In Desiring God, John Piper presents his powerful case for Christian hedonism. Having previously associated the word “hedonism” with the selfish, pleasure seeking lifestyle which served as a main contributor to the collapse of the Roman Empire, it took quite some convincing to turn both my head and heart around to embrace Piper’s message.
After reading Henri Nouwen’s two books The Way of the Heart and Clowning in Rome which immediately grabbed my heart and revealed so much of my cold love towards God, there was a serious disconnect for me with Piper’s approach which largely builds on deductive reasoning. While the first two books exposed the barrenness of my heart, Piper’s message revealed the necessary connection between heart and mind and how both are intricately connected in our relationship with God. Even though at the core of our being we were made to enjoy God and be enjoyed by Him, the disconnect between heart and mind make us err in one of two ways.
If we only have heartfelt passion and lack knowledge and understanding of God, we will become “Charismaniacs.” By this I mean searching for the next “high” in God—singing, shouting, jumping, cheering, but not really “knowing” the God to whom we are cheering. If we remain intellectual in our faith, we risk becoming a Pharisee, absorbed with rules and regulations and never walking in relationship.
The culmination of this understanding came in the chapter titled “Worship.” Piper writes: “Strong affections for God, rooted in and shaped by the truth of Scripture—this is the bone and marrow of worship. Therefore Christian Hedonism is passionately opposed to all attempts to drive a wedge between deep thought and deep feeling. It rejects the common notion that profound reflection dries up fervent affection. It resists the assumption that intense emotion thrives only in the absence of coherent doctrine.”
I am indebted to Piper for exposing in myself the pendulum swing of either a heart or head encounter with the Lord, when really He wants me to enjoy Him fully and wholly. Piper’s insights about joy have also made me understand the power and strength of a joyful relationship with the Lord that continually grows in experiential knowledge, as well as passion. I understand now why joy will be an integral weapon that will bring strength and help us to endure the suffering that we will see and experience in the days ahead.
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