CREDO CAFE

Celebration - Hedonism - vs - Puritanism

Can Christians have fun - what are the limits?

INTRODUCTION

This evening is in a slightly different format from some of the previous Credo Café’s. The arrangement of the chairs and tables is slightly different, and we have no central screen tonight. The reason for this is that the activity tonight will be more evident at the tables than at the lectern. Tonight’s title is Hedonism vs Puritanism which when I was presented with it conjured up all sort’s of preconceptions but I think the sub-title for this clarifies it a little when it states; Can Christians Have Fun? This will hopefully be explored a little this evening, but hopefully tonight will be a case of us asking more questions than we answer and those that we do answer we will hopefully do through actions rather than words.

Ultimately this evening is a few games, with a gap in the middle in which you are invited to share with the rest of us some of the things that you enjoy, or have enjoyed. There is no message or analysis intended behind this just an opportunity for us to share what floats our boats. We will also aim to have a period of worship at the end. All of the above may happen or none of it we’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

The first thing I would invite you to do is to welcome the other people on your table and if you don’t know them now’s your chance to get to do it. On your table will be some paper and some crackers. Please feel free to pull the crackers and on your paper I would like you to create your Fantasy Christmas Wishlists. I want each of you to come up with 5 items-where money, logistics or sense are not an issue.

CRACKERS / WISHLISTS

DEFINITIONS
For those of you like me who have preconceptions of the term hedonism vs Puritanism without being able to define either I thought it may be helpful for us all to have a definition to keep at the back of our minds.
Hedonism is the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life. It evaluates the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good.
Puritanism is a belief in strictness and conduct and has its roots in Church of England. It believes in strict obedience.

These two views have caused controversy in the Christian Church as many people struggle to see how the two can both be present. There is currently a Hedonistic Christian movement as well as Puritans, both of which use the same text to govern their faith.

It is not just in religion that we see people struggling with questions of how to enjoy themselves. Some people in the media spotlight are asking similar questions others, some are simply enjoying themselves, some are trying to but for some reason or another are not quite getting it right.

Distributed amongst the tables are some photos of well known people and also some quotes. I invite you to name the well known people and match them up with the quotes. Each of the quotes on your list was said by one of those pictured.

CELEBRITY PAIR UP GAME

On your table should be a set of photos of famous people. There are also a set of quotes. In your tables you need to identify each of the famous people and then select the quote that was said by each.

Ask tables to mark their own papers.

OPEN FLOOR

One of the aims of this evening was to give us all a chance to share our hobbies. Whether they be hobbies that we are already aware of or ones that are less familiar. Now is an opportunity for you to share with everyone what you enjoy. Think along the lines of explaining what you enjoy and what it is about it that makes you tick. Would anyone like to start?

Sum Up - DISCUSSION

So what is Hedonism? What is Puritism? And how far should both go in Christianity?
We have already established that hedonism means ‘living for pleasure’. If the chief end of man is to enjoy God forever, then we should live our lives for pleasure – the pleasure of knowing God. This is the belief of John Piper, the founder of Christian Hedonism. This view has stimulated a lot of debate within Christian circles. The conflict comes when we look at the definition of a Christian as being ‘one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.’ In Jesus’ teaching to his disciples he says ‘if anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’ Matthew 16:24. This seems contradictory to the definitions previously given for hedonism.

Dr. Piper however, would argue that being hedonistic is to follow the commands in Psalm 34:7 and Phillipans 4:4.
Puritans argue that hedonism does not run parallel with Christianity as it is centred on the pursuit of pleasure. Dr. Piper discusses the pursuit of the ultimate pleasure not in the short term but maximised over eternity. Puritans still struggle with this concept as self gratification is always sin because its aim is love of the self and not God.
Dr. Piper believes this misses the point of Christian Hedonism. In his summary of Christian Hedonism he states:

• We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a bad impulse. Instead, we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction.
• The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God.
  This means that Christian Hedonism argues that if we are seeking the ultimate personal pleasure we are actually seeking God.
  The term hedonism in Christianity can be misunderstood. Pure hedonism should be viewed by Christians with great care. The reason is that our worship of god is not worship at all unless it is to the best of our ability and for the right motives a selfless act. Our real reason to worship God is for HIS pleasure.

So, from reading into different Christian arguments on the subject they all seem to agree on one thing; that the meaning of our lives is to obey and glorify God. The questions that these people disagree on are how do we best glorify God? And what is our motivation? I don’t think that we should attempt to answer these questions here tonight simply to ask them. One thought I would like us to take away from here is that god loves a joyful giver. This phrase is often used when related to tithing but is just as relevant when we think about our time, service and worship. It would benefit us all to consider how we demonstrate our joy whether it be in church, our daily lives or to God.

As with all Credo Café’s we are going to have an opportunity for you to share thoughts around your table. The way that we will be doing this tonight will be slightly different. We are going to play a game of pass the hedonistic parcel. Under each layer will be a quote or question for your table to spend a minute discussing.

PASS THE HEDONISTIC PARCEL

WORSHIP

December 2006

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