Question 24.
Isn’t Christian Hedonism just a way of restoring joy to the church?
Answer 24.
In order to make the concept of restoration meaningful, it must first be demonstrated that the essential quantity or quality of joy is lacking. When a piece of artwork is "restored" at a museum, the curator must first decide if the artwork has sufficiently degraded over time so as to justify the invasive procedures that the use of modern materials and tools will inflict on the nature of the artwork.
Such a decision is made on the basis of comparison to what the original "should" have looked like. Sometimes it is obvious because actual paint is missing from the present version. Sometimes the colors have so faded it is no longer possible to see details that once must have been distinct. At those times the decision to restore is simpler.
At other times it is not. Perhaps the curator does not like the depth of red in the painting, so he asks the restoration artist to deepen it. The restoration artist replies, "no, that is the true extent of the red that the artist intended, so I will not deepen it." Who is correct? Had there been a digital reference photograph to compare to, the debate would be over. Without it, the debate over whether to restore comes down to preference.
And so it is with the depth of "joy" in the church today. Many Christian Hedonists demand a demonstration of a higher level of joy within the church. That is their preference, so they have asked for a restoration project on the church. But is such a project truly restoration or the invasive imposing of their preferences onto the church using the modern tool of hedonism?
Our standard of conduct is the Word, not preference. Just as it would be possible to determine if artwork needed restoration to some original state by comparing it to a digital photograph, we can compare the church, and ourselves, to the Word of God and determine what needs to be repaired.
What is the optimum and perfect "level of joy" that the Bible requires of the church? No such standard is described. Instead, the Word defines joy as a fruit of the Spirit. An outcome of continued growth and sanctification. As such, we can assume it is all but absent at our re-birth and grows over time as we learn to obey God and perform His will as we are conformed to it.
To impose an arbitrary standard is to adulterate the Word of God with legalism. And at what level would this arbitrary standard be applied? At the heart level or at the external level? When the face smiles the heart can be sad, and when the face is sad the heart can still be joyful; so which standard is to be imposed?
Christian Hedonism would take the entire "restoration" to an odd extreme if it were permitted. Christian Hedonism requires that men pursue their own pleasures with all their strength. This standard of "personal level of joy" is nowhere found in the Word. In fact, that arbitrary preference is in conflict with those standards which are genuine, such as to love God with all your strength.
Rather than "restore joy" to the church, Christian Hedonism threatens to ruin the artwork entirely by painting over the original with a heavy topcoat of a just one color, hedonism, and mask all that the Master intended with His own strokes. Hedonism is not the restoration of joy to the church, it is the usurping of genuine Scriptural priorities, such as "love God with all your strength", with a new preference never seen or imposed on the church before in history. Let us thank God that He gave us His standard for what the finished Master Piece should look life for all human history.
