Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Pastor Tim Janiszewski - "Call to Virtue"

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This Sunday
January 18, 2015


Sermon Title:
"Looking for the Good Life"
 

Scripture:

James 3:13-17


 

Picture of Pastor Tim

January 15, 2015

 

Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:

 

In his book, God in the Whirlwind, author David Wells comments that we live in a culture where people would much rather feel good than actually be good. Ours is a therapeutic orientation, not a moral disposition. In other words, topics such as wellness, healing, wholeness, health, fulfillment, and happiness are sought and well received among Americans, including those who inhabit evangelical churches. Topics such as fidelity, truthfulness, morality, ethics, and virtue are much less popular or desirable in both culture and church.

 

Think of it this way. How would most of the people we know honestly answer the following question: Would they rather feel good all the time but have to forfeit being good in order to do so, or would they rather be good all the time but have to forfeit feeling good in order to do so? Or yet another approach to the subject: On any given Sunday morning, would people rather hear a sermon that encourages them about how Jesus heals their wounds and broken hearts by loving them with His desire to make them happy and whole, or would they opt for a sermon that calls them to recognize their sins, to call out to God in repentance, to receive His merciful forgiveness, and to ask the Spirit's help to keep God's excellent law to His ultimate glory? Which would you prefer? Which do you think would naturally attract more people to our church?

 

Perhaps at this point, we might wonder whether a false dichotomy is being drawn. Does it have to be either a "feel-good," therapeutic message or a "be-good," virtuous message? Cannot there be room for both? Yes, there can be and should be space for God both to make us whole and to make us holy. The mistake being made in our culture and many churches, however, is that we want to be whole without having to be holy. And this is a misguided and even dangerous approach.

 

Here's why.

 

If we uphold sola Scriptura or the final authority of the Scriptures, then we must listen to what the Word has to say on the matter. What do we find? The Bible is replete with the call to virtue. It constantly summons us to live with excellence to the glory of God. We are to grow in becoming God-like in His perfect goodness by seeking for Christ-likeness to develop in our souls. I myself cannot find biblical evidence that the goal of the Christian life is to be self-fulfilled, self-actualized, or possessing a positive self-image. The Bible does not sanction the pursuit of the "be-happy-attitudes" that Robert Schuller once promoted. Based on Scripture, God's clear priority is on our being good, not on our feeling good.

           

Well, we might wonder, does this mean that faithful biblical Christians are consigned to a life of do-gooding while feeling wretchedly miserable? Are we simply to get along in unhappiness till heaven? Turning to the Bible again, the answer is "no." Though God does not aim at our happiness, He would give us something far better. It is joy. Joy is the deep sense of completeness that does not hinge on our feelings or circumstances. Joy is knowing who God is, what God in Christ has done for us, and how we can always live with blessed assurance based on His work and not our own efforts. The biblical and Christian paradox is that we can at the same time feel totally unhappy and still have joy in our souls. And when rightly pursued, joy grows as we grow in holiness.

           

Put simply, pursue happiness and it will slip through our fingers time and time again. Pursue virtue--excellence to the glory of God--and joy will be ours forever, as well.

 

Pastor Tim


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