Hedonism

I. Introduction
   A. Hedonism-- a major issue in our society!
   B. One of those "big words"
      1. Hedonism: the pursuit of pleasure as the purpose of 
         existence
      2. If it is not fun and does not provide pleasure, it does not 
         lead to fulfillment!
   C. A lot of people live hedonistic lives!
      1. How many people "live to play"?
      2. How many young people go out and try to have as much "fun" 
         as possible?
      3. How many messages do we see in society that encourage such 
         thinking and behavior?
   D. What should we think about such attitudes?
   E. What does God have to say about it?
   F. Let us consider the matter

II. Hedonism
   A. As we have established, hedonism is the seeking of pleasure 
      above all else
   B. When hedonism is the goal, people live in search of fun
      1. Nothing else matters!
      2. Anything "unfun" they have to do is done to lead to fun 
         later
   C. The definition of "fun" varies
      1. To many, "fun" involves sexual activity
      2. Drinking or drug use
      3. Excessive use of forms of entertainment-- movies, music, 
         video games, etc.
      4. Vacations, sports teams or activities, etc.
      5. Perhaps some tomfoolery or other forms of silliness
   D. Many people, from teenagers to college students to full-grown 
      adults with children of their own, spend their entire lives 
      seeking after these physical pleasures 
   E. How did we get here?

III. Leisure and Hedonism
   A. The ability to seek after pleasure is generally a luxury!
   B. It generally means that one has the resources available to 
      engage in such pursuits and the time available to do so!
   C. At other times, most people have not had this luxury!
      1. Warning about "the good old days" (Ecclesiastes 7:10)
      2. Nevertheless, there were days when the majority of time was 
         spent working to provide food and other basic necessities!
      3. When you are worried about survival, you don't worry so  
         much about pleasures!
   D. People seek pleasure to either escape reality or because they 
      have too much leisure!
      1. For many in difficult straits, life is quite ugly to see
      2. It is easier to escape-- to seek pleasure, something to 
         dull the pain
      3. For others, they have the time and resources to engage 
         in "fun"
      4. School originally came from the word schola, which meant 
         leisure!
      5. While few would consider it such today, in the ancient 
         world, to sit around and learn or philosophize was a 
         luxury-- it meant that you had slaves working your fields 
         so that you could do such things!
   E. This is why hedonism is often seen among youth
      1. Immaturity + opportunity!
      2. While in high school or college, basic needs still being 
         met by parents
      3. Less responsibility because not fully adult
      4. Why are parents "no fun"?  They became "no fun" when they 
         had to take care of you!
      5. As people get older, they take on more responsibilities, 
         and that becomes less "fun" in hedonistic terms!
   F. What does God have to say about this attitude?

IV. God and Hedonism
   A. Hedonism is carnal!
      1. The pursuit of pleasure is generally the pursuit of the 
         satisfaction of bodily desires
      2. 1 John 2:15-17
      3. Christians are not to stay in carnal mindsets 
         (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)!
   B. Hedonism describes the depravity of Gentiles
      1. Romans 1:18-32
      2. Paul indicates how God gave up the Gentiles to their 
         desires (vv. 24, 26)
      3. The description of such persons is not flattering 
         (Romans 1:29-32)!
   C. Hedonism is friendship with the world
      1. James 4:1-4
      2. A picture of people tossed to and fro by passion!
      3. People seeking after pleasures, and not being able to 
         fulfill them!
      4. James considers this friendship with the world, which is 
         enmity toward God!
   D. Hedonism's basic error is trying to make pleasure into a god!
      1. Sin often is when we take something good and try to make it 
         the Ultimate
      2. There is nothing wrong with having a good time, as long as 
         it conforms to God's will
      3. As we shall see, there is nothing wrong with enjoying life
      4. But we cannot expect to be fulfilled by making pleasure 
         the ultimate pursuit-- it will never satisfy!
      5. One must find newer, greater, more riskier, and ultimately 
         sinful endeavors to get the thrill of pleasure-- and then 
         have to seek it all over again!
      6. So many of the things sought after have terrible 
         consequences!
      7. Hedonism is to make pleasure an idol, and that is itself 
         sinful (Galatians 5:19-21)!

V. Life No Fun?
   A. As we see, God has condemned hedonism-- life is not always 
      about "fun"
      1. Life cannot be just seeking after pleasure
      2. Life ought to be about more than just pleasures that pass 
         away!
   B. But does this mean that the life of the Christian is "no 
      fun"?
   C. By no means!
   D. God intends for His people to live enjoyable lives!
      1. Ecclesiastes 9:7-9, 11:8-10
      2. All tempered by Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
      3. Life is not to be miserable, or "no fun"
   E. The issue is how one defines what is "fun" or "enjoyable"
      1. If your definition of "fun" is drinking, tomfoolery, casual 
         sexual interactions, and the like, sure, Christianity looks 
         like "no fun"
      2. Yet is drinking, tomfoolery, casual sexual interactions, 
         and the like really "fun"?
   F. The secret: learning to enjoy the life you have!
      1. Philippians 4:11-13, 1 Timothy 6:6-8
      2. We can learn to enjoy the blessings of life and the things 
         of God!
   G. The joy of salvation
      1. We of all people should be happy, for we are most blessed!
      2. We have redemption from our burden of sin, we have the 
         comfort of the Holy Spirit, and the joy that comes from 
         being satisfied with association with God 
         (Matthew 11:28-29, Acts 9:31, 1 John 1:3-4)
      3. We are to rejoice in the Lord (Philippians 4:4)!
   H. Finding pleasure in spiritual things
      1. We can find great enjoyment and pleasure in spiritual 
         endeavors!
      2. We can enjoy the assemblies of the saints and other 
         opportunities we have to associate with them (Acts 2:42, 
         Hebrews 10:24-25)
      3. We can enjoy helping those in need, promoting the Gospel 
         of Christ, and the other ways in which we do God's will 
         (Galatians 6:10, Romans 1:16, Matthew 5:13-16)
      4. We can enjoy learning more about God in His Word 
         (2 Timothy 2:15)
   I. It by no means needs to be hedonistic, but it does mean that 
      the Christian life can be enjoyable!
   J. We just need to find enjoyment in that which profits and 
      benefits and helps us grow in Christ, not that which is carnal 
      and leads to condemnation!

VI. Conclusion
   A. We know that many spend their entire lives in search of 
      satisfying carnal desires
   B. That might be the world"s definition of "fun," but it leads to 
      much pain, sorrow, a lack of satisfaction, and ultimately 
      condemnation!
   C. Pleasure cannot be our god-- God must be our God, and we will 
      be satisfied in Him
   D. We can enjoy life and still be godly people-- in fact, we 
      can find joy in being the type of people that God would 
      have us to be
   E. Let us learn contentment and learn to enjoy that which leads 
      us to eternal life!
   F. Invitation/songbook