Sounds like a bit of an oxymoron, huh? The word hedonism certainly doesn't naturally bring to one's mind the word Christian... and most Christians I know are hardly ever accused of being hedonists!
Well, hang on with me here for a bit; let's break it down. American Heritage Dictionary gives the following definition for hedonism:
he·don·ism (hēd'n-ĭz'əm)
n.
- 1. Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses.
2. Philosophy The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant consequences is intrinsically good.
3. Psychology The doctrine holding that behavior is motivated by the desire for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.
And - at the risk of being labeled naive - let's assume that whoever is reading this has formed an appropriate definition for the word Christian*. So, then, what is this Christian hedonism?
The first question/response of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is as follows:
1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever.
This is what man was created for. Period. Nothing else will satisfy, nothing else will do. God created us that we might glorify Him, and experience our greatest enjoyment when we do so. Or, as John Piper puts it: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
So, then, hedonism, in this light, can be defined as the pursuit of pleasure, as it is ultimately found in the satisfaction of doing that which one is created for. If we believe that, as men and women who were created in the image of the holy Godhead, we were created for the glorification of our Creator, then Christian hedonism can further be defined as the pursuit of pleasure, as it is ultimately found in the glorification of Christ.
Christian hedonism. Wow. Yeah... that sits right with my soul.
What brought up the idea of posting on this was reading through Psalm 104 a couple of times tonight while in a bar, of all places (Psalm 104:15 is also pertinent here for Christian hedonism... but for different reasons! ;) ). Here are the verses that hit me:
This great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great. There the ships sail about; there is that Leviathan which You have made to play there.
-Psalm 104:25-26
I think I remember my pastor preaching on these verses sometime this summer, but I don't have my notes with me here in the bar, and I can't for the life of me remember exactly what he said off the top of my head (sorry, Mike!), so much of what I'm going to say about this passage may or may not be a repetition of what he already said. But hey... nothing new under the sun, right?
As far as I understand it, the Leviathan was a beast of unknown identity that was really, really big. And I don't think that it is mere coincidence that we don't know exactly what species of animal this creature was. In fact, it seems that those who lived during this time didn't even know exactly what the Leviathan was. There's a reason for this: God made it to play in the great and wide sea.
Do you see where I'm going with this? The Leviathan, one of the largest creatures recorded in the holy Scriptures, was unknown to man, and yet still gave God glory. How? How could this creature possibly glorify God if nobody was around to witness the glorification?! By playing in the sea; by simply doing that which it was created to do.
You see? God's own self-glorification is not all about us: we don't even have to be around for it to happen. God was glorifying Himself, His Son, and His Holy Spirit since before the creation of all known worlds! That we even get to participate in this glorification is, in itself, an act and manifestation of pure grace!
For the Leviathan, it's as if God was saying, "Go forth, my creation: play in the deep. No one will ever see you, yet you will glorify Me simply by being you, as you are meant to be, as I have created you."
For us, we have the same divine calling. However, our playground is not the depths of the sea, but the depths of Christ. When we swim in these depths, and find our deepest satisfaction therein, God is glorified in the highest way that we humans can possibly glorify Him!
*This word is often misrepresented/misused. All kidding aside, if you are unsure of what a "Christian" truly is, please shoot me an email... I would be more than happy to talk about it!
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