Christian Hedonism

(This is a discussion we recently did related to seeking happiness)

“If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
- The Weight of Glory  - C.S. Lewis

What are your reactions to this quote? Thoughts?
What is C.S. Lewis trying to say here?

What are your reactions to the belief among some Christians that we shouldn’t be people of desire? That pursuing happiness is a bad thing? Share…

Have you ever known or perhaps been a hedonist before? Share…
(Hedonist: a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and self-gratification. Hedonism: a school of thought that argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good.)

“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”
― Blaise Pascal

Do you believe what Pascal is saying in this quote? Do you think God designed us for the pursuit of happiness?
Does seeking your own happiness sound self-centered?

Truth is, we value most what we delight in most. Pleasure is not God’s competitor, idols are. Pleasure is simply a gauge that measures how valuable someone or something is to us. Pleasure is the measure of our treasure.

In your own words, how would you describe a person who is a Christian Hedonist?

If a friend says to you, “I really enjoy being with you,” you wouldn’t’ accuse him of being self-centered. Because your friend’s delight in you is the evidence that you have great value in his heart. In fact, you’d be dishonored if he didn’t experience any pleasure in your friendship. The same is true of God. If God is the source of our greatest delight then God is our most precious treasure; which makes us radically God-centered and not self-centered. And if we treasure God most, we glorify Him most.

Christian Hedonism is not a contradiction. It is desiring the vast and deep pleasures of God more than the “mud pie” pleasures of wealth, power, or lust. We’re Christian Hedonists because we believe what Psalm 16:11 proclaims, “You show me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy, in Your right hand are pleasures for evermore.”

Would you consider yourself a Christian Hedonist? Thoughts?
Would you say that God is your ultimate pleasure in life? Share.

God Himself is joy and our pleasure, the only real pleasure to be had, is found in Him…living a life in His presence. But too often instead of seeking Joy we seek out the effects of Joy or we seek the product of Happy instead of Happy Himself. We seek the created instead of the Uncreated. Sometimes we gaze upon the finger that points to the moon, instead of the moon itself.

Reactions to this? Does this make sense?
In what ways do we as Christians sometimes “gaze upon the finger” instead of the moon?
How do you see us focusing our worship on “holy” things instead of the “Holy One?”

Last thoughts?

Challenge: For the things that truly give us pleasure in life we are constantly moving our world around to make time for them, aren’t we? This week, this year, what would it look like for you to begin to seriously set aside time to spend with your Pleasure?
May your quest for joy and pleasure lead you to spending time with the God who is our Joy!