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Based on books I\u2019ve read, sermons I\u2019ve heard, and conversations I\u2019ve had, it\u2019s clear many Christians believe that humanity\u2019s desire for happiness was birthed in the fall and is part of the curse. Hence, the desire to be happy is often assumed to be the desire to sin.<\/p>\n
But what if our desire for happiness was a gift designed by God before sin entered the world? If we believed this, how would it affect our lives, our parenting, our ministry, our entertainment, and our relationships? How would it affect our approach to sharing the gospel?<\/p>\n
Augustine asked rhetorically, \u201cIs not a happy life the thing that all desire, and is there anyone who altogether desires it not?\u201d He added, \u201cBut where did they acquire the knowledge of it, that they so desire it? Where have they seen it, that they so love it?\u201d (Confessions<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n God has written his law on our hearts (Romans 2:15). There\u2019s compelling evidence he\u2019s also written on our hearts a powerful desire for happiness. In fact, this has been the consensus of theologians throughout church history. Since we inherited our sin nature from Adam, it\u2019s likely we also inherited a sense of his and Eve\u2019s pre-fall happiness. Why else do we long for something better than the only world in which we\u2019ve ever lived?<\/p>\n Before the fall, Adam and Eve undoubtedly anticipated good food, which likely tasted\u00a0even better<\/em>\u00a0than they imagined. But after the fall, the opposite became true. We expect\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0of food, work, relationships, and everything else than what we experience. We live in a darkened world, but our disappointments demonstrate that we retain expectations and hopes of a brighter one.<\/p>\n Were we merely the product of natural selection and survival of the fittest, we\u2019d have no grounds for believing any ancient happiness existed. But even those who\u2019ve never been taught about the fall and the curse instinctively know something is seriously wrong with this world. We\u2019re nostalgic for an Eden of which we\u2019ve only tasted hints. These hints are trickles of water in our parched mouths, causing us to crave and search for rivers of pure, cold water.<\/p>\n Anglican bishop J.C. Ryle (1816\u20131900) wrote, \u201cHappiness is what all mankind wants to obtain \u2014 the desire of it is deeply planted in the human heart\u201d (Practical Religion<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n If this desire is \u201cdeeply planted\u201d in our hearts, who planted it? If not God, who else? Satan? The devil isn\u2019t happy and has no happiness to give. He\u2019s a liar and murderer, dispensing rat poison in cheerful wrappers. He hates God and us, and his strategy is to convince us to look for happiness everywhere but in its only ultimate Source.<\/p>\n Did Adam and Eve desire happiness before they sinned? Did they enjoy the food God provided because it tasted sweet? Did they sit in the sun because it felt warm, or jump into the water because it felt refreshing? And was God pleased or displeased when they did? Our answers will dramatically affect the way we see both God and the world. If we believe God is happy, then it makes sense that part of being made in his image is having both the desire and the capacity for happiness.<\/p>\n Sadly, Christ-followers routinely say things like, \u201cGod doesn\u2019t want you to be happy; he wants you to be holy.\u201d But holiness and happiness are two sides of the same coin \u2014 we dare not pit them against each other.<\/p>\n Not all attempts at holiness honor God, any more than all attempts at happiness honor him. The Pharisees had a passionate desire to be holy on their own terms and for their own glory. Christ\u2019s response? \u201cYou are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father\u2019s desires\u201d (John 8:44). God wants us to seek true, Christ-centered happiness in him, while Satan wants us to seek false holiness with self-congratulatory pride.<\/p>\n Other Christians say, \u201cGod wants you blessed, not happy,\u201d or \u201cGod is interested in your growth, not your happiness.\u201d Such statements may sound spiritual, but they\u2019re not. Does the false message that God doesn\u2019t want us to be happy really promote what Scripture calls the \u201cgood news of happiness\u201d (Isaiah 52:7), or does it actually obscure the gospel?<\/p>\n What good father doesn\u2019t want his children to be happy \u2014 to delight in good things? If we tell our churches and children that God doesn\u2019t want them happy, what are we teaching them? That God isn\u2019t a good Father? Should we be surprised when children raised with this message turn away from God, the Bible, and the church to seek from the world the happiness our Creator wired them to want? As Thomas Aquinas wrote, \u201cMan is unable not to wish to be happy\u201d (Summa Theologica<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n By creating distance between the gospel and happiness, we send the unbiblical message that the Christian faith is dull and miserable. We should speak against sin but hold up Christ as the happiness for which everyone longs. If we don\u2019t, then we become partly responsible for the world\u2019s tragic and widespread misperception that Christianity takes away happiness, instead of bringing it.<\/p>\n Separating God from happiness and our longing for happiness undermines the attractiveness of God and the appeal of the Christian worldview. When we send the message, \u201cGod doesn\u2019t want you to be happy,\u201d we might as well say, \u201cGod doesn\u2019t want you to breathe.\u201d When we say, \u201cStop wanting to be happy,\u201d it\u2019s like saying, \u201cStop thirsting.\u201d<\/p>\n People must breathe and drink and seek happiness because\u00a0that\u2019s how God made us<\/em>. The real question is whether we will breathe clean air, drink pure water, and seek our happiness in Jesus.<\/p>\n Browse more resources<\/a>\u00a0on the topic of happiness, and see Randy\u2019s\u00a0related books<\/a>, including\u00a0Happiness<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Does God Want Us to Be Happy?<\/em><\/a><\/samp><\/p>\n Photo by\u00a0Jacqueline Mungu\u00eda<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Unsplash<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Based on books I\u2019ve read, sermons I\u2019ve heard, and conversations I\u2019ve had, it\u2019s clear many Christians believe that humanity\u2019s desire for happiness was birthed in the fall and is part of the curse. Hence, the desire to be happy is often assumed to be the desire to sin. But what if our desire for happiness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2661,"featured_media":4447,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[4106,4097,4100,183,90,3,537,22,4103,2729,859],"class_list":["post-4445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-happiness","tag-created","tag-desire","tag-enjoy","tag-good-news","tag-gospel","tag-happiness","tag-happy","tag-joy","tag-made","tag-want","tag-why"],"yoast_head":"\nEvolution Has No Eden<\/strong><\/h4>\n
The Good News of God\u2019s Happiness<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Happiness in Jesus<\/strong><\/h4>\n