Theological Journal – February 29 What’s Joy Got To Do With It? (7)

What is J3-Joy?


Joy of the J3 variety is a disposition or affection that grounds and sustains us amid difficult times. Affections are “the deep-seated dispositions, the settled and abiding postures of the heart, that qualify or color everything that we know or do” (Kendra G. Holtz and Matthew T. Matthews, Shaping the Christian Life: Worship and Religious Affections [Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2006], 14). Sam Storms adds

“Affections are more than ideas or thoughts or intellectual notions in our heads. They are lively and vigorous passions, for example, of either delight, love, joy, and hope, on the one hand, or displeasure, hatred, grief, or despair, on the other. When we evaluate our response to someone or something in life, we use such terms as sorrow, happiness, revulsion, attraction, bitterness, anger, peace, fear, and delight” (https://www.samstorms.org/enjoying-god-blog/post/peter-and-jonathan-edwards-on-religious-affections).

Discerning which affections are essential for faithful living and which aren’t (our affections are disordered since the fall) and nurturing those that are is a chief aspect of following Jesus in a world often hostile to his will and way.

Joy is clearly and affection we must endeavor to nurture (as our surveys of the biblical material to this point have made clear).  J1 and J2 are certainly experiences, buy J3 is not, though it is necessary to shaping and directing our experiences (J1 and J2). 

What are the conditions for such joy to take root in us as a disposition or affection? 

-receptivity: an openness to grace

-relationality: a sense that we have been given a gift by someone or Someone.

-rest: a sense of contentment that we are securely held where we are

Though we must seek J3 joy, and indeed are commanded to do so, the three R’s above teach us that such seeking is primarily a matter of positioning ourselves in relation to God in such a way that our minds and hearts are open to the Spirit’s work in us developing this affection or disposition.

Blocks to Joy - What erodes the development of J3 joy?

-autonomy, independence, and disenchantment: three chief features of the modern world. I am the center and deepest reality of my life not any God (disenchantment), I guide and direct my life (autonomy), and I need no one else (independence).

-boredom, angst, and restlessness: this is essentially when we start “looking for love in all the wrong places.” Wherever else we look we are not satisfied and we grow bored, anxious, and restive. Our world is rife with enticements to try out surrogate sources for joy.

-self-consciousness: we live today in our social media world where it is impossible not to think of ourselves, be aware of ourselves, of being watched, seen, scrutinized 24/7. Joy entails losing ourselves in and letting ourselves go to God. Not hard to see the problem here.

I hope this is enough to stimulate your thinking and praying about this J3 joy and its place in our life. Seeing this joy as an affection or disposition is very helpful to me in my search to better understand how James can tell us to “consider it nothing but joy” when undergoing trials and difficulties in living for Christ. Henceforth, I’ll take a wider-angle look at joy and its place in our life (beginning next Wednesday).