Christians Deserve Happiness, Right?

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I will say rejoice." Philippians 4:4

There’s a relatively newer view of the Christian life that goes something like this…I attend church on Sunday, I tithe regularly, I treat those around me with love and respect, I volunteer at the homeless shelter, and I pray daily so I am entitled to a healthy, happy, and prosperous life. You might even hear preachers say that you deserve it. 

While some might not be so bold as to say that they have earned the right to a prosperous life, we all can certainly be susceptible to those feelings and expectations – “I am doing my part, Jesus, so you do yours, and bless me with the things I desire.” 

The problem with the idea behind the health and wealth prosperity Gospel is that it minimizes God…we view Him more as a divine gumball machine rather than the Creator of the universe. We make our deposits (in the form of tithing, volunteer service, prayer, etc) and expect the machine to give us our gumball (otherwise known as health, wealth, and happiness). 

But those who preach or buy into this idea of the prosperity Gospel miss the words of Jesus…the words where He promises difficulties of all kinds – “In the world you will have tribulation. But be courageous! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Our Christian life is not and never has been promised to be an easy road. Checking the proverbial church boxes and then receiving our heart’s desires is not in the Bible. Our true Christian life was promised to be difficult – we will face trials, tribulations, death, poverty, famine, loss, and grief.  

Jesus tells His followers, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). And denial is never easy. However, Jesus is not asking us to do anything more than what He did when He walked on this earth. He faced hunger (Matthew 4:1-11), the death of a dear friend (John 11:1-44), persecution (John 11:45-57), betrayal (Luke 22:47-48), unjust beatings (John 19:1-4), and ultimately a brutal death on the cross (John 19:17-37). He reminds us, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18). He understands, and he can empathize with us in any and every situation or trial we face here on earth (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Life is full of suffering – for Christians and non-Christians alike. We were never promised an easy road just because we strive to live our lives to honor God. We instead are promised trials and tribulations, and in fact, we are called even one step further: to rejoice in our sufferings – “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces hope, and hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5). 

As Christians, the sufferings of this world can consume us or mold us. We can allow our trials and tribulations to suffocate and destroy us, or we can allow those same sufferings to mold, shape, strengthen, and purify us, as iron is shaped and refined by the fire, but not destroyed by it. 

Suffering goes hand-in-hand with living in a broken world. We can choose to embrace our suffering as a vehicle for understanding our finite nature and complete and total dependence on the Creator of the universe, or we can choose to view our suffering as punishment from the divine gumball machine because we didn’t make enough deposits. 

And what the health and wealth prosperity Gospel proponents will never tell you is that you will never make enough deposits, you will never be good enough, and you will never be deserving. Suffering, through the lens of a true Christian life, is beneficial to our salvation because we recognize that we will never be enough. But Jesus’s death on the cross is enough for each and every one of us. It is sufficient to sustain and encourage us, to help us persevere and find hope in any trial. 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4). And remember to hold dearly Jesus’s words… “Be courageous! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33b).