After I posted my last blog, I had a teleconference with my instructor about a new plan of action for my writing due to the dramatic shift in the Christian publishing industry. Those of you who know me, know that I was hoping to move back to Colorado by the end of spring. Due to my focus shifting from working on my book back to writing articles—it’s needless to say, “I wasn’t a happy camper!” And that is what this special blog will be about, being a happy camper.
The term happy camper implies that a person or people have all they need while out in the wilderness, not want. The basic idea of camping is getting away from the hustle and bustle of life and spending some simple time in nature where things are less COMPLICATED. A happy camper doesn’t have all the luxuries of life, but is content to make do with life’s basic necessities of shelter, food and water, and warmth.
I can still remember going camping in Colorado with my father when I was little; it was his favorite time to get away from the strict and routine demands of the Army life. Our weekend getaways served a dual purpose, my father got away from work and he got me away from playing video games on my Atari 2600, playing with my G.I. Joes and TRANSFORMERS.
Those childhood memories were so special that not even a traumatic brain injury could erase them from my memory. I can still remember getting up early on those Saturday mornings and creeping of out the house with my father, which is appropriate since we will celebrate Father’s Day in a couple of weeks. Those weekends were the times my father didn’t have to fuss or fight with me, we fished and explored, talked and laughed, ate MREs and drank Shasta Cola together. But they weren’t the norm, just an escape from reality that my father and I looked forward to. He taught me many things about life on those weekend escapades.
The Jewish community turned to the writings of King Solomon for wisdom about life in the Kohelet. King Solomon had everything one could want and he still wasn’t a happy camper—his conclusion was pleasures are MEANINGLESS (Ecclesiastes 2:1–26). This too would become the theme for the early disciples and church and even Jesus (Matthew 6:25–32).
Life isn’t about the temporary pleasures of this world; life’s purpose is about glorifying God only. The early church knew that without Jesus one could never be completely satisfied and happy. Today, most want to double dip by having Jesus plus things to be happy. This tells me they really aren’t content with having Jesus as their Lord.
Let me be clear here, it is not that God doesn’t want to bless us; He just doesn’t want us to worship the blessings. Many in the church today want to BE A KING more than they want to be the King’s. Go GET YO BIG on, AM I TRENDING? Theologian and author John Piper said it best, “God is most glorified when we are satisfied in Him.”
The truth is God wants to give us heaven more than He wants to give us this world. DON’T WORRY BABY God will give you whatever you want, please. Honestly, it’s incredible how fast many Christians will compromise their beliefs to live their dreams. . . to be loved. . . to be happy (Philippians 3:17–21). But there is a better way.
GODS AT WAR?
This was the good news that the apostle Paul and the disciples were to take to the ends of the world, this meant they had to CHANGE THE WORLD. To do this they had to make many missionary trips through Asia Minor to get to Rome. Problem is hedonism had spread from Greece throughout the region from Asia Minor to Rome. This is where Greek mythology originated. For hundreds of years the Greeks had a God for everything from sex to power, nature and even alcohol and wine. Hedonism says don't worry, be happy at all costs. Enjoy everything you can.
It didn’t take long for the Roman Empire to establish the Roman equivalents of each God. I remember studying them when I started school in Vicenza, Italy. There are still many statues of these gods on display in Rome today, even though the Roman Emperor Constantine attempted to convert the Roman Empire over Christianity about A. D. 312.
Along the missionary routes from Jerusalem to Greece were cities like Ephesus and the Galatian provinces, these were on the frontline of the battle between Christianity and hedonism. This is why the apostle Paul talked about spiritual warfare so much in his letters to Galatia (Galatians 4:8, 6:7–9) and Ephesus (Ephesians 6:10–20). Because of our new nature in Christ, we are called as a church to war against the sinful nature that resulted from the curse in THE GARDEN, not indulge it!
Most of the New Testament writers wrote about this battle between secular hedonism and Christianity. In case you’re wondering where hedonism is discussed in the Bible, it is not described by that word—instead the New Testament writers use the word debauchery. Over and over we are told do not give into it (Matthew 7:13; Ephesians 5:11, 18; Romans 1:18, 13:13–14; 1 John 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3), Jesus even talked about it in His famous parable about the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32)
I am simply amazed by how many Christians have given up on fighting the good fight against their own desires. Instead they choose to use their faith to satisfy their fleshly desires and glorify nobody but themselves HOPING FOR TOMORROW. Over the last twenty-five years instead of changing the world most churches have allowed the world to change them.
Most false teachers and false prophets teach that because we are children of the light we deserve the best of this world, Christianity teaches me to FIX MY EYES on things above and that’s the CONSTANT battle that rages in every Christian’s heart. I’ve seen good Christian friends go berzerk chasing worldly treasures all in the pursuit of happiness. The current trend of taking selfies is proof our society and culture has become self-absorbed with ourselves.
THE GOOD FIGHT?
Most Christians would believe that the good fight is against the world. However, the apostle Paul makes it clear that our fight is not just against people but against spiritual forces, spiritual forces that entered this world through the curse and the fall. Every human has a sin nature as part of the human side of them. This is why every parent has to teach their babies to do what is right, not what’s wrong. We are selfish by nature and easily distracted by temporary desires.
When I played T-ball in Italy as a youth my nickname was Dirt Dauber because when I played shortstop I was often CAUGHT DREAMING while playing in the dirt, instead of focusing on the game. The author of Hebrews describes some early Christians as immature babes because they couldn’t STAY focused on the mission and had to keep relearning elementary truths of the faith (Hebrews 5:12–14). They failed to realize that the Christian life is about more than words, its action—change!
Like little babies they cry OOH AH every time they see something they want. Instead of being TRANSFORMED by the word they keep chasing the SAME OLE useless junk. To be honest it’s our own fault, from the time children are little we teach them songs like if you're happy and you know it and their lives are wasted temporary things that aren’t WORTH IT like HOUSES AND CARS, in THE END it ALL BURNS DOWN or shatters.
It has been calculated that a child will be told “No” about forty thousand times before the first day of kindergarten. To children the word no is bad; to mature Christians it is something good. Our heavenly father knows what is best for us and sometimes it’s bittersweet that we don’t get what we hope for. He wants us to be holy and He knows our sin nature yearns for temporary pleasures that can never make us happy campers.
