“Worldly people pretend to the joy they have not; but godly people conceal the joy they have.” Matthew Henry

We just looked at why an unbeliever would pretend to be happy. Now we consider an even more ridiculous scenario – true believers hiding true joy! Why would anyone want to do that?

Associations

Some Christians hide happiness because it has strong associations with sinful pleasures. When people walk into a drug- or alcohol-fueled party they see lots of smiles and hear lots of laughter. Saturday Night Live, John Stewart, and other late night comedians have also given laughter a bad name, by linking it with bad language, innuendo, and humiliating mockery. Celebrities cannot risk being seen without their plastic smiles; and who wants to be like that?

Read the rest at HappyChristian.net.