How Is Your Face Today?

“I was walking to work this week,”  Emma shared, “and everyone just looked sad.  There were a lot of people out, but everyone just looked down.  Then all of a sudden this guy bounds around the corner finishing a morning jog, with such exuberance on his face and lets out  joyous exclamation of accomplishment.  I first thought ‘how could running ever produce such joy,’ but then I found myself asking, ‘I wonder what my face is expressing?’”

It was a great, and quite profound, observation that was shared at a Fellowship gathering a while back.   What do our faces express?  As the church, are we expressing joy and exuberance?  It reminded me of a passage from Eugene Peterson in A Long Obedience in the same Direction in which he quotes a friend:

For if a pastor is not in touch with joy, it will be difficult to teach or preach convincingly that the news is good.  If you do not convey joy in your demeanor and gestures and speech, you will not be an authentic witness for Jesus Christ.  

I think that it is safe to say that this goes for more than just pastors, but for all who would claim to be followers of Jesus.  So how about you, how is your face today?