Joy in God

Excerpt from John Piper sermon: The Happiness of God: Foundation for Christian Hedonism

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Sometimes an illustration is worth a thousand words of abstract definition. So instead of giving you a precise definition of Christian Hedonism, let me start by giving some biblical examples of it. David counsels Christian Hedonism when he commands, "Delight yourself in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). And he demonstrates the kernel of Christian Hedonism when he cries out, "As a deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God" (Psalm 42:1-2). Moses was a Christian Hedonist (according to Hebrews 11:24-27) because he rejected the "fleeting pleasures" of sin, but "considered abuse suffered for the Christ greater wealth than all the treasures of Egypt, for he looked to the reward." The saints in Hebrews 10:34 were Christian Hedonists because they chose to risk their lives to visit Christian prisoners and joyfully accepted the plundering of their own property since they knew that they themselves had a better possession and an abiding one. The apostle Paul commended Christian Hedonism when he said in Romans 12:8, "Let him who does acts of mercy do them with cheerfulness." And Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, set the greatest standard of Christian Hedonism because "his delight was in the fear of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:3), and for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

Christian Hedonism teaches that the desire to be happy is God-given and should not be denied or resisted but directed to God for satisfaction. Christian Hedonism does not say that whatever you enjoy is good. It says that God has shown you what is good and doing it ought to bring you joy (Micah 6:8). And since doing the will of God ought to bring you joy, the pursuit of joy is an essential part of all moral effort. If you abandon the pursuit of joy (and thus refuse to be a Hedonist, as I use the term), you cannot fulfill the will of God. Christian Hedonism affirms that the godliest saints of every age have discovered no contradiction in saying, on the one hand, "We are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered" (Romans 8:36), and on the other hand, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4). Christian Hedonism does not join the culture of self-gratification that makes you a slave of your sinful impulses. Christian Hedonism commands that we not be conformed to this age but that we be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2) so we can delight to do the will of our Father in heaven. According to Christian Hedonism joy in God is not optional icing on the cake of Christianity. When you think it through, joy in God is an essential part of saving faith.

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