Superficial holiness can never produce true happiness. True holiness always manifests itself in authentic happiness. Psalm 1:1 says, “Blessed [happy] is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.”

In his book The Seven Deadly Virtues, Gerald Mann tells of his first exposure to Christianity at a revival he attended as a teenager. He writes of a man who gave “a blow-by-blow account of his former life on the ‘wild side.’ Graphically, he portrayed scenes of gang fights, heroin sales, and sexual liaisons with wanton sirens. . . . Then he told us of how Jesus had reached into the midst of all that muck and plucked him out of it. I am certain he didn’t intend to, but he made it sound as if Jesus had spoiled a rather exciting life!”

Though Mann later became a Christian and a pastor, it was a long time before he returned to church. According to his perception, Christianity meant giving up what’s fun. You might end up in Heaven, but to get there you have to live a hellish present life of saying no to all pleasure!

This twisted perspective is widespread and has left not only unbelievers but also Christians thinking we have only two choices:

1. Holiness: Improperly understood to mean being somber, rejecting the enjoyment of material things, and giving up the fun unbelievers experience. If we go to church and obey the rules, holiness may pay off in Heaven…someday. Christians who hold to this moral standard feel superior—a small compensation for their lack of happiness.

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