"Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of...."

This weekend we will celebrate our nation’s 240^th “birthday!”  July 4^th is the day that we remember the signing of the Declaration of Independence by our nation’s founders.  Included in that document is the sentence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”   Our government was founded on the principle that every person, being equal to all other persons, has the right to pursue, and thus hopefully experience, those three virtues that are mentioned: “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

I tend to think, however, in today’s environment we have especially misunderstood and misinterpreted that final virtue, “Happiness.”  We have taken that phrase, “the pursuit of Happiness,” far beyond what was in the minds of our founders.  Whereas, they considered a life of happiness to mean having the basic necessities of life in order to live life without continual struggle, today our definition of “happiness” is a life of pleasure, sensuality, and greed.  Happiness is no longer based on having the necessities of life and experiencing the joys of God-given relationships. Today happiness is getting all you can even at the expense of someone else’s happiness.  Our concept of happiness is often very individualistic and selfish—i.e. my happiness is more important than your happiness.  Thus, we find ourselves living in a society that often takes advantage of the weakest among us, objectifies women, produces entertainment that distorts morality; a society in which sexual pleasure at all costs is deified; a society that is so filled with greed that our financial, judicial, and political systems continually fall prey to corruption. 

Jesus never taught us to pursue “Happiness.”  Rather, Jesus taught us a totally different way of life. In that portion of scripture we call, “The Sermon on the Mount,” he teaches us to seek after humility, selflessness, and those things that go beyond this life.  He called us to pursue righteousness, mercy, purity, peace, and justice.

The intent of our nation’s founders, when they wrote that each person has the right to pursue “Happiness,” was right and true.  But, in our sinfulness we have taken that phrase and used it as an excuse to purse all kinds of ungodliness.  May we return to the heart of what our founders had in mind.  More than that, may we return to that which God has had in mind for our lives and for our nation!

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  (Matthew 6:33 – NIV) 

Have a blessed Independence Day!

Pastor Tim Harris