What is Biblical Joy?
April 3, 2023 | Michaela Wang BK ‘25
image description: hand holding Bible
I’m not a native speaker of “Christianese.” Nevertheless, I find some phrases slipping into my lexicon. “Quiet time”: the ritual your pastor insists on. “You are the potter and I am the clay”: the go-to lyric when it’s your turn to pray and you need to express the importance of relying on God in one of the three thousand ways. “Fellowship”: any non-church related thing you do with your Christian friends. “Easy yolk” to refer to that yellow thing in the egg white (kidding). Whether it’s because of their ambiguity or because Hillsong UNITED sang it, these phrases find their way into Bible studies and sermons and conversations, though we may not comprehend their actual meaning.
One of the most perplexing yet ubiquitous terms I’ve encountered is “joy in Christ.” When trying to draw non-Christian friends closer to God, or while comforting a Christian friend through a difficult season, I found myself confused by what I meant with this term––and worse, struggling to attest to this feeling I was promulgating. Have I felt joy in Christ? What is it in the first place? What does my misunderstanding of it reflect about the state of my heart?
Let’s look at the book of James, well-known for being a practical book about the way we should live our lives as Christians. James begins his New Testament letter with: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials” (James 1:2 NKJV). At first glance, the message is contradictory: how can we possibly experience joy during life’s trials? I hate trials. They make me sad, anxious, depressed, and lonely––and I probably have to eat three rounds of dessert in order to feel any sort of joy during them. Yet I think the common misunderstanding and dissatisfaction with biblical joy comes from secular culture’s one-dimensional definition of joy.
Modern secular culture teaches us that joy is an emotion one can achieve by following a protocol. Grind in Bass for ten hours and you will feel victorious––like Jesus being resurrected from the tomb as you ascend the stairs, catching the first glimpses of light. Go on this vacation and you will achieve bliss. Wear this new brand and people will like you and then you will be happy. Do this workout and bask in the post-sweat high. In this way, good feelings are like vending machine snacks: if you press a few buttons, put in a couple coins, you are fed what you desire. Dopamine released; joy acquired.
Overall, this secular joy is a temporary after-effect of something you had to work for. Once you feel it, it’s easy, one-dimensional glee––untinged by anger or sadness. It is conditional on what you do or get, and is therefore unstable. And most importantly, this type of joy is contingent on doing or getting a certain thing.
On the other hand, joy in Christ completely contradicts this contemporary understanding– appearing sometimes as the opposite of what you’d associate with happiness and ease.
This joy does not rely on any material thing, but rather on faith in the Lord. Let’s go back to James 1:2 and include the third verse: “My brethren, count it all joy, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2-3 NKJV). We can respond to life’s trials with joy if we know that the Lord has a purpose for why He allows suffering and difficult times of suffering and trials. This joy rests upon our faith in the Lord. If we are struggling to conceptualize and feel this joy, we shouldn’t be looking to make our lives “happier” through more material things or accomplishments––but reorient ourselves to be more faithful to God.
Surprisingly, however, understanding joy in Christ actually made me less inclined to it. If joy in Christ is not conditional on a certain protocol I know, then how can I achieve it at all? And if we are called to receive joy in Christ, aren’t we insulating ourselves from reality––that there are other more urgent emotions that we should be feeling?
The issue underlying my questions is the assumption that biblical joy operates like secular joy. Biblical joy is not a temporary emotion, a release of the right chemicals. It is a way of being, a lifestyle, a lens through which you walk through the world. Noticing the word “count” in James 1:12, I realize that it is a choice we deliberately have to make; our perceptions are our reality.
And interestingly, this joy in Christ coexists with perceived negative emotions like anger and sadness. A Christian may feel frustrated by poor accomplishment, lost in a relationship, or fearful of the future; but these emotions do not overtake their reality, as they are ultimately reassured that this trial is part of God’s plan. They keep their sights on joy in Christ.
Understanding the true meaning of joy in Christ has pushed me to reevaluate the sources of secular joy I rely on outside of Christ. I often manufacture happiness for myself in order to temporarily escape sadness or distress. But biblical joy serves as a tool to face the darkness. Biblical joy is a choice. It is hope and faith.
This piece is a part of a series for Lent 2023. Read more at https://www.yalelogos.com/lent2023