Whups... We Forgot One.

We Fundamentalists tend to be big on obeying God's commands. We recognize the truth of I John 5:3 that the measure of our love for God is how well we keep His commandments. Done properly, this isn't legalism - we're not asserting that keeping a list of commandments will get us saved, but rather that we keep those commandments because we are saved.

But there is a command that Fundamentalism has forgotten. I see it neglected by the people in the pews, and I see it neglected by the preachers in the pulpits. In the times when it ought to be most obeyed, I see it most neglected.

The command? Philippians 4:4 : "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."

Yet as I look about the pews (and our church is far better in this regard than many I've been in), the evidence of joy is so rare. Even the smiles often look like they barely extend beneath the makeup. (On the ladies, of course! Fundamentalist men don't wear makeup. Unless we're on TV. Then we wear lots, and the smiles often look even more fake.)

I'm not saying we should cover up our problems - on the contrary, we should be bearing one another's burdens, and to bear a burden, you have to know about it. But if we're obeying the Lord's commands, shouldn't that be evident to someone who looks? Shouldn't it show in something other than a pasted on smile that we're rejoicing in the Lord?

When I listen to believers, there is far more discussion of trouble than triumph in most conversations. Often, even the praises are a lead-in or a cover-up for the complaints. "All things work together for good, the Lord knows what He is doing, and He sure is good, but this bad thing happened, and that bad thing went on, and there's this terrible situation, and I don't know what we're going to do, and Aunt Edna is really sick, but God is in control... I just wish I was!" Well, okay, I rarely actually hear that last part verbally, but it sure seems like it's trying to get out past all the effort to make complaining sound like faith. We work hard to obey the commands to witness, to be different from the world, and so on... but we forgot the command to be joyful. Yet our joy is one of the greatest differences between us and the world and one of our greatest testimonies to the world.

What makes me saddest in this is what I see from some of our leaders. I attend a preacher's fellowship, and there is a time set apart for prayer. Now, I don't much care for the balance of the requests, but that's a post for another day. What really bothers me is the sense of unmitigated despondency that accompanies them. I understand that there is a rightful sorrow over sin and that our hearts may cry out in compassion for those in pain, and even that we may shed tears both within and without at the agonies of soul we endure. But is there any time we should be more joyful than when we approach together the throne of grace of our beloved Savior and God of all?

Through the compassion and the tears, our approach to that throne should be unmistakeably joyful. There is so much in Scripture about joy - in fact, one of the very REASONS for Scripture is to give us fulness of joy (I John 1:4). We who lead the flock of God ought to be leading in joy as well as in soul-winning and doctrinal conviction. I know well the weight that rests upon a pastor's shoulders and heart. Fortunately, I know also the God who helps him lift it.

How can we rejoice in every situation? Because Christ is with us in every situation. Our joy is dependent only upon the Lord, not the circumstances -- it is, after all "the joy of the Lord." We are told to "rejoice in the Lord." I think this is simply enjoying our relationship with God. Since He is perfect, yet infinite, there are infinite pleasures in His companionship. There are no skeletons in His closet, no dangers and no risks save to our flesh in knowing Him more deeply. We are blessed literally beyond measure in having this relationship. Shouldn't we enjoy it?

And if we do not, should we not confess that as sin and plead that the Lord would restore to us the joy of our salvation? It's a command, after all.