Joy and Arrogance Don't Mix

One of the bedrock principles of the Christian faith is joy. It is something that the world searches for, and Jesus offers it to those who seek and find Him. It is invaluable, immeasurable, and completely unchangeable. Joy cannot be touched by circumstance, and it is not dependent on mood swings. Yes, it is a treasure that Christians enjoy because of what we have been given. Our joy is found in the result of our faith; salvation unto the soul. This is why we are different when compared to the world in circumstances of emotional pain, financial unrest, or general uncertainty. This joy that comes from our salvation, and how we received that salvation, filters down into all the things that we do. We are joyful in our interactions with others, we are joyful in the church, we are joyful in serving... and the list goes on. Unfortunately, I find that joy has lost a great deal of its purity in the modern church. Let me explain what I mean.

In all of my interactions with people of a denominational faith, and with people who have no faith in Jesus at all, the one uniform complaint given against those in the church of Christ is that they are either arrogant, pushy, legalistic, or just plain self-righteous. I have heard this from almost every person I've spoken to who has been seriously involved in a Bible study with a member of the church. Now, a good deal of that view is most likely rooted in misunderstanding, but let's face it; we have a reputation for being arrogant. Its no secret, so let's stop acting like that stigma doesn't exist. With such an overwhelming number of individuals who all come away with the same impression, I find myself asking why this might be. This is alarming information. I'm not sure that I have even some of the answers, but I can tell you first of all why this shouldn't be happening. This problem is truly heartbreaking for me to realize, because a Christian who really had a grasp on joy wouldn't behave in an arrogant fashion. It just doesn't make sense, when you think about it.

Let's take a step back for a minute. Why do we have joy? Because we earned our place in God's family? Was it our wonderful performance and sinless life that brought us into the kingdom? Well, we all know that answer to that, at least. We are part of God's family because he adopted us as sons and daughters (Eph 2:1-10), even though we were sinners. Every single Christian has been adopted by divine grace; brought into a covenant relationship with God after obeying the Gospel. This is the source of our joy, the fact that God was rich in His mercy, and that at the cross was made the perfect sacrifice that allows God to forgive us all our sins! What did we earn? We earned death, as it says in Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." So there's what you earned. There is a payday involved with sin, and the check had your name on it. You earned that by your performance. What did you not earn? Your place in the kingdom, and your place in heaven. That was given to you, by grace through faith in Jesus. But this is all a little bit too elementary, right? I mean, we learned this in VBS, didn't we? If you're wondering why I'm covering all this, this is my point: The Christian who really understands this will have a hard time being arrogant when sharing the same information with someone else. It must take some concentrated effort to understand this in a way that produces true joy in the heart, and to simultaneously act in an arrogant manner when speaking to others about matters of faith. How is it that so many Christians can seem self-righteous to others, if we are supposed to be joyful in what we have? How can it be possible for this view of the church to be so widespread, if we are the people who are supposed to have pure joy? Having joy in something ought to naturally negate any haughty feelings in the matter. How can you be joyful to have received something, and then be abrasive about it when telling someone about this gift you've received? The arrogant Christian, the one who thinks he has all the right answers, has forgotten that it is a gift and that he has been adopted into God's family.

I think that this is exactly the problem. Many Christians do not have the joy in their faith that they should. If they did, I think we might see a serious change in attitude. I can't imagine myself thinking about the cross, knowing the means by which I have salvation, and then acting in an insulting manner toward someone for their views on instrumental music in worship. It just doesn't make sense. Can the two attitudes coexist? It appears that they can, because I've seen it; sadly enough. But this existence of two opposing attitudes requires a hard heart, and a short memory. When I picture a Christian who has true joy in their heart because of what Jesus has done for them, it is hard to imagine that person being self-righteous about it. We're talking about oil and water here. And yet we in the church, so ready to remind ourselves that we alone have the truth, have a stigma for being arrogant the way that Bill Clinton has a stigma for lying. Everyone knows it. We are supposed to be the bastion of hope for this country! We are surrounded by enough evil, hurt, pain, and suffering as it is. Let's not add to the problem by forgetting about the joy we can experience when we have the correct perspective on this thing we call "life". We are told in Ephesians 3:10 that the "manifold wisdom of God" is made known to the world by way of the church. We are God's chosen vehicle for communication, so to speak. So our purpose, among other things, is to bring others to a saving knowledge of the truth; to help them fall in love with it. That is not easily done when arrogance gets in the way.

So the answer to the question about how this problem came about isn't easy. I think this has been a long, historical development on the part of modern Christians. Part of it may be the fact humans like being part of something special, and I dare say that many people have let that bleed into the church. We joke about denominations and T.V. evangelists, and some of that is basically harmless- but amidst it all I see that an attitude of "special position" has come into the picture. Some people like it that they are part of the "only church." It feels nice, like being on the winning team. That's why so many people like open debates- so they can "win." Yeah, so after its all said and done, and you showed that silly pastor how wrong he is, what have you won? I'll tell you one thing- you didn't win him. There's nothing to "win" by showing others how wrong they are. God doesn't need you out there humiliating people for Him. You think He can't handle it? I'm not advocating the tolerance of false teaching by any means. I'm just saying that there may be a better way to help others know the truth more fully. Let's try loving them a little bit for a change. You know, something revolutionary, like the stuff Jesus talked about. It is God's love being shared through us that will transform lives. That is the light that we are to bring into the world. Correct doctrine is a must, and I'm not saying anything to the contrary. But let the light identify the correctness. In other words, you can't turn off dark. Think about it. You walk into a dark room (the world), and you flip the switch to turn the dark off, right? Of course not. You turn the light on. My point is that spending all of our time trying to "turn off the dark" is a useless endeavor.

If I seem spiced-up about this, it might be because this hits very close to home for me. But I don't think these words are too strong. How long can we endure the reputation of pushing people away from the truth? Its time we made a mid-course change in direction, and took a moment to get our bearings again. All the sudden, "back to the Bible" has a whole new ring to it, doesn't it? Yes, let's get back to the Bible; in word, in deed, and in attitude.