A Christian’s Secret Joy

Welcome back to another episode of Ignite and here with Eric Vitaxes of all guys can you believe this no he calls me he says hey I'm in town for a night. Can we get a hangout? You have time to hang out in town. I got no credit. I can't get a rule Help me out bro. Come on. All right, so oh gee, you know, all right if you if we got it You know, so yeah, he's like what you got to do the party way we've had a lot of fun the way through the years But he has Eric Vitaxes of course and I love this guy. I love this guy because you know, Jesus was fun We I mean we have all these a steer series pictures of Christ and and rightfully so But then people get afraid of him like he's not approachable and I like I love Eric because he doesn't better than me but I so feel that Serving God is fun It better be we know it's funny because we say we all the different words What if we say joy right people get that you know like if if you do not have joy and You claim to be following Jesus you got to think something's wrong Because it doesn't mean there's not sorrow. It doesn't mean there's not gravity and so but if you do not have a secret joy in the midst of it Yeah, you're missing something key. Yeah, and that's what I appreciate about you Because Christians that come across as what we call religious and austere Most people look at that and they go, you know what you have? I'm not interested in that. That's not very attractive to me. Who wants that? Most people don't want to be Christians, right? They they don't want to be like that, right? I know that that's it's just Excelist that that that's right And it doesn't mean there's not a there's not a place for weeping and a lot of But it's in some ways The the truth that you express in weeping is very similar to the truth you express in laughing and in rejoicing and so I think that That's one of the things I just appreciate about you Barry that you you see that that's really central somehow to the to the whole thing So thank you for you know flattering me by claiming that I like to have fun. I'll take it well you're You're not just fun. You're zany fun. I've been zany I don't know if that's biblical. I don't know how do you write how do you write the defending book on Bonhoeffer? C. S. Lewis and yet do a TV special like you did for Christians You know most people don't know about that. Most people think what are you talking about? Very listen running through the streets of New York. I the fact that you saw that Means everything. I mean, I'm not kidding. I text you right after I watch it But you don't but you don't understand most people have no idea what we're talking about I did I've done a lot of comedy But I went to the folks at T. B. N now because because they air my my program on there It's just once a week. I mean, I do Eight hours a week, but they they took a half an hour on the weekends But I said to them let's do an old-fashioned Christmas special now Without going into details You want to see it like you won't actually believe it You'll be shocked you'll say I didn't even believe I didn't even believe him when he said it was weird But I take now I understand how weird and crazy and it really was and I think we're airing it on a loop on a lindell TV Oh my this this month, but the point is it was the first time I had an opportunity to really do comedy comedy Yeah, and I at least in a way that people would see so thank you for appreciating it and seeing it Because I think more people who will see it will just think like I don't know. I don't know who this guy is I can't be the same guy with the bond. Oh, no, that's just weird. That does not make sense Well, what can I tell you and you're sitting a Michael and Del was here and I said to Mike okay, Mike I don't want to hear about voter fraud. I don't want to hear about pillows. Yeah, I don't hear Why is it that it where you go you share your faith and he just exploded it was it was really great But you know there's a there's a joy in happiness happiness is Based on your circumstances we now because I'm an English major. Yes, because my great grandfather In Greece was into etymology. I got the etymology gene. What I care about the meaning it means about where words come from the origin of words Okay, so when people use the word happy Okay, happy of course is related to the word Happens dance happy in other words It means an occasion. So when somebody says you're happy It really means you feed your lucky you're you're in a moment of that moment things come together and everything is great Yeah, we know that joy is not dependent on circumstances So when when people say happiness, you know, it's it's it's kind of like saying you you've had a wonderful Happens dance and you're like you have no control over that right things come and go tragedy Victory joy Joy is is is from within and so I'm not against the word happy, but you're right the word happy in fact In the declaration of independence when they talk about the pursuit of happiness In a weird way there you could argue that that's wrong. It should be the pursuit of joy Proceed with joy, but we won't talk about that, but it is so true And you can see people that are joyful. There a lot of Christians most Christians aren't joyful They're you know that there's a server. We do a lot of statistics. You know, we just we're crazy in statistics. Yeah You know, there's actually a video on it. Well, if you Google why are Christians so? The answer that I mean it's astounding. Yeah, why are they so mean? Why are they so unhappy? Right. Why are they so negative? Why are they so mean? The only problem is Google is is from the pit of hell Yeah, parentheses parentheses, so we don't know if that's a real thing or if they're inserting that but but it's perception issue We have in our culture people question. They never mentioned love. Why why why Yeah, and they should know it's my love. Yeah, if we're disciples of Christ and that's joy You know, we just have joy so you do that about is good or better than anybody That's how well if you can fake joy folks. You've got it made I always say that. Yeah, no It's it's interesting because listen to cuts both ways. I know so many people prefer on faith in Jesus who have joy Who are loving the media often Uh portrays us negatively. Sometimes we participate that with that um But sometimes we don't and I just think it's important to say it as you you're doing now that if you Know Jesus or claim to know Jesus There better be some evidence of joy in your life because if there isn't most people I think Look at you and they say if there's such a thing as truth if there's a if if if if I try to put it all in together and try to figure it out I would expect that there would have to be some joy That that religiosity that that austerity that doesn't seem if there's such a thing as truth It doesn't seem to me that it would look like that. It doesn't sound like you like religion Well, I mean religion the negative sense of religion Well, why what does the industry doing being religious and and what you're talking? I think I think words are funny, right because the the word is nothing wrong with the word religion But it has taken on negative connotations and so what we Christians often say is it's It's about a relationship with Jesus. It's not about a religion because a religion implies a set of beliefs and standards and a moral code that's all very nice But that's missing the heart of Christian faith if you walk with Jesus all of that stuff follows But you can fake all of that stuff and miss the relationship with Jesus. So I think it's important for us to say over and over and over again It's a relationship with Jesus if you have it Your your life will change you will see your behavior, but it's not about the behavior. It's about the relationship We both know a lot of people that are religious Let's name adopt the eyes and cross the teeth and do all the right things that don't know God But they're very religious and they're very proud. Well, they're very religious. I think that that's I will see that's the other side of it is that I mean if you if you really have to break it down to the most basic thing Well, let's let's this is the most be people say like what is the good news of Jesus Christ? What are you talking about this gospel? It's what is the basic basic I say here's what it is We are infinitely separated from God. We are so far from him That if you start climbing the ladder to get up to heaven You could start now in a trillion years You won't have scratched the surface of getting him. It's so far away. You'll never get there Religion is about I can make it. I'm gonna do it and and I'm gonna I'm gonna get there In fact quicker than you or I will climb faster than you it's like a moral competition, right But Jesus says unless you become as a little child you can't end to the kingdom of heaven in other words a little child realizes I'm sort of helpless If God doesn't lift me up to heaven, I'm never gonna get there and so we have to Realize that if there's an infinite distance between me and heaven The only way I'm gonna get there is if God is gonna reach down and pull me up that takes humility so to recognize that takes humility and To try to do it on your own is prideful So those are really the two opposite poles between What we would call in the negative sense religion I'm gonna do this and this and this and this and this and I'm gonna work my way up Versus saying you know what I wish I could but I can't and if I'm honest I realize that the distance between me and God it's just too much If if he is the God that the Bible says he is if he loves me he will reach down if I look up and say father Lift me up. He will reach down in his mercy and he will pull me up and if he doesn't I'm not getting there That's completely different than the idea that I'm going to do it on my own I'm gonna I'm gonna get there before you do I'm gonna work harder I'm gonna look down my nose at people who make mistakes That's not God it is humility. I'm what you know. I'm very proud of my humility. That's all my joke That's my done joke. I got that for you. I got that for you. You know There's a there's a lot of us going to we had no joy care and I had no joy We were doing everything we were kind of in our form doing Religion we we signed up for the Church We're going to go out and knock on doors and we're going to be there and set up chairs and it's like we're trying to earn God's love Yeah, and we were dries could be And then I met a guy By the name of her bilingual you He was he was uh He was the legal fair secretary for present Reagan. I mean for governor Reagan. That's when I met him All the way back then and he had more joy and he would just tell me all these people shared his faith with and I walked away from that man Tears saying I want that joy And I didn't realize that sharing faith had something to do with joy. Yep And so Kirin both started saying okay, we're gonna Not just do once to wow. We're gonna do it all the time. We started doing it and without or even knowing it all sudden We're having fun. It really works. And then we found this scripture in James John 1511 When you bear fruit is this is the dry branches and the yeah branch of barrier when you bear fruit when you're bearing Christians My jaw remain with you and your joy or remain full and it's so true when you okay So when you're bringing fruit another words when you are pouring out It is only then that God is given the opportunity to fill you back all through you So you give out yeah, and he that's it fills you in if you don't give out God has to sit back and wait till you get empty and if you never give out you never get empty So yeah, it all makes sense It really makes sense and we've been through we both them through a lot of challenges life We lost our daughter our fifth-year-old daughter. She just ready to turn 50 2.5 years ago and I I've looked back at the I cried more In that month or so of time than the whole rest of my life put together. We were very close She was like a clone of me. I mean we just we just agreed and everything and we just I loved her so much. I cried so much, but it didn't cost us her joy You know and at her memorial service we called her celebration of life service We have the thousand people there over 9,000 people watch the video of her Celebrity how many people watch a video of a funeral over 9,000 people You get you get to the heart of it you get this so I say to people I say If you Believe you say you're a Christian or whatever you believe you believe Jesus to feed a death Well, if you don't act like it you're a hypocrite yeah, so when somebody says oh they're dying this person died You say yeah Did they go to heaven because if they went to heaven it means they actually didn't die It means they transitioned from this life to real life Now the point is a lot of people say I believe that do you really believe it because if you really believe it And by the way, it's true You're gonna you're gonna be different. You're sad when someone leaves. I mean you're I was not happy But at the same time you say I know Where they are I don't hope they're there. I know they're there It changes things I think we have to communicate at least I've been trying particularly lately to say to people listen folks don't hope You know That heaven is real or don't hope it don't you need to know because these things are real This is not something like religious reality. This is either true or it's garbage. It's true You can you can look into it and you can you can see for yourself But if you don't have the time take my word for it. This is true. This is not some Philosophy or something like that and I think a lot of people They're afraid to know for sure for sure. So they just kind of act like why I hope it's true I think we need to encourage people. This is true. And God let's put it this way. God wants you to know That it's true. It's his will forget about what you want. Yeah, it is his will that you know It is true Yes, yes, and I you day folks Our daughter's been gone for two and a half years. I carry picture Karen. I both carry picture of Nicole on her phones Okay, with the biggest smile she ever had you know and look at it and every time I don't go I don't do that and I say and you're even happier now You're with Jesus my daughter happier my daughter was when she says if she's happy why should I be unhappy? Right, I mean my daughter that I birth is when Jesus. She's in heaven. There's nothing It's a whole different world when you when you when you know When you know I want to say but people lead to know people I think I was talking about this recently. We're at a point where I think God is forcing us to choose Do you know this or not? Yeah, stop hoping like you need to know you don't hold point plus one equals two If somebody said I hope it was we could say that person's in the year Well, when it comes to this kind of thing You need to know it. I mean, there's it's not I don't hope Jesus died it for me I don't know what it's true And we need to know it and when things get tough you need to know it and he wants you to know it Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We that will close this episode Can't you have you back some time is he awesome or what But for now all we can say is see you next time