Happiness is NOT the Truth.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. -Jesus

I almost wrote one of those annoying, get-up-on-my-soapbox Facebook statuses, but instead decided to post it here. So, excuse me while I climb up.

Many megachurches have come to use secular songs in their worship services. This post is not about whether or not megachurches are right or wrong to use secular music. This post is about whether megachurches should be using a particular secular song:

"Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you know what happiness is to you
Because I’m happy
Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do" - Pharrell Williams

In the past month or so, I've seen two megachurches perform this song. One of them performed it very well, actually. Both used the song at the beginning of the service in preparation for worship. But I'd like to take a minute and reflect about the words these churches used to prepare believers to bring glory to the Lord.

This seems like a very innocent secular song about happiness. It seems like a clean, wholesome, family-friendly, feel-good song. But these are not God's standards for worship. Bringing glory to God means displaying His character, which includes beauty, justice and truth.

The part of this song that irritates me the most is the claim "happiness is the truth." Let me be clear, HAPPINESS IS NOT THE TRUTH. Jesus is the truth. The gospel is the truth. Christ's suffering on the cross for you and me is the truth. The resurrection is the truth. So, worship leaders singing and imploring believers to "clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth" is not something that exalts the glory of God.

The use of this song in churches might also perpetuate a common misunderstanding of the gospel. Many people are led to believe that if they do what God wants, He will make them happy. But this is simply not true. Just ask Job. Or, better yet, look at the life of Christ. Jesus lived perfectly, yet suffered to the point of death. His life was not happy. His life was holy. In the Scriptures, we are called many times to be holy. Not happy.

Don't misunderstand me. Happiness is good and I'm sure God cares about our happiness. But it isn't what he expects of us and it has nothing to do with truth. I wonder about the believers in these churches that weren't happy. When I heard this song in these churches, I happened to be at a place in life where I am happy and I can rejoice in it. But some people suffer. I can't imagine how they felt when their worship leaders asked them to clap along because happiness is the truth. I hope that they did not feel like God was asking them to be happy. Or that something was wrong with them because they were not. In fact, suffering is a good indicator of obedience to the Lord and bringing Him glory. So, we shouldn't expect Christians to clap along, because happiness is NOT the truth.

"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed." (1 Peter 4:12-13)

Personal Identity. In Christ.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Today's post is about personal identity. I specifically want to focus on the question of how we know someone is the same person they were in the past. In other words, how am I the same person I was when I was 10?

Philosophers like to use thought experiments to clarify difficult concepts. Derek Parfit uses thought experiments to illustrate what is required for someone to be identical to a person in the past.

The thought experiment is this: Imagine someone had a brain transplant. Their brain was transplanted into someone else's body. The person who wakes up after surgery has all of the same memories, character traits, beliefs, and desires. Their last memory is of being put to sleep before surgery and wake up to the doctor informing them that the surgery was a success. Is this the same person as the person before the surgery?

The common response to this question is yes. Most people can imagine that a person can survive a brain transplant, waking up to inhabiting a different body. I don't think I have this intuition, but since many do, I'll assume it.

What I'm really interested in determining is how we judge whether the person has survived the transplant. Apparently Parfit's qualifications are that they share memories, character traits, beliefs, and intentions. Certainly these are important factors we would use to judge whether the person had survived the transplant. 

The Bible tells us that Christians receive a new identity in Christ. So if our identity is made up of memories, character traits, beliefs and desires, what does it mean to have our identity in Christ? I'd like to suggest that receiving an identity in Christ means receiving new character traits, beliefs and desires. It also involves a transformation of our memories from being about ourselves to being about Christ and his sovereignty in our lives. So, unlike the person who survives the brain transplant, the person who accepts God's offer of salvation is transformed and no longer the same person.

But are memories, character traits, beliefs, and intentions the only essential properties of personhood? Let's consider another thought experiment, offered by another philosopher, Donald Davidson. (Warning: philosophical thought experiments are often fantastical in nature)

Imagine that you go outside and get struck by lightning and die. At the same time, a windstorm hits a swamp and molecules get arranged in the same way and form as you had. The result is a person who has all of your memories, character traits, beliefs, and intentions. This person walks out of the swamp looking just like you, and since they have all of the same memories, they believe that they are you. They walk to your home, talk and act just like you, interact with the people you know just like you would and live your life. Is this person the same person as the person who was struck by lightning?

The common response to this question is no. So if Swampman has your same memories, character traits, beliefs and desires, what does he lack that makes him distinct from you? My answer to an audience of philosophers is agency. My real answer is the soul. By both of these answers I mean the aspect of a person that has the power to act as a unique individual and be autonomous. Although Swampman shares the same psychology as the person who died by lightning, they do not share the same power to act.

So when we receive new identity in Christ, not only does our psychology change, but our actions will change, too. 

"By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." (1 John 2:5b-6)