Is Your Joy Real or an Imposter?

Do you believe that “real enjoyment is essential to real godliness,” or does that sound more like a tagline for the power of positive thinking? Or maybe a self-serving cliché on the lips of some popular prosperity preacher of our day? I was caught a bit off-guard myself when I discovered that the author of that statement is none other than J.I. Packer.

The more I delved into the mind and ministry of J.I. Packer, the more relieved I was to discover that his “enjoyment” has nothing to do with what he calls “hot tub religion,” and everything to do with a robust delight in God in the midst of the most severe and troubling trials.

Is Christian Hedonism a Hot Tub Religion?

Now, don’t be hindered by the emotional dissonance of the image of J.I. Packer in a hot tub, and consider for a minute the way that this experience explains much about modern Christianity. As he relished the pleasures of a hot tub for the first time, it dawned on Packer that the experience

is the perfect symbol of the modern route in religion. The hot tub experience is sensuous, relaxing, floppy, laid-back: not in any way demanding, whether intellectually or otherwise, but very, very nice, even to the point of being great fun. … Many today want Christianity to be like that, and labor to make it so …

[To this end, many] are already offering occasions which we are meant to feel are the next best thing to a hot tub—namely, happy gatherings free from care, real fun times for all. … [Thus] when modern Western man turns to religion (if he does—most don’t), what he wants is total tickling relaxation, the sense of being at once soothed, supported and effortlessly invigorated: in short, hot tub religion. (God’s Plans for You, 49)

Packer has no objections to the pleasures evoked by his time in a hot tub, and neither should we. But the life of radical obedience to which Jesus calls us may well, and should, provoke opposition, ostracism and ridicule from a world that finds the message of our Lord both distasteful and threatening.

These inevitable consequences of Christian commitment, however, are no threat to the sort of exuberant joy and “holy happiness” that are the lot of those who’ve seen the beauty of Christ and basked in the knowledge of his redemptive love. It thus bears repeating that biblical joy is always deeper than and never dependent on physical, financial and emotional pleasure. To suggest that the former is in any way dependent on the latter wreaks unimaginable havoc on the Christian soul.

Full Joy Fixed on God

Joy has never been an easy word to define, at least in terms of the way it is used in Scripture. When the followers of Jesus are told to “rejoice and be glad” as they are reviled and persecuted and slandered (Matthew 5:11–12), we squirm and collectively scratch our heads in dismay. Clearly we need a new and more biblical perspective on joy.