Christian Hedonism
One of the values of Christian Hedonism is that it answers the objection of why or how God can be so God-centered—because he manifestly is. Page after page says, “God does this for his glory.” Isaiah 43:7 says he “created us for his glory.” Ephesians 1 says he “elects us unto the praise of his glory.”
God has been called a megalomaniac. Jesus has been called an egomaniac. And people have said, “Piper, your God is on an ego trip.” And here’s the answer. God is God. He’s the most excellent being in the universe. He cannot not believe that or he would be an idolator, a liar. He must believe and not deny himself, as the Bible says.
Desiring God
John Piper
John Piper’s influential work on Christian Hedonism, Desiring God, challenges the belief that following Christ requires the sacrifice of pleasure. Rather, he teaches that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
So, what keeps him from being a megalomaniac? The answer is he created a universe in which his greatness would shine in my supreme happiness. His pursuit of his glory is his pursuit of my joy in his glory, which means his glory and my joy shine together. He’s not a megalomaniac. He’s a God of love to the degree that he lifts up his own glory for me to see. He’s fighting for my joy. He’s working for my joy.
So, God must be God. And that’s a glorious and good news reality because he pursues his own glory in my being happy in his glory.
John Piper is the author of Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist.
John Piper is founder and lead teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He served for thirty-three years as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the author of more than fifty books, including Desiring God; Don’t Waste Your Life; and Providence.
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