Is God Pleasure? (A question on the nature of God.)

Why don’t you folks at thefaithfulword.org website get it? It’s not ordinary hedonism, it’s hedonistic pleasure "in God".

The "question" above is often stated as a comment but everyone knows precisely what the author intends. He means to ask, "Why don’t you get it? We aren’t talking about taking pleasure in the ordinary things of this world like sunsets, beaches, lakes, and Autumn leaves. That would be ‘ordinary hedonism’. We’re talking about taking pleasure in nothing else but God. Being satisfied in nothing else but God. Why can’t you get that?"

Perhaps C.S. Lewis already answered this question sufficiently when he wrote in letter number 17 in Letters to Malcolm:

Lewis meant that finding pleasure with your senses, such as seeing sunlight through tree limbs and foliage of the canopy in a shaded forest with your eyes, feeling the sunlight on your face and the cool breeze on your hand, and sensing the aroma of wildflowers is no different than finding pleasure with your spirit in an aesthetic manner when you meditate about God. Most Christian Hedonists would refer to the forest experience as "sensuous pleasure / ordinary hedonism" and the meditation experience as taking pleasure "in God".

But this is not what Lewis meant. Please do not miss Lewis’ point. To Lewis there is no difference between experiencing pleasure in God (what he refers to as aesthetic pleasure) and experiencing pleasure in the world God created (sensuous pleasure). No difference.

How is this possible? It is revealed to us in the Word that God created the world. It is His footstool. He is present in the world as well as over the world. Christ alone holds the world together. There is no good thing in the world that He did not create. If we find the created world pleasurable, we are experiencing pleasure in God.

Lewis further goes on to explain to Malcolm that it is his intent not to go searching for more pleasure, but rather the opposite, "I have tried … to make every pleasure into a channel of adoration", adoration of God and what He has done. In other words, Lewis would come across a pleasurable experience, and he would consciously respond by saying, "what is God’s part in this?"

By contrast, Christian Hedonism requires man to actually pursue the pleasure itself "in God." But which pleasures? Aesthetic pleasures, or, sensuous pleasures; spiritual pleasures, or, common pleasures? According to Lewis there is no difference.

If there is no difference between taking pleasure in the lawful things of the world and taking pleasure in God, then when Christian Hedonism commands us to pursue our pleasures, it is equally acceptable to pursue the pleasure of fishing, of good dining, of prayer, or of giving. There is no difference.

If there is no difference between taking pleasure in the fact that God created a beautiful lake and taking pleasure in the fact that He is so loving as to save us, then what is the true meaning of "Christian Hedonism"? Which pleasure is it more biblical to pursue? All lawful pleasures are of God and in God.

Is a Christian "wrong" because he prefers to pursue the pleasure of God’s people at a picnic beside a babbling brook, compared to the believer who prefers to sit in his room and meditate on a difficult passage of Scripture? Is a believer in sin because he more enjoys singing in the choir while another believer more enjoys cooking dinner for her husband who is returning from a week long business trip?

"Christian Hedonism" loses all meaning when you understand the following:

• Taking pleasure in God’s divine qualities and in His works (such as salvation of mankind and His creation of this physical world), sensuously and aesthetically, is the same as taking pleasure "in God"
• All God’s attributes and good creations may be enjoyed by the believer
• God does not command us to "pursue pleasure" at all, though He does permit us to experience it, and whenever we do experience pleasure, we should remember from Whom this good has come

C.S. Lewis also wrote to Malcolm a deadly serious warning regarding the temptation to desire pleasure. He called it greed. "Greed. Instead of saying, ‘This also is Thou,’ one may say the fatal word Encore." Greed. The pursuit of pleasure for oneself. Demanding of God that we again and again get pleasure from Him or His world. C.S. Lewis was no advocate of pursuing pleasure, merely ascribing to God goodness for having provided pleasure on those occasions when he would come upon it.

C.S. Lewis also found that by focusing intently on pleasure in order to find God within that experience could lead to another human downfall: pride. Lewis wrote: "There is also conceit: the dangerous reflection that not everyone can find God in a plain slice of bread and butter, or that others would condemn as simply ‘grey’ the sky in which I am delightedly observing such delicacies of pearl and dove and silver." Not everyone will respond the same way to any given circumstance, and when this happens, the tendency of man and the hedonist will be to assume oneself to be superior over another who sees not a pleasure in an experience, but perhaps some other equally valid but unpleasant message (e.g. a rebuke for sin committed, a memory of a lost one resurfaced, a foreshadowing of an impending doom that escapes the notice of the one consumed with pleasure).

For this very reason, that often the sober warning of impending doom is a more proper message to be noted than distilling the pleasure out of every experience, the Scriptures tell us that the minds of fools reside in the house of pleasure. And because of pride, many men and women will wear a smile of supposed spirituality on the outside while their heart is being crushed from a weight of grief on the inside. Elevating pleasure to the point of a pursuit carries with it a wealth of condemnation and warning from the Word.

Even of this fact, C.S. Lewis once again acts as his own clarion claxon, warning no one to take his philosophy too far regarding finding ways to adore God through every small pleasure one might encounter. He knew the importance of not elevating pleasure to the level of a pursuit.

Lewis properly understood that authentic worship is "mere obedience" and that obedience is "far more important" than experiencing pleasure. He was genuinely concerned that someone might misconstrue or misrepresent his position as meaning that pleasure was in any way equal to or higher a calling than worship or obedience. Lewis’ cautions and warnings not to elevate pleasure are quite clear.

The desire to experience pleasure is a natural element of mankind. Yes, the desire for pleasure motivates us along with so very many other motivations. Which motivation is "holiest", "most pure", or most highly commanded? Only one: "pursue love" for there is no commandment greater that this (1 Corinthians 14:1, Mark 12:28-31).

In so much as "Christian Hedonism" requires the pursuit of one’s own pleasure as if this were a command from the Lord, "Christian Hedonism" is in error.

When "Christian Hedonism" attempts to differentiate what good things we "should" take pleasure in and which we should not, as if taking pleasure in every good thing was not entirely of God’s gifting to mankind, then "Christian Hedonism" mistakenly devalues God’s creation or certain attributes of God, and therefore God Himself.

Taking our pleasure in God, in Who He is, in what He has created, in what He has done, is a good and proper thing. Taking pleasure in any good thing is to take pleasure in God. Taking pleasure in God is what has been going on for thousands of years by the ancient believing Jews up through the contemporary Christian.

Taking pleasure in God as a natural response to His good gifts to man is an entirely different concept than to require a whole-hearted dedication to nothing but the pursuit of pleasure. This is where Christian Hedonism fails. It cannot offer one Bible verse that directly commands man to "pursue his own pleasure". Much more than that, it cannot find anywhere a preponderance of evidence suggesting that this "pursuit of pleasure" should be elevated to the rank of "greatest pursuit" or "highest calling" (as Dr. Piper calls it). And the pursuit of pleasure must become a man’s foremost pursuit if the name "hedonism" is to have any meaning whatsoever.

Since Christian Hedonism is a call to use "all our strength" in devotion to pleasure in God as our highest calling, and since it has no mandate from the Scriptures to issue this call, the philosophy is fully and wholly without meaning or substance, not merely the name of the philosophy, but the entirety of its content. Even more so is it without meaning given that pleasure in God can be found through our senses as we behold His creation; through our mind as we contemplate Him, His works, and His creation; and in our spirits as we are made aware that we have been regenerated by His Spirit.

Pleasure is not to be pursued. Pleasure is an experiential gift from God which He offers to us in all good things. As silly, arrogant, and greedy children might, we could demand more gifts of pleasure from God our Father, but we are not so commanded by His Word. In fact, we are often told to stop thinking of ourselves first, our comforts over those of our neighbors, and our selfishness. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and foremost of all that we do, pursue love for God.

Pursue our own pleasures as our highest calling and greatest priority as do the hedonists? No. Pursue love, fear God, seek to be righteous as He is righteous, those are our biblically commanded priority pursuits.

There is no such thing in the Bible as the distinction between "Christian Hedonism" and "ordinary hedonism". All good things can be gratefully received from the hand of God with thanks, and taking pleasure in any of these worldly (but lawful) and spiritual gifts is to experience pleasure "in God". Let us not be spoiled children and demand more pleasure from our Father, but let us instead unselfishly love Him as is His due as Father, God, Savior, and Creator. Our pleasures will take care of themselves with no purposeful attention given them at all if we focus the whole of our energy first on our obligation as children: love our Father with all our mind, body, and strength.