According to the “World Happiness Report” (yes there is such a thing; it was launched at the UN last year), the happiest countries in the world are: Denmark, Norway, Finland, Netherlands–all in northern Europe. The least happy countries are all poor countries in Africa: Togo, Benin, Central African Republic, Sierra Leone. The report found that not just wealth makes people happy, but also “political freedom, strong social networks, and absence of corruption.” Further, the report discovered that in some countries living standards improved, but happiness decreased. What is an example you may ask? The United States for one. What this report suggests is that happiness is entirely based on how “good” my life is, assuming there is an agreed upon definition of “good”. As Christians, we must seek to invalidate this finding. Our joy is not and must not be rooted in how good our life is but in how good Christ is. The world (and even sometimes the church) looks at Lazarus (Lk. 16) and says he is less fortunate. But he is not. Lazarus is the blessed one, not the rich man.
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