Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, rev. ed., by John Piper, Multnomah Press, 2011. Available in other formats and earlier editions.
We were privileged to attend Capitol Hill Baptist Church in downtown Washington D.C. for the first decade of the new millennium. At some point early on in our time there the phrase “Christian hedonist” was booted about, as was the name of John Piper. I’d never heard of either. Then we had Piper as the preacher for a Sunday morning service; all I remember personally from that sermon is that he was so soft-spoken I could hardly hear him. Bookmarks with Piper’s ideas on “How Shall We Fight for Joy?” were passed out. To someone from my background this whole emphasis on Christians’ being happy was kind of weird. (I hadn’t read The Happiness Project yet, since it wasn’t yet on the scene, so I wasn’t thinking in that ballpark at all, in any context.
Anyway, the book’s been sitting on a shelf for some time. I’ve read several of Piper’s later books: When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight For Joy, Future Grace:The Purifying Power of the Promises of God, and Don’t Waste Your Life. But I’d never read this book, written 30 years ago, that builds the framework for his overall approach to theology. It’s simple, clear and compelling. The overriding principle of Desiring God Ministries says that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him,” and this book’s chapters spell out the implications of that statement in various areas of life: conversion, worship, prayer, marriage, etc.
If you think that the Christian life must be grim and joyless, or if you see your own personal happiness as unimportant, this book will show how wrong those ideas are. It’s exciting to be told that God delights in our delight.
This edition includes a study guide and some other supplementary materials. It would be an excellent choice for a book group.
I said in my post a couple of weeks ago on Ed Welch’s When People Are Big and God Is Small that I was planning to re-read it, which I have indeed done. Even better the second time through!