This is Part 1 of a series on “Pursuing Gospel Joy” in church ministry. Visit replantblog.com to read more from the series.
The “mountaintops” of ministry …. How wonderful they are! Mountaintops are those seasons in which pretty much everything seems to be going great. New people are coming, finances are steady, people are excited and unified. Does it get any better than this?! I have at times wished ministry was marked exclusively by mountaintops.
Of course, the reality is that ministry isn’t all mountaintops. Many things can suck the joy out of us as pastors and leaders in the church. The reality is that we all will experience dark valleys, cold shoulders, and times of deep discouragement. The question is, when these various challenges come – and they will – what do we do? Where do we go? Where do we find deep, supernatural, gospel joy that will help sustain us over the years? Where do we find the strength to “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness?” (James 1:2-3)
Let’s begin by first asking the question “What exactly is gospel joy?” Being a joyful person, biblically speaking, is not simply being someone who is happy all the time. It doesn’t mean we don’t have times when we are discouraged. Not at all. There will be times when we experience great discouragement. No, joy runs deeper than worldly happiness. It runs deeper than the circumstances of our ministries or lives.
The primary catalyst for gospel joy comes to us as a result of our salvation in Christ. Simply knowing that we are sinners who have been redeemed by the amazing grace of God should bring us a sense of great joy! But God does not stop there. At our conversion, He actually pours His Holy Spirit into us, sealing us, infusing us with a supernatural joy the world cannot comprehend.
Therefore, keep in mind the following:
— Joy comes with the settled assurance that God is in control of my life and His world.
— Joy exudes a quiet confidence that everything is ultimately going to be good because the Lord is on His throne.
— Joy is marked by the determined choice to praise God in every situation.
You see, true gospel joy is rooted in a biblical understanding of the sovereignty of God. It comes when we understand that we have a God who reigns and rules over every square inch of existence. I’m not sure there is a stronger catalyst for joylessness than failing to believe in the sovereignty of God. This is particularly true in our ministry as pastors and leaders in the local church. However, what we know from the Scripture is that the Lord is indeed sovereign. He is good. He is trustworthy. He is unshakable. He is all-wise. And because of these truths, we can find joy in Him in every circumstance.
We know from Scripture that gospel joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit within us (Gal. 5:22-23). Joy is the natural result of God’s work in a Christian’s life, whether promised or fulfilled. In a sense, gospel joy is the overflow of the Spirit’s presence and work in our souls, which springs up and leads to passionate praise and joyful obedience to the Lord no matter what comes our way in life.
For this reason, gospel joy can be found even in the “dark nights of the soul” – those seasons of deep darkness that we all as pastors encounter from time to time. As R.C. Sproul writes:
We may think that the dark night of the soul is something completely incompatible with the fruit of the Spirit, not only that of faith but also that of joy. Once the Holy Spirit has flooded our hearts with a joy unspeakable, how can there be room in that chamber for such darkness? It is important for us to make a distinction between the spiritual fruit of joy and the cultural concept of happiness. A Christian can have joy in his heart while there is still spiritual depression in his head. The joy that we have sustains us through these dark nights and is not quenched by spiritual depression. The joy of the Christian is one that survives all downturns in life.¹
When we look at these different characteristics of joy, we can see this is something we desperately need as leaders in imperfect, broken, yet redeemed congregations. We need a joy that is otherworldly. We need the joy of the Lord – and the peace and hope that embodies it – in the face of ministry challenges that are sure to come. By the power of the Spirit, let’s fight for gospel joy! For ourselves, for others, and for the glory of God!
¹R.C. Sproul, “Spiritual Depression: The Dark Night of the Soul,” Ligonier.org, accessed November 12, 2018, https://www.ligonier.org/blog/the-dark-night-of-the-soul.
Published October 3, 2024
