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Chasing Happy
Chasing Happy
Aristotle believed no activity was an end unto itself. That is, he believed that every activity was chasing some goal. There seems to be some truth to this. Let’s think it through. Why do you get out of bed most mornings? Someone will say, “So I can get to work on time.” Why do you go to work? No one says, “Because my highest goal is to work 8 hours every day.” But some will say, “In order to get paid.” Others might say, “Because I find great fulfillment in my work.” We might ask, “Why do you want to get paid?” Or “Why do you want such a fulfillment in your work?” We might hear, “I want to get paid so I can eat and feed my family.” Or “I want fulfillment in my work because it makes me feel like I have purpose and meaning in life.”
Do you see how we could keep going down this rabbit trail?
So Aristotle asked if there was an ultimate goal for people. Is there ever an end to this line of questioning? Is there a point at which someone will give an answer and when you follow with “Why do you want that?” it is just because that is what we want. Aristotle’s conclusion was happiness is that ultimate goal. He said, “Happiness, then is something final and self-sufficient, and is the end of action.” He suggested that at the end of every line of questioning a person will eventually say, “I do this so I can be happy.” We might ask, “Why do you want to be happy?” and the answer will essentially be, “I don’t know, I guess because that is my ultimate goal.”
Very few of us have wrestled philosophically with this question, but most people today have essentially come to the same conclusion. People most often say things, do things, and develop habits because somewhere they think acting in that way will produce happiness for them. This is so ingrained in us Americans that it made its way into our Declaration of Independence. Our forefathers broke with Britain based on the belief that every human has certain unalienable rights, “that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Is it any wonder that today some spouses abandon their marriage in pursuit of happiness? Is it any wonder that some Christians pursue materialism, covetousness, and greed racking up huge amounts of debt in the process in order to buy happiness? Is it any wonder that some teenagers get involved in sex, contract diseases and/or get pregnant, then even get abortions as they try to get happiness? Is it any wonder that some parents practically abandon (and sometimes literally abandon) their children as they pursue their own happiness?
I think Aristotle was both right and wrong. He was right in that the normal approach of mankind is to seek happiness as the ultimate end. After all, isn’t that exactly what Eve did in the garden? Why did she eat that forbidden fruit? Wasn’t it because Satan had attacked her happiness? He had filled her with doubt about her present life. He led her to believe there was something she was missing. Life in the garden wasn’t good enough. If she could just eat that fruit, she would be like God. Then she would be happy.
The problem is that Aristotle is wrong in believing this is as it should be. Yes, the natural person may seek happiness as the ultimate end. The spiritual person, however, is transformed in mind. Happiness is no longer the ultimate goal. Rather, holiness is. Righteousness becomes the ultimate end. As Romans 12:2 says, the transformed mind is about discerning God’s will. Notice Paul’s example in Philippians 3:7-11. He gave up everything for one goal—to receive the righteousness that comes from God based on faith. Even the Preacher of Ecclesiastes learned this. After all his searching for meaning and happiness, he came to this conclusion: “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13, ESV).
Just like in the garden, Satan is using the hunt for happiness as a club to beat us to death. I like what Dave Ramsey says about it. He explains that when we are chasing happiness like this it will be like a bully in the school yard who keeps drawing a line in the sand, daring you to step over it and then moving back to draw another line. Think about it. Eve was in paradise and when Satan focused her on happiness even paradise wasn’t good enough. Think about that. If paradise couldn’t be good enough for the one saying “I just want to be happy,” how on earth can a new house, new car, new clothes, new computer, bigger salary, thinner body, better vacations, better spouse, more mature children, better boss make you happy? If you step on this treadmill you will constantly be moving, but never actually getting anywhere. You will chase happiness all your life and in the end you will be sad, because you never quite got it. Oh you had fleeting moments when you thought you were there, but they didn’t last.
Chase holiness and righteousness. And here is the kicker. Perhaps we can’t get away from this happiness thing after all. As Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:6, ESV). That is, happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. However, this happiness is not a fickle comes and goes lucky break. This is a blessedness. That is it is a gift from God. When we hunger, thirst, and pursue holiness and righteousness, God throws in happiness for free.
Get off the spinning wheel; abandon the rat race for happiness. Pursue holiness and let God give you the happiness you long for.
--Edwin L. Crozier
- December_18_2011-Chasing_Happy.pdf (0.00 B)
