The Pursuit of Happiness
Tom Shrader challenges the common evangelical tendency to dismiss happiness as frivolous, showing through scripture and church history that God genuinely desires His people to experience deep, lasting joy. Drawing on Psalm 16 and voices from Augustine to C.S. Lewis, he argues that humans are designed for happiness and cannot stop pursuing it, but consistently seek it in temporary things like money, relationships, and appearance. True happiness, he concludes, is found only in a right relationship with Jesus, and that joy becomes a witness to the world around believers.
“If I have Jesus and I have nothing else, I have everything; if I have everything else and I don't have Jesus, I have nothing.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: New City Church
Recorded: Nov 15, 2015
Duration: 36 min
Themes: happiness, joy, contentment, desire, pleasure, fulfillment, money, relationships, feeling empty, chasing success, struggling with discontentment, young adult, new believer, seeking purpose, financially focused, image conscious
Scripture: Psalm 16:8-11, Acts 16:25
Theological Themes: beatitudo, christian hedonism, joy in god, anthropology, human design, sanctification, witness, psalm 16
Full Transcript
The Pursuit of Happiness
We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. One author commenting on that sentence said it is among the greatest sentences ever written regarding why a civil government exists — to preserve and protect those rights. Thomas Jefferson, when speaking about freedom, made clear that freedom does not mean the ability to do whatever you want. It implies self-constraint. Those who know this material best would emphasize it this way: life, liberty, and the *pursuit* of happiness — meaning the freedom not to be coerced.
That legal and constitutional dimension, however, is not my specialty. My specialty is the happiness part. So if you are a lawyer, a history buff, or a Constitution enthusiast, I am not the person to talk to about this afterward. I am interested in exploring one question: what is happiness, and where do we find it?
Is Happiness an Acceptable Topic for Church?
Even as I prepared this message, I found myself asking whether happiness is an acceptable topic for a church setting. In many Bible-teaching churches, the idea of happiness is treated as something so frivolous that we tend to frown on it. We draw a sharp distinction between joy and happiness — and I have certainly done that myself. I have taught that distinction.
My daughter, the one who is a bit more like me, put it this way in a text last night: "Happiness is temporary and usually circumstantial, material, or emotional. Joy is eternal and God-given." That is the framework many of us were taught, and I come from that background. I come from that background. God saved me when I was thirty years old, and by that point —
The Pursuit of Happiness
How many of you got saved after you were 18? Hold your hands up real high. These are the real sinners right here — these are the people who have stories for you. So now I'm not supposed to be happy; I'm supposed to be joyful. The fruit of the Spirit isn't happiness, it's joy. Well, I've spent some time delving into that and seeing whether perhaps God does want me happy, if we define the terms correctly. So let me spend some time setting this up, and we'll hopefully have a joyful time in the midst of it.
Defining Happiness
The dictionary defines happiness as a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. It means feeling pleasure and enjoyment — and listen to this — because of your life situation. It means showing or causing feelings of pleasure, and being characterized by well-being and contentment. The synonyms are often helpful: pleasure, contentment, satisfaction, merriment, joyfulness, delight, good spirits, well-being.
You get the sense of it. Happiness tends to be in that moment or in that experience. The Iowa game last night is a perfect example.
If I could have been anywhere on this planet last night, it would have been Iowa City. I know exactly the drill — I just went through it a month ago. We go back, my girls, they're both adult parents, they're 35 and 33, they each have four kids, so it's not like taking a high schooler or a middle school kid back to a game. If kickoff is at 11, we leave Davenport at 7, we're at the Student Union at 8:30 — that's our last clean restroom for the day, so we have to do whatever we're going to do there. We get up and we go to the end of the stadium where there's a statue of Nile Kinnick, we wait two hours before the game, the bus comes up, Kirk Ferentz gets off, the staff gets off, and we stand there like absolute doofuses and cheer them on.
Then we go across the street, I get a bratwurst at the same place, we walk around to the old indoor track stadium where the band is warming up. An hour before the game we're out there, the band marches over, and fifty minutes before the game — no later — we're in our seats watching Kinnick Stadium come alive. Twenty-five minutes before the game the band comes out, they play "On Iowa" and the fight song, the place is incredible. They go to the end zone, the colors come out, they play the national anthem, the team comes swarming out — I've got goosebumps right now, I could cry at this, it's absolutely amazing. The flags come up, I-O-W-A, generally in that order, which is kind of cool when they can pull that off.
I said to my daughter — and it was 70 degrees — "It cannot get any better than this." We get through the game and they win. About twenty minutes later she's trying to figure out which shirt to buy, I get another bratwurst, we walk a mile and a half back to the Student Union parking lot, we're backed up — and I'm sitting in the car going, "What happened?" It couldn't get any better than that, and yet I'm miserable twenty minutes later, out on Interstate 80 in a parade of semi-trucks in both lanes. You see what I'm saying? That's the happiness stuff.
What the Great Thinkers Said About Happiness
This idea of happiness is not new. Listen to Augustine — this is the fourth century — he said, "For who wishes anything for any other reason than that he might become happy?" Then there's Pascal, whom we know for the observation that there is in us a God-shaped vacuum. He also said this: "All men seek happiness."
I could read these quotes forever. Jonathan Edwards — if you Google him and go to images, you'll see a picture of a man whom secular philosophers and historians agree was the greatest mind America ever produced, and he believed what you and I believe. He looks like his senior high yearbook photo, and they use it everywhere. Edwards says, "There is no man on the earth who is not earnestly seeking after happiness."
George Whitefield, the great evangelist, asked this question — and it's a little edgy, when I first read it I thought so: "Is it the end of religion to make men happy?" And then he asks, does Jesus want your heart only for the same end as the devil does — to make you miserable? No. He wants you to believe on Him that you might be saved. That is all the dear Savior desires: to make you happy in that sense. Augustine again says, "Is not a happy life the thing all desire?"
The Problem: Looking for Happiness in All the Wrong Places
Now here's the problem. In this book — in my Bible — they're not numbered by page, well actually they are: page 1 and 2 is creation, page 3 is man screwing this up, and page 4 through the end is the story of God's redemption and restoration. You and I were designed, as Adam and Eve were designed, to walk with God in the cool of the garden. You were designed to be joyful, to be happy, in the right sense of the word.
There's an old country western song: "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places." My paraphrase of that today is: looking for happiness in all the wrong places. I made a list of just some of the places people look. Take money, for example — if I just had some money, and then once I have money, I need more money. Consider the NBA athlete Lamar Odom...
The Trap of "I'll Be Happy If…"
Even as Christians, we can fall into this trap. Consider a guy who had everything — he had a bunch of stuff, he had 35 million dollars, and he had a Kardashian. But he didn't have everything, because he didn't have Jesus. And Jesus is everything. If I have Jesus and I have nothing else, I have everything. If I have everything else and I don't have Jesus, I have nothing.
Even as Christians, we can fall into this slippery slope. It goes like this: here's my stuff — things, a new car, a house, an education. Many of you, especially the students here, think: if I can just get that master's degree. And then you realize that a master's degree in anthropology is not what the workplace is clamoring for. So what do you do at that moment? You get a PhD, of course, because you're already upside down — you might as well go all the way.
Then there are relationships. If I can just get her to go out with me, that would be awesome. If we could be exclusive. If she'd marry me. Oh, she married me. That's the cycle — that's what we mean by the temporariness of these things. And then there's appearance. If I just look right, I'll be happy.
I have eyelids so sloped that I'm living with a visor on all day long. So I went to the doctor and said, can you fix this? He said, sure, we just take the skin out — easy. He asked if I had any other symptoms. I said I have a headache. He said that's the pressure, the weight. He said we can pull this up and take the pressure off your brow. I looked in the mirror and all of those wrinkles were gone too. And I thought, while you're in there, we could make a purse out of this baby when we're done. The next thing I know, I've got them tucking and pulling everywhere. I didn't do it — but I understand the pull: if I just look better, I'll be happy.
They're all fleeting. No matter how hard you work out, no matter how much stuff you have. Now, that's not to say those things won't give you momentary pleasure. As an Iowa fan, a trip to Kinnick Stadium is going to give you pleasure. If you're an artist and you get to visit a museum and look at the work and go, "Wow" — that's real. But here's our problem: we try to find meaning and purpose in those things, meaning and purpose that we can find only in God.
A Maximum of Choices, a Minimum of Meaning
Sandy found a great quote at lunch last Sunday and read it to me. I asked her to send it to me because it describes your world perfectly. Here it is: *Is there one thing the great institutions of the modern world do not do? They do not provide meaning. They do not answer the three great questions that every reflective individual will at some point in his or her life ask: Who am I? Why am I here? How should I live?* And here is the conclusion: *The result is that the 21st century has left us with a maximum of choices and a minimum of meaning.*
I get an email every morning from Nike. Almost every morning I look at it and think, "Wow, those are cool shoes." I saw a pair the other day that looked really cool, went to the Nike website, and there are 50,000 shoes. And then when you're done, they ask: do you want to customize it? Apparently I can take the blue on the sole and make it black and make something else yellow. We have endless choices.
I go to a restaurant where there's a dish on the menu called "Plain and Simple." It's eggs and toast and potatoes. So I say, I'll have the Plain and Simple. How would you like those eggs? Scrambled, poached, boiled, over easy, over hard, fried? Toast or a muffin? Toast — sourdough, wheat, white, rye, marble? Meat — sausage or bacon? Sausage — patty or link? This is the Plain and Simple. This is the world you live in.
The idea is: I have all these choices, so I'll be happy. But here's the problem. All those choices are great, but Jesus didn't say all these choices are the way. Jesus said, "I am the way." By definition, we live in a very exclusive world with this Savior.
Happy Hour and the Search for Happiness
We have a thing called happy hour — every night, five to seven. I moved here in 1975, and in my day I was in happy hour every day. I noticed a trend. We'd start down here, and we got happier until about 6:15, and then by the end we were as unhappy as when we started. But they sucked us in with "happy hour."
I did some research — which means I went on the web — and found ten things scientists say will make you happy. Savor the moment. Look at the sunset. Avoid comparison — which is impossible to do.
True Happiness: What the World Says and What Scripture Says
Put money at the bottom of the list. Have meaningful goals. Have a reason to get up. I spent a ton of time with older people, and they are all the same — they have nothing to do. You have to have a reason to live. Take initiative at work. Make friends, smile. You know all of this. Those are what the world says.
Here is what the Dictionary of Bible Themes says: true happiness derives from a secure and settled knowledge of God and a rejoicing in His work and His faithfulness. C.S. Lewis says it is a Christian duty for everyone to be as happy as they can. And here is what I have discovered as I get into Scripture: there are as many as two dozen words in the Hebrew and the Greek used to describe some variation of happiness, and the concept appears in 2,700 verses.
Look at the passage from Psalm 16 that we read together. I did not pick this — it was already chosen. "I have set the Lord always before me. Therefore my heart is glad" — happy. "My spirit rejoices" — happy. "My body will rest in hope." And then the final sentence: "You will show me the path of life. Your presence is the fullness of joy" — happy. "In Your right hand are pleasures" — happy forever.
When we talk about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, what we are talking about as Christians is the happiness that comes from a right relationship with Jesus — to know who He is. You as a person are unable to not pursue happiness, because you were designed for happiness. This real happiness.
Four Conclusions
So here is the conclusion. I have four things.
Number one: all people desire happiness — all people, everywhere. There are little children who see a bag of fishy crackers and want them immediately. When my grandkids come to my house, they always say, "Papa, your fishy crackers are better than our fishy crackers." I have to tell them that is because their parents buy the baked ones. I do not care if they clog their little arteries — I am giving them the good stuff. They want them. That desire is universal.
Number two: the gospel of Jesus offers people both eternal happiness and present happiness. One of the traps we fall into is thinking that this Jesus-happiness is only for the sweet by and by. We come up with phrases like, "Most Christians are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good." My experience is the opposite — they are so earthly minded they are no heavenly good. Jesus makes this world better.
When Kelsey was speaking, I had a chance to talk with her between services. She mentioned going to a party, and because she knows Jesus, she can enjoy that party more. She finds real community. When I ask her about what she is doing, she just radiates it — she is alive. She is a better artist because she loves Jesus. You are going to be a better server in a restaurant, a better CEO, a better student, a better person, and happier because you know Jesus.
People Are Drawn to Christ Through Genuine Happiness
Number three: people are drawn to Christ when they see true happiness in His followers.
My wife Sandy is coming to the next service, and I love her. I told her that not long ago, and she said, "Why?" This was not a discussion question — I was not looking for dialogue. I said, I do not know, I just love you. She pressed me, so I thought about it. She is really smart, she is pretty, she is easy to be with. But one of the reasons I love her is that I love to watch her live.
This morning I was up at five going through some notes. Sandy normally gets up at 4:45, but today she was sleeping in until 5:30 and then going to run five miles. I looked over when she got up, and she said, "How are you doing this morning, buddy?" — just like that, bright and ready to run five miles. Honestly, I would rather someone take me out back than make me run five miles at that hour. But there is something contagious about the way she faces the day. You want to be around people like that.
The World Does Not Expect This from You
Here is the thing about the world — they do not expect that from you. There is a little pub near our house, and there is a woman there who is a server. I used to go in quite a lot and would meet people there. I am always early — as you get older, you get early. Breakfast at four in the morning, lunch at nine, dinner at two. So I would be there ahead of time, and I started talking to her. She is a great woman and I really enjoyed her. One day I was in there, asking her about her life and what she does, and I asked her where she lives, and —
Joy That Attracts the World
She said she lived in Gilbert but was moving. When I asked why, she said it was filled with conservative Christians. I told her I was a conservative Christian, and she said, "There's no way. There's no way you are." She never put together the idea that somebody who loves Jesus might also love people and laugh. When you have joy — when you enjoy an Iowa game, or art, or coffee, or coming to church, or each other — the world is attracted to that. And when you tell them what makes that coffee rich, or that art great, or that football game even better, is that you love Christ and see the beauty in it, something shifts. I can see Christ at work in a well-run play. I have to squint, but I can see it.
God Is the Sole Origin of True Happiness
Here is the last point: God is the sole origin of true happiness, and we should wholeheartedly seek to delight in Him. Once you look at that — Psalm 16 — let me tell you what is going to happen. When you open your Bible, you are going to see this theme of joy and happiness everywhere. God does want you happy, not in some superficial way, not in some worldly, temporary way. He is not saying not to enjoy the world, but He is saying not to think you will find satisfaction or fulfillment there.
No person, place, or thing can make you happy the way Jesus makes you happy. That is not to say Jesus is going to give you everything you want. Consider Paul and Silas in prison — they had been beaten, and yet it says that about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns, and the prisoners were listening to them. When the jailer came and the doors were open, they did not run out. The jailer saw something different, and he said, "What must I do to be saved?" That is what is going to happen to the people around you.
All of that is because you know Christ — not in some stoic way. I am not taking away any of the joy or the irreverence in any of this. I am saying that because you know Him, you have love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness. The world is stunned not because they see the absence of turmoil in your life, but because they see the presence of God in the midst of it.
Communion
We respond to all of this through communion. Jesus said, "Do this in remembrance of me." What made that possible was the crucifixion and the resurrection, and we celebrate His death and His life right now. Around the room are stations with a small piece of bread and a cup. You eat and drink and remember Christ's death on the cross — not in a morbid way, but in recognition that His death gave you eternal life.
I need to be serious for a moment. If you do not know Christ, communion is not for you. I am not trying to make you feel awkward or uncomfortable, but this is designed for those of us who are Christians.
Father, thank You for this truth. Thank You that we can laugh, and thank You that You give us joy, and thank You that You give us good things — but that we do not find our meaning or purpose in those things. We find our meaning and purpose in a right relationship with You. God, I pray You use this time for Your honor and Your glory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.