There is a Disney movie called "Inside
Out." For those who haven't seen
it, it is about emotions that have been personified into cartoon characters and how they
interact with each other inside a person's mind. There is Anger, Fear, Joy, Disgust and Sadness. For most of the movie, Joy spends her time
trying to keep control of the ship, keeping happiness afloat inside the mind of the little
girl where they dwell. Of all the
emotions, Sadness is ostracized the most. All the other emotions try to keep Sadness from influencing the little girl at all costs. But by the time the end of the movie comes
around, everyone finds out that it was Sadness that the little girl needed to
experience to get her through the toughest time of her life. By trying to keep the little girl happy all
the time, she was unable to move forward in any significant growth and
emotional maturity.
Sometimes when I'm writing, I feel like Sadness. I know that no one wants me around. I know there are a lot of people that think,
"Sheesh, lady, do you ever write about anything happy? Reading your blog is like taking a cheese
grater to my soul." I'm actually a
pretty normal person on the outside.
Most people that know me wouldn't describe me as an overly-broody
person. I keep it all inside.
I'm like the living meme that says "On the outside I'm fine...but deep
down, inside my shoe, my sock is slipping off."
Don't worry, I get it. Brooding
existential woe isn't a popular commodity.
Happiness sells, and you can find it anywhere. Truth, on the other hand is a little harder
to find.
Much like the Disney movie, I know that Joy wants to
keep at the helm of the church so that happiness can keep it afloat. But just in case anyone hasn't noticed, this
ship has been sinking for quite some time.
If you haven't noticed, well, maybe that's because you are just as
blinded as the character Joy was, until the things that were falling apart all
around her began to affect her personally.
It took the total destruction of the little girl's inner emotional
foundation to get Joy's attention and make her see that happiness alone
couldn't fix what was wrong. Because the
little girl was being protected from feeling sadness by all the other emotions,
she couldn't understand what was happening to herself. She had emotions but she had no
understanding.
The church needs all its emotions to be expressed to bring
the fullness of experience and depth of understanding of itself, and this
cannot take place unless there is a full range of perspectives at work. To chastise Joy for not inciting Fear, is to
denigrate her for not doing something that she wasn't made to do. Joy was made to express Joy, not Fear. Likewise, to chastise Sadness for directing
people's attention to the things that we should be sad over, is to disparage
her for doing her job. Often times, Sadness
must be experienced for true Joy to follow.
Sadness must be experienced to keep Disgust from turning into Anger. Sadness must be experienced to numb Fear.
In too many churches in America, Joy has taken the helm of the ship and holds the wheel hostage. "Come to our church
where everybody is happy, all the time!"
But that is not real. In real
life, there is sadness. There is
brokenness. And telling people that
putting their faith in Christ will make them happy, happy, happy, all the time,
in a happy church, where everybody always gets along, is a lie. The truth is, that Christ brings not only a depth
of joy into a person's life, but also a depth of sadness. When we rightly understand Who Christ is, and
what He is like, we are better able to see through His eyes. We see the degree of our sin, and the degree
of brokenness that is all around us in a fallen creation and we should mourn
that. That is why Christ tells us,
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" (Matt
5:4). Notice Christ puts the sadness of
mourning first, so that it can then be followed with the joy of comfort.
Perhaps the reason the church has yet to repent, is
because Sadness is needed to bring Godly sorrow that leads to repentance, so
that the Joy of deliverance can follow.
"For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a
lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning." (Psalm
30:5)
"And now I rejoice, not because you were made
sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the
sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly
sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly
sorrow brings death. Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear
yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what
vindication!" (2 Cor 7 :9-11)
"The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me....to provide
for those who grieve in Zion-- to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise in place of a spirit of
despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the
Lord, that He may be glorified." (Isaiah 60:1,3)
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