Developing A Mindset Of Joy Series

Ray Stedman, who is now with the Lord, was one of the greatest Bible teachers in the past 50 years. In his teaching on chapter 1 verses 12-26, he opens up with these words.

“I love this passage from the letter to the Philippians because it depicts the unmistakable marks of authentic Christianity. This is a refreshing contrast with the pale, anemic variety that we often meet today. I must confess that I’ve grown somewhat weary of the anxious, discouraged, ordinary, no different from the rest of the world Christians we so frequently run across. It is refreshing to me to think of Paul who is cheerful, optimistic and confident in Christ, undiscouraged despite his circumstances. When you meet someone like that it’s as though a window has been opened and the breezes of the Spirit blow refreshingly from that life.”

I LOVE THAT OBSERVATION. And I think we are living in a cultural moment where there is a great need for the windows to be opened and the breezes of the Spirit refresh others through our lives of undiminished joy. So, let me offer a little cultural commentary so that you can understand why I think this series is so important.

People have had their joy robbed:

• Because they’ve lost loves ones to COVID-19

• Others have lost their joy because they’ve been so isolated during this time (even when it’s the wise thing to do)

• Others are battling anxiety and depression

• People on both sides of the COVID-19 response are hurting, not just the ones who agree with me on how it should be handled

• People have had their joy diminished because of police brutality

• Others have loved ones that are a police officers and they are suffering

• People who are afraid that their religious liberties are being violated are suffering from a lack of joy

• Others think the government is taking wise steps but are still deeply concerned about rising suicides, rising cases of depression and anxiety and rising instances of domestic violence

• People who support the right to peaceful protest are suffering from a lack of joy out of fear of not being heard

• Those whose businesses and private properties were unlawfully destroyed are suffering from a lack of joy because they too were sinned against.

Some have had their joy diminished because of political disagreements where professing Christians are guilty of attacking people instead of problems. Instead of conversations where we spend our energy and intellect on solutions, we spend our energy and display our lack of intellect by degrading the character of the person who disagrees with us but is also a fellow image bearer of God. This is my biggest beef with the current state of politics. People – even Christian people – attack fellow image bearers instead of attacking problems.

And if you are a follower of Christ, and you do that, you are not a part of the solution, you are part of the problem. AND if you take joy in being a part of the problem, my prayer is that you would repent…and quite honestly, if you are unwilling to repent, my prayer is that you would join another church instead of running the risk of misrepresenting ours.

So when we say that we need to be concerned about the lack of joy in our country right now, please don’t apply that need only to people who look like you and vote like you. If Jesus, and not favorable circumstances, is the true source of unalterable joy (AND HE IS), then you and I should be deeply concerned about EVERYONE finding joy because finding joy means finding Jesus. So, if you’re excited about everyone finding Jesus-centered joy, would you turn with me to Philippians chapter 1 for a message titled “Developing A Mindset of Joy.”

When I was growing up, some of the churches that I was associated with talked a lot about being different from the world as Christians…and we would quote Romans 12:2: “Be not conformed to this world.” And sadly, we were so close to getting this right until our secret formula for NOT being conformed to this world started focusing more on external behavior than what was going on in the heart. In fact, we had some rather long lists of DOs and DON’Ts that involved dress codes and hair cuts and the events we could attend and the places we couldn’t go. And instead of ending up being different, we just ended up being weird.

And sadly, despite my church’s encouragement to the contrary, I came to realize that weird is not attractive. And over time, I began to realize that what’s attractive to people is when there’s a difference on the inside of us DESPITE what’s going on around us. What’s attractive is loving people in a culture of hate. What’s attractive is having joy when it’s hard to come by.