Joy, Church, and the Neglected Face of God - An 11-Day PlanSample

Increasing Joy in Your Community

After hearing Jim explain the importance of joy and understanding how God designed our brains for joy, I wondered how to fit this into my job as a pastor of spiritual formation. For four years, I had been designing a step-by-step path to maturity for the members of our church. It included learning theology, reading Scripture, and practicing spiritual disciplines. I wondered where joy would fit into my current plan, and it became obvious that joy is the first step. Since nothing else works well when joy is low, it makes sense to fill up the gas tank at the beginning.

If we desire to fulfill the Great Commission, we will turn our churches into high-joy environments. This is a community where our faces light up when we see each other. We practice helping each other increase joy capacity as part of our regular practices. Our community is contagious when people come and see our joyful interactions. Young or old, Christian or not, our brains hunger for joy. 

In the first years of life our joy comes from our caretakers. Later, as adults, we can intentionally increase our joy capacity, and this work will improve our brain chemistry. Many low-joy friendships can quickly be energized simply by learning about joy and taking action to build capacity. Since my wife and I learned about the importance of joy, we are intentional about slowing down and letting our faces shine on each other. I let my wife know, using my face and eyes, how special she is to me. If I’ve had a hard day and my joy is low, I will take Claudia’s hand and we will sit on the couch facing each other. We let our eyes meet and smile as we enjoy our connection. We don’t stare but settle into a nice rhythm of using our faces to non-verbally communicate, “I am glad to be with you.” We do this for several seconds and then close our eyes and breathe deeply. Then we reengage. Occasionally we talk, but words are not necessary. We do this exercise, in rhythm, for several minutes, and I quickly feel my joy rising.

Just like Claudia and I had to change our patterns in order to build more joy, turning our churches into high-joy environments will require changes. Church styles may be entrenched, so these changes may not come easily. Improving each soil nutrient will present new challenges that we will address as we go. Remember that joy is a right-brain dominant emotion requiring face-to-face interactions. We need to learn to embrace eye contact. Churches are often configured to support left-brain dominant activities: thinking, doctrine, words, and strategies. The first challenge might be arranging our meetings in a way that promotes eye contact. Current formats offer little time or intention to focus on relational joy. In fact, some people hate the idea of having to stop and interact during church. It does not seem like what we should do in church. 

Making changes to create joy will be uncomfortable for some. The other half of church will touch areas of our lives that are unfamiliar. Leaders and worshipers might hear complaints about changing what is comfortable. Someone may protest that the church is growing in size and giving. “Why upset things by trying to increase joy?” Character formation and building joy are inextricably linked. Jesus prayed for the joyful character of His followers when He prayed that they may have “the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13). Only when we are convinced that character transformation is the central task of the church will we be intentional about raising joy. Leaders and worshipers must both be involved in making these changes.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:

1. What ideas do you have to raise the joy of your small group, family, or church?

2. Try to tell someone with your eyes and face this week that they are special to you. (only for a few seconds to avoid awkwardness). How did that feel?