What is Christian Hedonism?

[mizpeh]

What is Christian Hedonism?
Lessons from a Love Poem



Then Let Me All My Pleasures Tell


For Noel on Our Twenty-Fifth Wedding Anniversary
December 21, 1993


I am a Christian Hedonist,
Though there are some who still insist
I drop the name. I do not bid,
Much less demand, nor ever did,
That anyone should follow me
In wearing this strange badge. The key
To joy and holiness is not
in names or labels we have got,
Nor is much truth or love assured
By ranks and titles we've secured.

......

So may the Spirit's holy flame
Ignite in us for God's great name
A holy passion, zeal and fire
That magnify Him with desire.
I hail Him as my joy in life,
And take from his pure hand my wife.

Johnny

See poem in its entirety here: http://www.desiringgod.org/dg/id88.htm

[ManOfWord]

Christian hedonism is basically the idea that God wants us to enjoy this life, the world He has made and all that is in it. This is to be done within the guidelines of His word, which would preclude sin.

The opposite is that God wants us to deny ourselves to the degree that we choose to suffer, be in poverty, live ascetic lives and NOT enjoy His creation.

John Piper is may have coined the term, I'm not sure, but he has written on the subject. I happen to agree with him. I regularly exceed the fun limit!!

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by ManOfWord

Christian hedonism is basically the idea that God wants us to enjoy this life, the world He has made and all that is in it. This is to be done within the guidelines of His word, which would preclude sin.

The opposite is that God wants us to deny ourselves to the degree that we choose to suffer, be in poverty, live ascetic lives and NOT enjoy His creation.

John Piper is may have coined the term, I'm not sure, but he has written on the subject. I happen to agree with him. I regularly exceed the fun limit!!

John Piper wrote the poem to his wife and compares his relationship with his wife to his relationship with God. We serve God out of joy and love instead of duty then we glorify Him more.

Christian hedonism, to me, is more than enjoying this life and what God has made but it is living to please God. God want us to be a happy people but our delight should be in Him. Piper is not extolling the worldly, temporal pleasures of this life. Here's a stanza from the first part of Piper's poem and then a stanza from the last part of his poem:

But I do bid that all will come
And drink with me the waters from
The fountain of delights whom we
Call Christ, and that we taste and see
The fullness of his Father's joy
Which none can make and none destroy;
And that we take from his right hand
Eternal pleasures He has planned
For those who love Him more than all
His gifts, and gladly leave the small
And fleeting pleasures of this earth
To savor God and all he's worth.
I bid the world and everyone
Who's ever wanted joy to shun
With me the ease of wealth, the chill
And rush of faithless sex, the thrill
Of fame, and pride of power and all
The thousand pleasures that enthrall
Us with their godless innocence,
And pay instead a tribute whence
All great and lasting pleasures come:
To show by our pursuit that from
His holy Fountain flows far more
Than earth could ever hold in store.

I hope that now it is not odd
When I say, So it is with God.
His goodness shines with brightest rays
When we delight in all his ways.
His glory overflows its rim
When we are satisfied in him.
His radiance will fill the earth
When people revel in his worth.
The beauty of God's holy fire
Burns brightest in the heart's desire.