A Christian Hedonist's view of prosperity
Andy, I think you’ve hit the nail right on the head. Prosperity, like all blessings from God, has a built in risk. There is always a danger that instead of being used to glorify God, blessings are used to obscure our vision of God. My thinking on this subject has been clarified by reading John Piper’s (a self-proclaimed “Christian hedonist”) book Desiring God.
All that is good and pleasing comes from God, what matters is “what we do with” them – and I don’t mean just in the literal sense of “do” that Andy is talking about (though that’s obviously important). I mean what matters is how we think about it. If I give my wife flowers and she accepts them in a manner that brings her closer to me and helps her understand my lover for her in new ways – all is good. If, however, she accepts them and holds them up in such away that obscures her vision of me, then the flowers have become an obstacle between us. So, contrary – perhaps – to the asceticism of St. Maximo (though I don’t really know much about what was motivating him to burn his hut), there’s nothing wrong with enjoying material and sensual pleasures and comforts, as long as we do so in a way such that these things reflect, rather than obscure God.
And enjoying such pleasures in an excessive way when we know others around us are suffering may be a sure sign that we have made an idol of the blessings God has bestowed on us. I think its great – Andy – that you chose to contextualize your comments in your reading of Rick Warren’s book because, not only does his book provide a much needed reminder of why we’re here, but because Warren’s life since the unimaginable success of his book has been a terrific example of what we can do with the prosperity that markets can bestow upon us. He and his wife have capped their living expenses, paid back Saddleback Church for every dollar of salary he has taken over the last 20 years and could possibly take over the next few decades and have poured every other one of the bazillion dollars they’ve made off the book into relieving the suffering of aids-torn Africa. And his example is causing many, many, many other Christians to do likewise.
All that is good and pleasing comes from God, what matters is “what we do with” them – and I don’t mean just in the literal sense of “do” that Andy is talking about (though that’s obviously important). I mean what matters is how we think about it. If I give my wife flowers and she accepts them in a manner that brings her closer to me and helps her understand my lover for her in new ways – all is good. If, however, she accepts them and holds them up in such away that obscures her vision of me, then the flowers have become an obstacle between us. So, contrary – perhaps – to the asceticism of St. Maximo (though I don’t really know much about what was motivating him to burn his hut), there’s nothing wrong with enjoying material and sensual pleasures and comforts, as long as we do so in a way such that these things reflect, rather than obscure God.
And enjoying such pleasures in an excessive way when we know others around us are suffering may be a sure sign that we have made an idol of the blessings God has bestowed on us. I think its great – Andy – that you chose to contextualize your comments in your reading of Rick Warren’s book because, not only does his book provide a much needed reminder of why we’re here, but because Warren’s life since the unimaginable success of his book has been a terrific example of what we can do with the prosperity that markets can bestow upon us. He and his wife have capped their living expenses, paid back Saddleback Church for every dollar of salary he has taken over the last 20 years and could possibly take over the next few decades and have poured every other one of the bazillion dollars they’ve made off the book into relieving the suffering of aids-torn Africa. And his example is causing many, many, many other Christians to do likewise.
Posted by William Clark on
Friday September 30, 2005 at 12:15am