Happiness - 2 Corinthians 6:8-10

6:8-9 - After giving lists of opposing characteristics of him and his missionary companions, Paul expands on the contradictions that exist in their situation, such as “honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true.” Other contradictions include: known and unknown, dying but alive, chastened but not killed. The article written on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com paraphrases Paul’s statement saying, “when we preach the gospel, we are honored by the believers and dishonored by the unbelievers. Both good and evil reports are circulated about us as if we’re deceivers, but we are not. Rumors circulate that we are unknown and preach our own doctrine, but we are well known to you. You may hear that we are dying, yet we are alive; you may hear that we are chastened, yet we have not been killed.”

 

At first, I didn’t think that this really made sense, but reading it over again I had the idea that it was really about recognizing that this work is God’s work and he doesn’t abandon it. A lot of the contradictions are about the efforts Satan makes to destroy the work, such as “chastening” them and what God does in response, such as keeping them alive. He’s telling them that just because they hear that something has happened to them, or because something bad does happen to them, God is in the work just as much then as he was before. And really, this makes sense because this isn’t the church of Paul or Peter or anyone else. They don’t have the power to preserve it anymore than they have the power to destroy it. Paul recognizes that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, and he knows better than most, but the power of God preserves them.

 

6:10 - Not only does God preserve them, but he promises to reward them beyond anything that they could ever imagine. The contradiction between “sorrowful” and “yet always rejoicing” makes us examine why someone would rejoice while sad. The footnotes crosses “sorrowful” as “mourning” meaning that even while mourning, usually over a death of some sort, they are “always rejoicing.” Why would someone rejoice after experiencing a loss? Surely there is no reason in this life to have even a glimmer of positivity regarding a loss, so we have to deduce that any hope of happiness concerning the loss of a loved one would have to be in the future. That would come with a belief that we will be reunited with loved ones again. That we will not only see them, but also have our physical disabilities stripped away so that we can see them more clearly. There are so many people in my family that I think, “in the next life you won’t be mentally ill, then maybe you can be happy.” This life is tough for everyone, the only thing that keeps me motivated to not completely self-destruct is the hope that everything I do in this life, every good choice that I make will be seen.

 

Not only is Paul able to give hope and joy to the sorrowful through the gospel, but he’s also “making many rich,” even though he himself is very poor. We have to deduce from this statement that he can’t be talking about giving material wealth, because he doesn’t have any. What else can be considered riches but not in the physical sense? There’s peace of mind, hope for the future and comfort from the Spirit. Interestingly, I was watching old episodes of The Simpsons a couple of days ago and Lisa, who is a Buddhist, said something like, “our lord Buddha said that the ultimate victory is overcoming fear.” I immediately thought about Abinadi in front of king Noah and at that moment, he had overcome fear. It must be a universal achievement if Christians and Buddhists both recognize the value of mastering negative emotions. This life doesn’t last forever, and we can’t take anything with us when we go, and since I would imagine that the after life is going to be so much longer than this life, it would behoove us to spend at least some time reflecting on what we want in our future situation.

 

The article says, “Traveling as a missionary, Paul was always poor, but how many were made rich by his preaching? As to material things, he had nothing, yet he possessed all he needed and more.” The article goes on to quote several people who talked about their missionary experiences being priceless, and the ways in which priesthood power has changed their lives. This begs the question, is it possible that rich people have the ultimate happiness and the rest of us are just down here trying to convince ourselves that we don’t need it anyway? Are rich people happy? What is happiness? I’ve recently heard wealthy people described as falling into two groups. Some are disgusted by the privilege and luxuries that wealth gets them that they are remorseful of the broken backs that it took to get them there. These people become philanthropists, such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffet.

 

Now that I think about it, there are so many wealthy people of color, like Jay Z, Kanye West, and 50 Cent, who give back to their community intensely. We might be able to say that these people are happy, they are financially comfortable, but they are not living a hedonistic lifestyle, they are helping others less fortunate than themselves. So, their joy doesn’t come from the money, but the ability to give of their resources to others. In that sense I would say that, no, the wealth doesn’t make them happy, it gives them an avenue to do what brings them joy.

 

The other group of wealthy people become obsessed with their money and do everything they can to keep it and gain more. This makes them a slave to the material world. Money isn’t real, it’s a concept. There is no money tree that grows in the wild, I can go to the store and buy food with a piece of plastic. Economy is a completely fabricated construct of human society. But people become so obsessed with getting it and making more that they can not function if that part of the system is removed from their lives. That’s why all those bankers and stock brokers jumped out windows after the market crashed in 1929. So we can clearly deduce that money doesn’t make them happy, but the power, comfort, attention, and options that come with it. This feeds into the hedonistic side of “happiness,” which is completely self-destructive.

 

This is why the gospel that Paul provides to the people makes them “rich,” even when he has very few material possessions. Money and wealth are an illusion, they are social constructs that are not real and the pursuit of them can lead one to live a life of selfishness and greed. Even though they were not physically wealthy, Paul and his missionary companions were infinitely happier than those who deemed them unimportant because of their lower class social status. Gives us the opportunity to reflect on how we view success and happiness and what we believe will be the best return on investment for our time and efforts.