I had one of those moments in an Old Navy a few days ago. I love Old Navy. I love their clothes and I love their scarves and I love how the place smells. There is one thing that I can't stand about Old Navy.
These mannequins creep the life out of me. Seriously. You walk into a brightly lit, consumer-slanted room with trendy mood beats, and there is an entire family of freaky plastic people. Now, I know that mannequins serve a purpose. I get that. But do they have to have those clownish smiles? Or large, unblinking eyes? And their attempt to bridge the racial gap ends between the Caucasians and the African-Americans. Wait, no, I think there's someone from Asia in there. And a dog. Of course, there's a dog. Even the dog is creepy. I go into Old Navy wanting to have a pleasant shopping experience, and instead, have induced nightmares. Yes, I have had nightmares with these mannequins in them. I can't be the only one; I'm sure. Bad PR right there.
I think the reason that they bother me so much is that they are too perfect. They look too happy (I mean, seriously, they do nothing but stand there all day. They cannot possibly be that enthused). They're fake, but trying so hard to convince me otherwise.
And, in that respect, they're almost human.
I feel like, as Christians, there's some sort of self-imposed or culture-imposed stigma that we're supposed to be happy all of the time. We're supposed to always be smiling. We're supposed to be enthusiastic. We're supposed to have all of the answers. We're supposed to be perfect. We're supposed to never slip up. And all too often, we buy into that stigma. I know that it had me fooled for the longest time. How could I tell anyone what I was dealing with? I was a Christian! I wasn't supposed to have problems! ...right?
See, the thing is that, because of the facade that we feel we have to have, we've just become mannequins. The smile on our face is empty, is fake. We're not fooling anyone. People can see right through that, and get mildly irritated, because nobody - nobody - has it all together. We're just lying to ourselves if we say that we do. Christians are humans. We aren't happy all of the time, and neither are we supposed to be!
The difference between people who know Christ and people who don't, in this matter, is the difference between joy and happiness.
Happiness happens when things go well, like an A on a test or finding out that a class is canceled or that your allowance is being raised. It warms us. Joy, on the other hand, takes our breath away. Joy comes from appreciating life, from having faith in something larger than ourselves. It's some sort of swell of emotion that comes from something within us rather than outside of us. It doesn't depend on money or cars or vacations, but how we view the world and where our hope lies.
Joy and happiness aren't synonyms. I mean, look at David. He was loved by God and used by God, but he in no way had all of the answers! He in no way lived a perfect life! But he had joy, despite everything. Look here, in Psalm 43:
Vindicate me, O God,I think it's safe to say that David wasn't exactly happy. In fact, he was pretty angry and hurt and sad. But he had joy, and joy runs deeper. Joy is constant. And joy takes the slips and the downs in life and puts them into perspective: No, I'm not perfect, but God is. Yes, I do mess up, but God never does.
and plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from deceitful and wicked men.
You are God my stronghold.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning,
oppressed by the enemy?
Send forth your light and your truth,
let them guide me;
let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place where you dwell.
Then will I go to the altar of God,
to God, my joy and my delight.
I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God.
We don't have to plaster smiles on our faces. We don't have to search for happiness. We don't have to hide our every mistake. God doesn't want mannequins. He wants His children. He wants all of them, just as they are, with emotions and mistakes and everything. He wants us to be human - He made us human! And as His children, as real people, as humans, He can use us. He'll fill us with a joy that we'll never understand because it just simply doesn't make sense, and He'll use us in ways that we can't even imagine. And maybe we won't always be grinning, but our hearts will be soaked in something amazing, something indescribable, something more real and steady and tangible than happiness. God's joy, His awesome gift.
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