What Is A Legitimate Pleasure?

Of course, it's one thing to pontificate about what our issues with pleasure might be, but it is something altogether different when we have to actually decided what legitimate pleasures might be.  Let's begin with a few assertions.

If you are a follower of Christ, many illegitimate pleasures are described in the Bible.  It's simple enough to read that gossip is looked down upon, and thus if I am taking pleasure in gossiping, I am partaking in an illegitimate pleasure.  That's rather cut-and-dry.

However, there are many issues and ideas that are not addressed explicitly in the Scriptures, so we now offer some additional guidelines to think about how to handle pleasure.

- Does this pleasure draw me away from God?  By this I mean does what I am doing - even if the Scriptures do not call it immoral - draw me to or from God?  For example, I may enjoy watching sports but if my interest in sports starts to become more of my focus than God, it has become an illegitimate pleasure.  There are many places from which we can sustain this principle scripturally, but at the core it is simple idolatry - it is having a god over God (Exodus 20:3). 

Now some may argue, "Well what I am supposed to do - think about God every moment of my life?"  Paul seems to imply this in some ways when He talks about being in a continual state of prayer in 1 Thess. 5:17, but even if that is an over-statement, let's consider this. When I get done watching my game, playing my round of golf, reading the updates on my phone - am I now more able to love God and others?  This leads into my second application point.

- Legitimate pleasures prepare and restotre us to serve God more fully.  If I am constantly napping and wasting my life away by sleeping, I could argue, "But sleep is a necessary part of life."  While this is true, napping my life away is not needed or helpful.  However, napping after being up late some night working will result in my work for God (my life for God) being more effective the next day.  Thus a legitimate pleasure might be viewed as one that prepares or restores me for God's work.

More coming.

- tC

Titillating Culture

                            

(JSCreationzs - freedigitalphotos.net)

A significant challenge related to pleasure is the reality that our culture is masterful at titillating us.  We are emotionally poked and prodded, like the doctor who knows just where to tap your knee to get your body to react.  And the result of this is that we are constantly looking for what's new or what's hot.

While it serves its purpose, Facebook is greatly based around this reality.  The more "friends" you have on Facebook, the more you can refresh you home page and see what's new in various people's lives.  Along those lines, even technology operates in the same way - as soon as the iPhone 4 came out, another one was in the works so that in a year (or often less) you can really be up to date.

This titillating leads us to a place where we feel as if we need a/many perpetual novelties.  What can impress us today, what can make us smile tomorrow?  While trying to be sensitive, it's worth noting that the nearly 50% divorce rate is certainly connected to the Enlightenment notion of personal happiness as the ultimate good, and thus once my spouse doesn't make me happy (or I don't care to invest to make him/her a life-long companion), I exit the marriage. 

How do we push-back against this titillating culture?  Here are three recommendations:
- eliminate television in your home
- force yourself to only use technology for certain hours of the day
- if you are married, work at being a better spouse.

- tC

Topic 2: The Problem of Pleasure

A handful of post back, I mentioned I wanted to address 4 main challenges to the Christian faith today.  The second of these is the problem of pleasure. 

(m_bartosch - FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

At first blush, this might seems like a strange issue to address.  Most philosophers and Christian thinkers look to deal with the problem of pain, not pleasure.  But I am convinced that this issue - pleasure - is a huge issue for the church in America today.  The vast majority of American Christians are less often led away from following after God because of pain, but instead they are lulled into sleep and apathy by all of the pleasures they find around them.  Ravi Zacharias once said that meaninglessness in life doesn't come from being weary of pain - meaninglessness in life comes from being weary of pleasure.  And I firmly agree.

The first angle from which I hope to address this topic is that of identifying the issue.  The reason that pleasure is so dangerous is that we have grouped pleasure into two main categories (human-made categories).  They are biblcally moral and biblically immoral pleasure.  The way we categorize these pleasures is by looking into the Bible, finding the 'thou shalt nots' and then we cut-and-paste those items on to the immoral pleasure list.  While this is a piece of the puzzle (it's true, the things God says 'don't do' are not legitimate pleasures), it is not all of the puzzle.  We read in James 4:17 that if we know the good we should do but we don't do it, it is sin.  That proves to us that pleasures not listed on the 'though shalt nots' can be immoral and even lead to sin.  If I know I should be giving more to God's work financially but I choose instead to take my family on another vacation, the Bible leads us to see that even though a vacation and family time isn't inherently sinful, this use of money for the current vacation under consideration - it is sin because the resources were supposed to be used for something else.

While it is a relatively simple example, the core issue I want to make here is that our categories of what sin and legitimate pleasure are has to be expanded based on more than just a list of 'thou shalt nots'.  The next post will consider some ways to consider what legitimate pleasure are.

- tC