My recent blog on the relationship being good and doing good really stirred up some great thinking and comments from you, my dear readers. You not only thought deeply about the question, you also gave some powerful and pertinent examples of how the “conflict” can play out in daily life.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your responses! You really did what I was hoping to do in this blog, you thought deeply and shared your thoughts. Please keep up the good work!! I really appreciate your participation.
For those who were concerned about my personal welfare and what would lead me to pose such a question as “how do we balance being good to ourselves with being good?” I’d like to introduce a term that may either clear up your concerns about me or make you write me off as a total loon. The term is Christian hedonism. Here is a brief definition.
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.
I’d love to hear what you think of the concept of Christian hedonism.
The Nourisher 
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July 22, 2010 at 7:44 pm
Diana N
I have no particular problem with the term Christian Hedonism as it is defined. I think the choice of the word “hedonism” is unfortunate because of the usual understanding of the word, but perhaps it was used for its shock value.
But on a deeper level we have a “concern.” I am becoming a one-note song, but that note is a magnificent symphony. Rather than try to reinvent the wheel, I am going to copy a segment from the book Jesus Manifesto: Restoring the Supremacy and Sovereignty of Jesus Christ by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, pages 19-20.
So what is your occupation in life and ministry? Here’s a hint: Whatever you are occupied with comes out of your mouth. It’s what you talk about most of the time.
For many Christians, their occupation has nothing to do with spiritual things at all. For others who are more inclined to divine matters, their occupation is evangelism. For some, it’s church multiplication that matters most. For others, it’s memorizing the Bible and learning theology. Many Christians are most occupied with social action, while others are most occupied with leadership and its various principles. Still others are mainly occupied with missions, or praise and worship; the casting out of demons, or healing miracles, holiness, or the end times; spiritual authority and submission, justice, or politics; and so forth. The list is endless.
But all of these are “its” – just things. In fact, the Christian family has swung so far from its Lord that most of our preaching and teaching today is an “it” rather than a “Him.”
The result: We focus on “things”– even good and religious things. And the Lord Jesus Christ is pushed off into a corner. (He usually gets inserted somewhere in the message as a side dish, but He’s rarely the main course.)
Yet, the reality is that Christ trumps everything. All Scripture testifies of Him. The Father exalts Him. The Spirit magnifies Him. The angels worship Him. The early church knew Him as her passion, her message, and the unction of her life. Christ was her specialty. He was her Bridegroom and head. She specialized in nothing else.
All told, there’s nothing worth pursuing outside of Christ.
To our minds, there is one reason why a Christian would not be absolutely occupied and consumed with Christ. That person’s eyes have not been opened to see His greatness. The sad truth is that the Jesus who is preached so often today is so shallow, so small, and so uncaptivating that countless believers are enthralled with countless other things.
One speaker made this comment (which I am paraphrasing because I don’t have it completely committed to memory: When asked what I think about subjects like predestination my answer is that we will get around to that after we have explored the fathomless riches of Christ.
Rob and Diana
July 28, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Diana N
one more comment:
the following is in “Jesus Manifesto” on page 66:
Of the millions of words dictated by the gifted Latin-speaking Christian Augustine, bishop of Hippo (354-430), these are perhaps the most important but also the most misread: Dilige, et quod vis fac, “Love God, and do what you will.” If you love God or love another, the one thing you cannot do is what you will, for love bends the will. To live in God’s love is not license for hedonism, but liberty for sacrificial living where we’re all working off the same brief, which reads, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” and “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Diana and Rob
September 2, 2010 at 1:08 pm
the nourisher
It turns out that loving or seeking the good of others often brings us deep satisfaction which in turn nourishes our own souls.