Christian Hedonism

Some wildlife at Dove Valley Ranch.

What a pleasure it has been walking early each morning on the golf course, the sun low in the east, the grass fresh, the birds singing and the bunnies scurrying around.  I feel such joy and pleasure in all God has made.  The walk from tee to green has become for me a place of worship and prayer.

The experience of such joy and pleasure in all that God has given is sometimes attended by a small amount of guilt.  Shouldn’t the Christian life be more about struggle, more about suffering for our faults?  I am reminded of that old Christian classic, The Practice of the Presence of God, a conversation with Brother Lawrence a 17^th century lay brother in a Carmelite monastery.  He entered the monastery thinking that there he would suffer pain for his faults and sacrifice his life with all its pleasures to God. But, he said that God had disappointed him.  He found nothing but joy and satisfaction in his life there.  To him “whether he lead us by suffering or by consolation”, it was all equal to a soul truly resigned to God.

I was startled, recently, when I heard a new phrase – Christian hedonism.  It made me chuckle.  How could the word “Christian” be combined with a word like hedonism which is a reference to self-indulgence and living for worldly pleasure?  It sounds like such a contradiction.  The term, coined on the website Desiring God (www.desiringgod.org), is a reference to the idea that the more we enjoy God and find pleasure in him, the more we will want to please him and the more our lives will be a reflection of his life.  What an awesome idea.  Makes sense to me.  What a contrast to the try harder mentality, which usually puts us in a state of guilt, eventually hindering our progress. We do not live the Christian life by gritting our teeth but by enjoying God’s spirit flowing through us.  

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Psalms 16:11 (NIV)

Read more about Christian hedonism:
http://www.desiringgod.org/about/our-distinctives/our-beliefs/what-is-christian-hedonism