Wednesday 25 July 2012

Seeking well-being rather than salvation

There is a fashion for talking about 'well-being' these days. Counselling services are becoming 'Well-being services' and the UK Government's Office for National Statistics has just completed its first national well-being survey (see: ONS Well-being Survey).

I'm all in favour of considering well-being rather than economics for a change; money and wealth are very bad proxies for quality of life. And thinking about well-being rather than all the plethora of negative mental health diagnoses makes for welcome relief - and improves my well-being immediately!

Working as a counsellor, often with young people, a common line of discussion is what a client's parents may think of their actions or decisions. One type of common reply goes along the lines of "Oh, they just want me to be happy".

But there is a problem here.

The assumption is that happiness is good. This sounds reasonable enough, but it's odd that Jesus never 'sold' Christianity on the basis that it would make you happy. He talked about Christians being blessed and it bringing peace, forgiveness, contentment and joy. He also said that following him led to living life in all its fullness (John 10 v10). But he didn't really mention happiness! In fact there are remarkably few references to happiness in the Bible.

(Don't confuse being blessed or being joyful with being happy! Christian joy is something much deeper and more reliable than mere happiness, which comes and goes as the wind blows.)

However, let's not take the reverse to be true - the Bible is not saying that being a Christian will make you unhappy, despite promising that it was likely to bring difficulty and persecution. Rather the promise seems to be that following Christ will bring purpose, direction, servant-heartedness, and contentment whatever the prevailing circumstances, whether life is easy or difficult.

So our Government's new interest in well-being is a small step in a positive direction - that is, away from measuring everything by money. But let's not be taken in by thinking that well-being or happiness are what really matters, or that they offer life in all its fullness!

Don't settle for well-being when you could have salvation...