Just started reading this book. Interesting presupposition that he begins with. Anyone else ever read it? At the risk of ruining the book for me... what was anyone else's take on it?
Not trying to determine if it's a mistaken presupposition, just thought this might spark some fascinating dialogue.
Haven't read it. What's the presupposition? PM me if you don't want to post it in the thread.
The title of the book is:
Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
The presupposition is that God created man with a desire to seek happiness and pleasure. And a desire for happiness and pleasure is not evil in and of itself... and that true happiness and pleasure (for man) can only be found in God.
But the main thing I'm getting right now out of it is that man seeking happiness and pleasure is considered "evil" or "sinful" by most Christians... but Piper maintains that it is a built in God "desire" in man, and that God did so to motivate man to seek Him and desire Him.
Make sense?
HomeSkoolDad,
I have read John Piper’s book. His main thesis is that we should seek pleasure in God, and not in other things. All of our lives should be focused on seeking the fullest satisfaction in Christ, whether it be through the use of our time, the use of our money, or even the way we grow in godliness. Basically, this counteracts two very opposing ideas:
1) It counteracts the mainline idea that God just wants us to be happy, apart from pursuing Him. Therefore, every good gift that He has given us should be enjoyed in Him, as opposed to enjoying that good gift apart from Him.
2) It counteracts the legalistic idea that honoring God is just a duty detached from our affections for the Lord. This means that John Piper says you can’t honor God by just outwardly following His commands, but you must both follow His commands and ENJOY following Him. Moreover, it implies that the greatest honor we can give God is not by sacrificing, but by longing for Him and depending on Him.
This is a very radical thesis indeed. For the most part, I agree with John Piper. He obviously has a tremendous love for the Lord, and He does everything He can to stir one another up toward love and good deeds.
However, I would personally emphasize that the utmost affection for God is a true biblical definition of love (I say it this way because people usually have a very distorted understanding of love), which brings about a combination of joy, fear, and trusting peace. Love without joy or satisfaction in Christ does not honor God. Love without fear or trembling does not honor God. Love without trusting peace or humble dependence does not honor God.
But please don’t misunderstand Piper, he is not stating that we should just have fun or seek pleasure in worldly things; quite the opposite. Desiring God is one of the best books I have ever read, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to grow in His appreciation of God’s amazing grace that He pours out in Jesus Christ.
Oh agreed. He makes all of that very clear in the Introduction of the book.
To sum up Piper's thesis:
"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." ~ John Piper
It's a subtle, yet disctinctive, twist on the Westminster Catechism (from the Shorter Version, Question 1):
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
He says the best way to glorify God is ~by~ enjoying Him.
Here's three messages that nutshell his view:
http://desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/let-your-passion-be-single
http://desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/is-god-for-us-or-for-himself--2
This discussion is locked.
