Thursday, July 16, 2015

A Call to Die

Hedonism.  I heard this word the other night, used to explain modern American culture.  According to Webster's it means "the self-indulgent pursuit of pleasure as a way of life."

Yes, this does describe the American culture, and it is a universal human failing.  The Apostle Paul warned Timothy about evil men who were "lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (II Tim 3:4).

What seems different now--as compared to previous generations--is that this goal, this lifestyle, is publicly celebrated as never before.  What is pleasurable--what makes you "happy"--is seen as the highest end.  It's easy to condemn the results: homosexual "marriage," the sale of fetal body parts. Christians who read their Bibles have no trouble seeing that these things are wrong.

But according to the Apostle Paul, "those who are outside [the church] God judges." (I Cor 5:13)  God will take care of the world; we need to look to our own hearts.  Peter writes, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (I Pet 4:17)

Whatever this may mean, we are certainly to remove the "beam" from our own eyes before examining others (Matt 7:3-5).

Do I live for pleasure?

No, I don't do all the outward things condemned in Scripture.  I certainly don't engage in sexual perversion or sell fetal body parts.  But when Jesus taught his disciples about the Law of God--in the "Sermon on the Mount"--we quickly see that much of the Law is internal, not external.  Do you lust?  Do you hate?  Do you covet?

I have been guilty of coveting time and again.  No, I don't wear an embroidered "C" on my chest for all to see.  But that lust to have is part and parcel of living for pleasure.  For you it might be shoes or the latest gadget.  For me it's books or maybe just a healthier body.  Our wants are endless.

And what about all those "innocent" pleasures we enjoy day to day?  Do I really have to have that dessert?  Or watch that movie?  The things in themselves may not be especially harmful, but when you realize how easy it is to fall into a lifestyle of living for those pleasures, you understand Spurgeon's railing against the "theatre."  He was talking about a pleasure-seeking lifestyle.

Jesus' call to deny ourselves and follow Him is a call to say "no" to hedonism.  In order to embrace Christ, to receive life, we must put away death.  It is a daily walk, a fellowship.  It is a fellowship of joy but also of suffering as we turn aside from our fleshly lusts again and again.