made me really think about the issue of joy in this world. I realize that in the Christian life we endure times of trials and hardships and that we will be put in places where it may be hard to really understand God’s plan for our lives. During times like these it can be hard to find joy and we can get really down on ourselves, but it’s also a time where we grow the most in our spiritual lives. God likes to use the hard times to speak to us. He spoke to Joseph when he was in prison as an innocent man. He spoke to Moses when he left his high position of authority in Egypt because he murdered a guy. He spoke to Paul while he was in prison for the gospel. He gave John the Revelation while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos.
But what about the times when things are going great? Is it wrong for us to happy about where we are and what we are doing in ministry? Am I supposed to feel guilty every time I preach because it is something that I thoroughly enjoy doing? In light of Father’s Day, is it wrong for a Dad to be proud of his children because they are leading Godly lives? This can be a hard subject to deal with, but if we approach it the wrong way we can live out an “Emo” or “depressed” sort of gospel.
I think the answers to all of these questions is, “Yes” and “No”.
Let’s start with the “No” - (1) It is not wrong for us to be happy where we are at as long as we recognize that we are where we are by the Grace of God.
Ephesians 2:4 says, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.”
Just before this passage Paul is talking about how the Ephesians were once dead in their old lives w/o Christ. Now though, we are made alive in Him. This means that we are allowed to experience joy in ministry as long as we recognize that it only comes from Him. Are you giving Him the credit?
(2) It is not wrong for us to be happy where we are as long as we are doing it for something other than ourselves.
In Philippians, Paul talks about how “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill” (Phil. 1:15). It is all about the motives peeps. Are you doing ministry for your own self-esteem boost or are you doing it because you know that God will be glorified? Are you doing it for the goodwill of yourself or for the goodwill of God and others?
(3) Finally, as we learned in Spiritual Gift Training last night, God has given us all gifts and abilities. We are given them in order to preach the gospel to the world. When we use them, two things happen: Fruitfulness and Fulfillment (This idea is not my own but rather from Rick Warren’s S.H.A.P.E. spiritual gifts test/seminar). We receive fulfillment in using our gifts for Christ’s mission and this should drive us to live out His Great Commission with Joy in our hearts!
“Yes”
I think we have pretty well covered the bases on the “Yes” portion of this entry, but let’s make sure to focus on one more piece of scripture here.Yes, it can be wrong to be happy where you are at, if you are only happy about what it is doing for you. It’s not about you. It’s about the expansion of the Kingdom of God, not your own ego-boost.
Philippians 2:3 - “Do nothing out of self ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” In all of our ministries, we are to live in such a way that we give of ourselves, rather than try to feed our egos. I’ll admit that many times I find myself receiving a bit of an ego-boost. It is never my intention, but sometimes it happens. In these times, I have to check my spirit and I ask God to check my spirit as well.
I think Christ wants us to be confident in who he made us to be, but to also realize that we have more growing to do than we could ever imagine. If you continue on in Philippians 2:4 Paul says, “Each of you should not only look to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (bold added). It is okay to look to our interests and giftedness and use that with all that we have, but we also need to make sure that we are not selfishly doing things for our own ego-boosts. It is possible to be “righteously confident” in who Christ made us to be.
As a pastor, I am going to enjoy my job. I already know that I am going to. I am going to enjoy sharing the Word with my congregation. I am going to enjoy serving God. I am going to enjoy the learning. I am going to enjoy throwing the towel over my arm and serving. I already do! There is nothing wrong with that as long as I recognize that it is only from Christ that I receive that joy. As long as I am not doing it of my own ambitions. Otherwise, I just start spreading an “Emo” Gospel that is never happy. Who wants to be part of a church where everyone is depressed all the time? The church is there to bring us Joy by bringing us closer to God.
Christ gives us eternal Joy! How awesome is that?!
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” - Paul
