So Your Joy is Complete

Without a doubt, there are two times in your life when God is smiling. First, is when you were born and second, when you were re-born. It is the birth of a new day, every day!

Did you know Leonardo Da Vinci never finished the Mona Lisa?  Unfortunately, I think our portrait of Jesus might look more like the Mona Lisa than anything else because we are not really sure if God actually smiles. It is absolutely evident to me, and anybody with a third-grade education, that the church as a whole is not convinced of God’s goodness. Because of that, the church has not been known for being life-giving.

Many people throughout my life and ministry have told me they consider the church to be a lot of folks wearing frowns of disapproval. We’ve all seen them. Has your kid ever thrown a fit during church? Frowns. Have you even worn less than your Sunday best? Frowns. Struggled with an addiction, sickness or had a financial hardship? More frowns.

The church has been known for judging people who are not just like them for far too long. Let’s change that!

We need to paint pictures of God’s goodness through our goodness. The Bible tells us in Ephesians that we’re supposed to be imitators of God. It also tells us that God is love, so we should look like love! When we don’t, people like Billy Joel write songs about us that reflect poorly on God.  “I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints, The sinners are much more fun. You know that only the good die young.”

God doesn’t laugh? He spends His time crying and being a killjoy? Who told Billy Joel that? We did. As the church, we have a lot of work to do. We need to finish the painting of God’s goodness. It’s OK to put a smile on the face of Jesus because He really is good!