Misconception about Christianity #2: Happiness

While perhaps not always explicitly stated, a lot of people seem to think that the purpose of faith is happiness.  This notion goes something like this: if somebody believes in God and does their best to be a good Christian, the reward is a happy and prosperous life on Earth.

I think that a lot of this "health and wealth gospel" comes from Western culture, where we have become entitled to comfort and accustomed to material prosperity.  But the Old Testament can also contribute to this worldview.  In the Old Testament, God more or less enters into a theocracy with the Jewish people, and gives them worldly success when they are obedient.  Examples are abundant: Moses' faith brings freedom to his people, Joshua's faith brings miraculous military victories, David has faith and slays Goliath, and so on.  The message is clear: have faith in God and do right, and God will bless your ambitions in the world.

But does any of this apply to Christians?  Even a cursory glimpse at the New Testament yields a resounding 'no'!  What happens to people of faith in the New Testament?

• John the Baptist faithfully prepares the way for the coming of Jesus, and gets beheaded as a result.
• Jesus Christ lives the only perfect life in the history of the world, and gets publicly scorned, beaten, and crucified.
• When Stephen joyfully proclaims the gospel to a hateful mob, he gets stoned to death.
• Peter devotes his life to spread the gospel, and also gets crucified.
• Paul travels around the world to spread the gospel, and gets tortured, stoned, shipwrecked, and executed in a Roman prison.

Clearly, a paradigm shift has occurred. Even when living in faith, nearly every key Christian in the New Testament lives a difficult life (by worldly standards) and a gruesome and unjust death. 

So why the shift?  Like many difficult questions of faith, an understanding of Covenant Theology is necessary.  A primary purpose of the Old Testament was for God to establish Israel as an earthly metaphor for heaven and God's loving provision.  To establish this idea of a metaphorical heaven on earth, God created a Theocracy where his faithful people were rewarded with the promised land and familial prosperity.  Under this framework, it makes sense for people of faith to be rewarded in this life, in the 'here and now'.  God was using this life as an example of how He desires to give justice and joy to people who submit to His purposes.

But in the New Testament, this metaphorical heaven yields to the real deal.  John the Baptist sets the tone by declaring to people to "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2).  This shift from the earthly paradise of Israel to the eternal Kingdom of Heaven is dramatic indeed, and is a primary cause for the Jews to object to this new message.  There can be no doubt that this "Kingdom of Heaven" is quite distinct from the Kingdom of Israel, as Jesus talks about eternal life and how "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). 

In short, the New Testament affirms that God's ultimate plan for us will not be fulfilled in this life, but in the eternity that follows death.  After death, people of faith in Christ's grace will have an eternity of spiritual restoration and perfect fulfillment, while the unrepentantly wicked will face justice in Hell.  But none of this applies to this world any longer: the correlation between faith and worldly prosperity has been severed.  Indeed, Jesus and Paul speak numerous times of how people of faith will find persecution and hardship during their earthly lifetime.  Jesus said:  "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first" (John 15:18).

There are profound consequences to these teachings that are often ignored.  Here are just but a few examples:

• Being open and honest about the gospel and God, even at the expense of social derision or rejection from peers and family.
• Remaining faithful and loving to a spouse even if you are unhappy in the marriage.
• Giving your money and time to others in need even at the expense of your own comfortable lifestyle.

But perhaps most importantly, Christians should in general not expect to have everything go their way as a result of their faith.  This false 'prosperity gospel' can cause many to lose their faith in God when things go wrong in life because they think it shouldn't happen to them.  You can get cancer, lose a loved one, or watch the wicked prosper in spite of their sins.  None of this should reflect on your belief in God, because He has made it abundantly clear that He will not make things right in this Earthly Kingdom, but in the Kingdom of Heaven.  After all, if Jesus and Paul had to endure horrific sufferings and injustices in this life, why should us lesser Christians expect anything better?  

This sounds hard, and it is, but Christians should face such sufferings with joy.  How?  Paul says it best:

"Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)