Hedonistic "Christianity"

Hedonistic "Christianity"

"For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!" ~2 Timothy 3:2-5 (NKJV)

Hedonism: the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life [Merriam-Webster]

A while back, the famous false-teaching power couple, Joel and Victoria Osteen were in the headlines and many were (rightly) outraged over Mrs. Osteen's comments in a "sermon". Mrs. Osteen made this observation (quoting her whole comment so as not to misrepresent):

"I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we're not doing it for God-I mean, that's one way to look at it-we're doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we're happy. That's the thing that gives Him the greatest joy...So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you're not doing it for God really. You're doing it for yourself, because that's what makes God happy. Amen?"

No ma'am. No "Amen" to that. Now, while so many have been outraged over this blatant false-teaching, how many practice just such a thing and call themselves "Christians"? 

Let's investigate further, shall we? 

Why do you "go to church" or, more appropriately termed, go to "worship God"? What are your reasons? Take the time to honestly answer this for yourself... 

Ok, have your answer? Good. Hold on to it for a minute. Now, when you are looking for a group to worship with, what are your criteria that you look for, what check boxes are you looking to fill as you go from congregation to congregation (online or in-person)? Have your answer? Ok, next. What do you expect to get, or give, each service? 

Now, let's review the answers. If your primary goal in all, or any, of this is to serve you and your interests...well, congratulations you're right there with Mrs. Osteen. Your interest is serving yourself, not God. Sure, you put on your happy face and shake hands, make an appearance, punch your "timecard" at the assembly, and perhaps even get something out of the lesson, but isn't your motivation to be seen? To see what God can do for you? To see what fellow attendees can do for you? 

Let's review some other reasons why some "go to church". Because they don't want to disappoint others, or receive a phone call/text/visit/email from those who value their soul and their presence at each worship service. Because they want to give the appearance of being holy. Because it's what they've always done. Because their spouse values it and they don't want to cause an issue. And so on the reasons go. 

Let's step back now and look at how we live our lives outside those four walls of the church building. 

What is the goal of your life? Don't answer this with the answer you know you should give, truly search your life and find your answer. We should all answer something like, "Serving God faithfully, going to heaven, and taking as many as I can with me." That's the answer we know we should give, but is it true with each of us? What is the majority of your time spent doing? Think about this soberly...is this life all about your pleasure, your happiness, what everyone can do to serve you, etc? If so, guess what, you're right there with Mrs. Osteen also. We can call ourselves anything we want but doing that just quite simply doesn't make it so, does it? So while you or I may call ourselves Christians, if our life isn't about our Lord then we're serving another god, our pleasure. Doing this makes us hedonistic, not Christ-like. 

If we're living a hedonistic lifestyle then God tells people to turn away from us, have no fellowship. Is that what we want? God won't stand for such a manner of living, He won't accept us as His. We can't follow in the footsteps of Christ and serve the god of "self" also (Matt.6:24). We must truly decide this day, and every day, whom we shall serve (Josh.24:15). Pleasure and serving self is a fleeting thing that will lead us to hell for eternity; righteousness and serving the God of Heaven will lead us to Heaven for eternity. When we see the result of each choice, what fools we would be to choose anything other than serving God...may none of us be so foolish as to reject God in favor of fleeting pleasures of this finite life. There's only one way to Heaven, and it is through Jesus Christ, may each of us be obedient to the gospel and seek to serve Him all our days. Serving God and worshipping Him is about loving God, our Master, Creator, Heavenly Father, the One whom gave us all and sustains our lives even now. We worship and praise Him because of who He is, not who we are (Ps.8). We serve Him and Him alone; not men, not self. So this whole idea of a "hedonistic Christianity" or "self-serving Christianity" is a falsehood and should never be given the time of day; let us make sure while we reject such notions that we don't allow ourselves to slip into it in practice. Serve and love God, be obedient to Him and reap the reward when your life is over. It's the only way that truly makes any sense.