The Pastor's Page - 10/9/08
.......AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
This phrase from the Declaration of Independence seems to have become the one guiding principle of our land. And since we all want basic happiness we are slow to see how such a simple premise could be terribly harmful. Yet like all the good things in life the pursuit of happiness can be twisted and abused.
Consider how it seems that happiness has become a constitutional right. It is easy to imagine someone saying, “ This is what I need to be happy, therefore the role of government is to provide that for me. “ And no matter what that thing is we see people protesting in favor of it.
Happiness for me someone says is not having to deal with an unwanted child, therefore I have the right to murder, euphemistically called abortion. Another person speaks up and says for me happiness if being able to marry a person of my own sex therefore the government must legalize homosexual marriage, even if it is against the will of the people. Someone else says that happiness hinges on the opportunity to have sex with children, so pedofilia is decriminalized. Another insists that to be happy they need untold amounts of wealth and so gambling is legalized to give that person the opportunity to achieve that goal. Someone insists that happiness means that they should be able to die with dignity so we legalize mercy killing, and the list goes on.
Even among Christians we hear the cry and clamor for happiness. As a pastor I have seen people insist that they are ending their marriage commitment because God wants them to be happy and they aren’t happy with this person. But seldom does greater happiness come their way though they might pretend so to keep up appearances.
The problem is I have not thought about the passage of Scripture which says God is no respecter of persons. If He wants me to be happy then He wants everyone happy and therefore I cannot pursue a happiness which would make others, like my children, unhappy because that would be a contradiction of that principle of non partiality. And yet that is exactly what happens when my happiness becomes the overarching concern in my life.
The Bible teaches self denial and with it comes the understanding that true happiness comes from seeking the happiness of others first, from finding satisfaction in their happiness and fulfillment rather than in the demands of selfishness. That may be why is spite of the claims of happiness as a right there are still so many unhappy people around us.
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