Welcome back to a new week of episodes. We have some interesting questions on the table this week, and we begin with a question here from a listener named JT who asks, "Pastor John, do you ever plan to add a chapter to the book Desiring God, a chapter called The Camaraderie of Christian Hedonism?" It's a fair question because when I wrote Desiring God 28 years ago, I put in the preface these words, "The church that I love and serve has made my writing possible.

The partnership that I enjoy with the elders and staff is priceless. There is a chapter yet to be completed. It is called The Camaraderie of Christian Hedonism. May the Spirit Himself continue to write it on the tablets of our hearts." So that's where this question is coming from. This person has read the preface, and it's 28 years ago that I wrote it, and I haven't written that chapter in writing.

When I wrote those words in the preface, what I meant was that this chapter called The Camaraderie of Christian Hedonism, this chapter is a chapter I wanted to be writing by my life for the rest of my life in the fellowship of the church. That was the gist of that.

The Camaraderie of Christian Hedonism is what I wanted my life to be, and I have been writing it. To this very day, I would say those same words about the church that I have served and now attend and still love deeply. In fact, I woke up this morning enjoying and praying for my church that I'm a part of, and the ministries like Desiring God and Bethlehem College and the seminary that have grown out of that church.

My life is so rich with The Camaraderie of Christian Hedonism, and in that sense, I'm still writing it in prayer and fellowship. But the question still stands. Will I, should I write an actual paper-and-ink chapter called The Camaraderie of Christian Hedonism? And the answer is, I might. Here's one of the reasons I haven't felt an urgency to do it yet.

It's because there is such a significant overlap between what that chapter would be and what is already there in the chapter on love and the chapter on prayer. Love, the labor of Christian hedonism, and prayer, the power of Christian hedonism. In the love chapter, I talk about how our joy in God is filled to the full when it overflows for others, or when it expands like a high-pressure weather zone to draw others into it.

And that's the essence of The Camaraderie of Christian Hedonism. And in the prayer chapter, I deal with how the enjoyment of God's gifts relate to the enjoyment of God himself, and that's the essential issue that would have to be dealt with in that chapter. But if I were to write the chapter—and I might, because it's worthy, it's worthy—it could bear another saying, I think, that the texts from which I would work would be these.

I'll just give you a few. Philippians 1:4, "In every prayer of mine for you all, I make my prayer with joy." Paul's just thrilled to pray for his comrades in arms at Philippi. Or Philippians 1:8, "God is my witness how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus." So Paul delights in the church at Philippi with the very delight of Christ.

That's worth a chapter. 1 Thessalonians 2:8, "So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us." Or the same thing almost in Philippians 4, "Therefore my brothers whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord." So he's calling them his joy and his crown.

One more, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, "For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before the Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? You are our glory and joy." So just in those few verses, there's enough to justify a chapter on the camaraderie of Christian hedonism.

So it's clear to me that Paul felt no contradiction between having God as his supreme treasure and counting everything as lost compared to the supreme value of Jesus on the one hand, and on the other hand, saying that the church, the people of God, were his joy and crown and boast and glory.

And surely the reason for this is that God raised up these people. God is filling these people with himself. God will keep these people and transform these people into the image of his Son, so these people will be a beautiful witness to the grace and the glory of God, and these people will never compete with Christ for his supreme worth, but will always signal that worth and embody that worth and help Paul and us know that worth more and more.

So that'd be the gist of my chapter right there, and pray for me, and maybe the Lord will incline me to write "The Camaraderie of Christian Hedonism." Excellent. Thank you, Pastor John. And the book Desiring God is foundational for us at DesiringGod.org, of course, as you can imagine. And you can download and begin reading Desiring God right now, free of charge, by going to our website DesiringGod.org and click on the Books tab.

There you will find it under its title, Desiring God. So we know a little bit about the most influential Calvinists in John Piper's ministry, men like Jonathan Edwards, but who have been the most influential Arminian writers? Hmm. I'll ask him tomorrow on the Ask Pastor John podcast. Thanks for listening.