A Journey to Joy – Lessons from John Piper

A Journey to Joy – Lessons from John Piper 
This morning, on my way to the office, I listened to a sermon by John Piper entitled, ‘How God Made Me Happy in Him: John Piper’s Journey to Joy.’
When we think about happiness in God, we must ask ourselves: How are we called to self-sacrifice and self-denial (Luke 9:23), but also called to be happy and joyous in God (Phil. 4:4; Pro. 29:18)?
To Piper, these two ideas are not contradictory, but complementary. Because of this, he coined the term “Christian hedonism.” We may think of hedonism as a negative concept, but he defines hedonism as “a life devoted to pleasure.” A Christian hedonist, therefore, is a life devoted to pleasure in God. In other words, God cares about your happiness.  
Now hold on, Casey. I thought following Jesus meant denying my self? I’m not supposed to do what feels good; I’m supposed to do what pleases God. 
These two statements are true. BUT, there are a few things to consider: 

• In John 3:6, Jesus says “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, but that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.” 
• In Romans 8:9, Paul says that those who are saved are “not in the flesh but in the Spirit.” 17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.” 

The problem is not that we have desires, it is that we desire the wrong things! We are all wired to desire things; saved or unsaved, it is a part of who we are as humans. We desire things that make us happy, even if it leads to bad consequences. The special ability that we have as Christians, however, is the ability to desire God. As the cliche goes, we try to fill a God-shaped hole in our hearts with other things. This sentiment still has some truth to it even after we are saved- we fall into temptation and feed our desires for temporary things that will disappoint us in the end.  
Speaking of temporary things- not only do we desire the wrong things, our desires are not big enough! Piper explains by quoting C.S. Lewis: 
“We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in the slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (The Weight of Glory, p25–26)."
When we substitute our desire for God with a desire of the flesh, that means we are desiring only of the earthly and the temporary; meanwhile, Colossians 3:1-2 commands us to seek the things that are above. Society tell us to “dream big” all the time. Meanwhile, God tell us to “DESIRE big!” 
Going back to our main question about self-denial and joy in Christ: this is a “both/and” scenario. When we deny ourselves and follow Jesus, we will be happy in God. We do not self-deny for the sake of self-denial; we self-deny so that we can be fulfilled and satisfied in Jesus Christ.  
That being said, let’s enjoy Christ together through the preaching, reading, and singing of His Word this Sunday!