When a genuine inquirer asks why the Christian is so sprightly, the answer seems to come from another world. The jolly saint says something like, “I used to sleep with the void. I kissed garbage and savored her perfume. I yearned for the dark night and wandered into her cold, confident I was moving toward the hearth.” The honest seeker quickly realizes that Christ claims to bring a man to his senses, not away from them.

The lie: turning to Christ means turning away from fun. This pitiful deception is as old as the serpent. Augustine attested to it in his pre-conversion prayer, “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet.” However, the frightening revelation is that when a man turns to Christ, he gives up nothing. He was holding hands with the abyss. This is the secret of the happy Christian whistling along the way. That terror is past.

What of self-denial? It is commended (Matthew 16:24). But stuff-denial is certainly not commended. And this is what many prefer to deny. Jones cannot deny Jones, so he denies chocolate cake. Thompson rejects beer to drink deeply of Thompson.