Are You Happy?

He asked me three simple words..."Are you happy?"  To say it caught me by surprise would be an understatement.  I stared at him.  "Am I happy?"  I have never been asked that question before.  I can respond to "How are you", "What's up" or "how's it goin'",  but  "Are you happy?"  I was at a loss for words.   Language translation and transliteration results in hilarious commentary. But this question was so out of the blue. I had never heard it before. 

 I was posed this question on my mission in Cambodia. We were driving on a large passenger bus from our worksite to the hotel. A young boy, about the age of eight, was the young man that presumed to ask me the simple question.  He was so intense when he asked me. He so badly wanted to hear me say, "yes...I am very happy."  

He desired to know how I was doing.  But instead of assuming that I could be good, bad, ugly, or in between, he immediately began asking if I was happy.  He jumped straight to the point- down to the heart of what he was asking. He didn't desire to ask how I was. He wanted to be certain that I was happy.  His platform for my "attitude" was already elevated to a level of happiness. 

Why was this? Probably because he saw our environment in a better light.  He understood that I was on a mission, praising the name of Jesus in a foreign country.  He understood that I was among brothers and sisters in Christ. He understood that I knew Christ.  So, of course I was happy, right?  He just wanted to clarify it with me.   

Suyen taught me something.  We as Christians are called to be happy, because he have reason to be happy at all times. 

1 Peter 3:10-11

"People who want to live a full life and enjoy good days must keep their tongues from saying evil things, and their lips from speaking deceitful things. They must turn away from evil and do good. They must seek peace and pursue it."

To live a full life we must expect happiness, and pursue positivity. Even in the midst of depressing and discouraging events we are continually being restored in His presence. 

JOB 33:26 He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and

shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.

Often in church we will hear that there is a vast difference between joy and happiness. Instead of focusing on the semantics of the words, I believe we as Christians should thrive in the absence of fear and the absence of discouragement and the absence of the grave. If we do not have death and hell to ponder, then what keeps us anything but happy or joyful?  

Now we must ask this one question though: why is it important for Christians to be happy?  It is less important for us to be happy because of our temporal wellbeing as it is to reflect the joy of Christ to a lost generation.  The reason we must remain joyful and happy is because others will desire to know more of Him from a joyful person. 

Recently, at a Chris Tomlin concert, Chris stated something that will ring true in my head far longer than his catchy and God-glorifying music. He stated, "brothers and sisters, tonight when you rest your head on your pillow, LISTEN!  Listen to the sound of the angels praising our father in Heaven.  If you listen close enough you will hear them shouting, 'Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty!'  Let us remove distractions from our lives that do not allow us to hear His praises!" 

For me, it is removing pessimism, discouragement, darkness, and literal words from my vocabulary. It is listening to the praises of angels before we fall asleep. It is sitting in the midst of nature and realizing that a fallen man could not create such splendor. It is allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by His goodness every once in a while. He wants to show us how great, mighty, and present He actually is.  Imagine if His children listened! And, imagine if we as His children sang His praises in happiness, in joy and in truth.  

ISA 12:2-3  Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The 
LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation."




Missions allow a moment for me to embrace pure, raw joy.  To remove myself from the mundane and the distracting.  Suyan knew that even when we was not "on" a mission, he was on-mission. He was continually on mission. And a part of that grand mission, was living in happiness and living in joy.  He gave me a little nudge when he asked me, "Are you happy?"  It was an affirmation of faith. I could imagine him saying (if he knew all of the complexities of the English language), "C'mon Alexa...Let's put a smile on your face! Life is short...the harvest is bountiful yet the workers are few- Let's show this world how great of a God we have." 




So, now I ask you. "Are you happy?"  Have you listened to the praises of angels recently? Have you forced a smile on your face because you know that being temporarily uncomfortable will not allow your faith in His majesty to be overshadowed? Others will know him through your happiness. And, as men and women in Christ, it is our duty to keep others mission minded, and grounded in the truths that will eternally provide happiness.  




Isaiah 55:12  You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and 
hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will 
clap their hands.

Pure Evangelism

2 Timothy 4:5 

" As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."  

The word "evangelism" was never spoken by Jesus Chist.  In fact, the word evangelism is never stated in the Bible, yet the active form of the word, evangelist, is. The Greek root of this word is "Euangelion". This literally means "the reward given for the transport of good news." Another beautiful aspect of this word is that the word "angel" comes from the root "euangelion".

So, what does all of this mean? First, to evangelize we must not encompass the noun, we must live out the verb. Just as the active form of "euangelion", evangelist, is used in the Bible, let us rise and move. I woke up this morning with something pressing on my heart that inspired this blog.   "What form of evangelism do you prefer?" I asked myself this question, and immediately found the inherit flaw. There are not multiple forms of evangelism. There is one pure form. It is the conscious and purposeful act of sharing the good news. It is not inviting someone to church. It is not being kind to someone. It is not feeding the hungry. Yes, we are called to do this as well! Yet, we are commanded to care for the orphans and the widows of our world so that we can express love to them and show them a little bit of Jesus. Yet we are certainly commanded to be an evangelist.  

Ephesians 4:11
"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ."

Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. This is who is called to build up the body.

My friend Alyssa, often tells me that she was called to be a teacher in the most radical of ways. The Lord literally closed down doors leading her down other career paths. She had a passion burning inside of her to be in the presence of young children, and to foster their growth and maturity. She states to this day though, that often she cannot see herself in front of a classroom teaching-yet she knows she must care for them, love on them, and model behavior and learning for them.

Alyssa knows that she is not the liaison, the spokesperson, or the redirector.  She is the source of hope for many of these children.  As evangelists we are not called to direct someone to a church. We are not called to simply invite. We are called to spend time with, share with, mentor, grow, and love on them.  We are called to be sober-minded and to teach. We are called to be in the presence of those who are lost. We are not called to point fingers to the pastor. We are called to teach where we are , and to drop anything for the Great Commission.  The only being we should be pointing to is HIM.

It is from there, that we should invite men, women, and children to partake and serve in the body of Christ.

Notice that in Ephesians, the duty of the individual is set before they have been called to equip.   Christ began a good work in us, and is continuing to work in us. He made us Evangelists. It is literally in our blood.   Let us become evangelists, teachers, and shepherds of men.  Then, let us allow Him to transform our hearts for our greatest calling. It is from there that he will bring men and women into our lives to equip.  

Philippians 1:6 

Be confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

We are not called to simply redirect and let others "take care of the preachy stuff." No- that is our job. Our heavenly father crafted every centimeter of our DNA, to bring another beautifully and perfectly made creation into His truth.

Also, let us remember that in Ephesians 4:11, it states that the Lord gave us the right and the desire to share Him with the world. He NEVER had to do this.  He LET us. He is entrusting His creation to relinquish our hearts to Him, so that he may transform them, so that we may share our testimonies, so that others come to know Him and He is praised.  It is a beautiful cycle that He intended for us.


Let us return to the root of the word Euangelion.  The word "angel" comes from this word. The angels that brought the good news of the birth of Jesus- they are Euangelion. An angel "encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them" (Psalm 34:7) Angels protect, share good news and carry out the will of the Lord. They are a part of the Lord's great plan.  As angels brought good news, so will we.  Angels are the model of evangelism. They are submissive. They are prophets. They are holy. They are teachers. They are evangelists.

Let us share the beautiful news of Christ, personally, directly and purposefully. It is what we were created for. Submit our whole hearts to God, and then we may equip.