Winkin, Blinkin and what's his face..

Sometimes I think I think too much. I think so much that my thoughts get all mixed up. Then I can’t think straight. So I need to be better at writin’ stuff down. But I wrote stuff down yesterday. And that’s what I’ll talk about now.

Here’s the quote du jour from Philip Yancey:

What would happen in the national consensus if these nine words came to mind when you said the word “Christian”: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?”

Hmmmm… My small group last week talked about joy, and the absence of it among Christians. Why don’t Christians have more joy in their lives? And more importantly, why don’t they express it? Next time you’re at church, look at all the smiling faces. Then look at the non-smileys. If the latter outnumbers the former, ya got trouble.

When Christians are out in the mission field, what kind of witness can we be if we’re gloomy and down? My favorite Winnie-the-Pooh character is Eeyore. The poor guy. He was always either losing his tail, or his house. And he was always mopey. I’m amazed that Rabbit, Pooh, Tigger and Piglet even hung out with him. The fact that those guys hung out with him is a testament to community. But that’s a story for another day. Back to Eeyore. If you weren’t buddies with him, why would you want to hang around him? He didn’t have any joy. He wasn’t any fun. So what was in it for you?

I know I shy away from joyless people. I’ll be straight with you. They bring me down. Sure, most people will have moments here and there where they lack joy. But it’s the people who are consistently joyless who repel me. So imagine what it’s like for non-Christians who see joyless folks who call themselves Christians. Not something very appealing. I’m just saying.