The Right Word for a Wrong Thing
I'm taking a small break from some of the heavier stuff on the Bill Gothard matter, and will write about another idea that's been growing on me for some time. Only in the past few days has exactly the right word come to mind for what's been eliciting my deep sighs and rolling of the eyes: Hedonism.
I think I'll ask some of my students some day soon if they know what that means. At a later time I may have the courage to ask the same question of some people older than my students. If I really get brave, I might even point out specific behaviors and ask individuals to tell me how "that" is not hedonistic behavior.
Several weeks ago Mark N. had a topic in church on entertainment (I think that was part of the title). We had a bit of trouble getting together on a good definition for the word, and it seemed like it was getting mixed up with pleasure at times. We heard some good thoughts, and I kept on thinking about the subject long after the discussion was over.
In a post after the Super Bowl, I think I was trying to get at the core of what felt wrong to me about some people's unapologetic (and apparently relatively evaluation-free) participation in this sports worship event.
It is not entertainment that is always wrong; it is certainly not pleasure that is always wrong. It is hedonism that is always wrong. I think I see some people quite willing to defend even that, probably because they do not recognize it as hedonism.
In a long list of evils that will be present in the last days, 2 Timothy 3:4 has this phrase: . . . . lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God . . . What Paul cites as evil coincides almost perfectly with the definition of hedonism from the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
1. the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life
2. a way of life based on or suggesting the principles of hedonism
Having just read some of the stories of IBLP survivors, I see a common thread with some of what I believe I've witnessed: People who were at one time fearful of offending their own tortured (and perhaps misinformed) consciences now experience such "freedom" that no reference point remains for when one crosses a line from living in Christian freedom to being sucked into bondage. Being driven to experience pleasure is still "being driven," and that is bondage.
Being willing to make greater and greater sacrifices in search of a thrill should serve as a warning. Continually indulging hedonistic tendencies eventually separates a person from God. What could be more tragic than that? Repentance and a new direction are possibilities as long as life remains.
Careful evaluation of where our pursuit of pleasure ranks in relation to our pursuit of God is timely, right now, for all of us.
I think I'll ask some of my students some day soon if they know what that means. At a later time I may have the courage to ask the same question of some people older than my students. If I really get brave, I might even point out specific behaviors and ask individuals to tell me how "that" is not hedonistic behavior.
Several weeks ago Mark N. had a topic in church on entertainment (I think that was part of the title). We had a bit of trouble getting together on a good definition for the word, and it seemed like it was getting mixed up with pleasure at times. We heard some good thoughts, and I kept on thinking about the subject long after the discussion was over.
In a post after the Super Bowl, I think I was trying to get at the core of what felt wrong to me about some people's unapologetic (and apparently relatively evaluation-free) participation in this sports worship event.
It is not entertainment that is always wrong; it is certainly not pleasure that is always wrong. It is hedonism that is always wrong. I think I see some people quite willing to defend even that, probably because they do not recognize it as hedonism.
In a long list of evils that will be present in the last days, 2 Timothy 3:4 has this phrase: . . . . lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God . . . What Paul cites as evil coincides almost perfectly with the definition of hedonism from the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
1. the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life
2. a way of life based on or suggesting the principles of hedonism
Having just read some of the stories of IBLP survivors, I see a common thread with some of what I believe I've witnessed: People who were at one time fearful of offending their own tortured (and perhaps misinformed) consciences now experience such "freedom" that no reference point remains for when one crosses a line from living in Christian freedom to being sucked into bondage. Being driven to experience pleasure is still "being driven," and that is bondage.
Being willing to make greater and greater sacrifices in search of a thrill should serve as a warning. Continually indulging hedonistic tendencies eventually separates a person from God. What could be more tragic than that? Repentance and a new direction are possibilities as long as life remains.
Careful evaluation of where our pursuit of pleasure ranks in relation to our pursuit of God is timely, right now, for all of us.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
6:50 PM
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