Does Philippians 1:23 Prove Christian Hedonism Wrong?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:02.000 | Tony, a pastor, writes in to ask this. "Pastor John, I have heard you use Philippians 1 as a text showing evidence for Christian hedonism,
00:00:13.280 | but in reading it recently, I felt I could see a reason for denying Christian hedonism in it as well.
00:00:19.640 | In verse 23, Paul says, "It is far better to be with Christ in death, and yet He remains in the flesh to minister to the
00:00:26.840 | Philippians because it is more necessary on your account," he writes.
00:00:31.560 | Wouldn't it seem here that if Paul chooses a lesser joy, staying on earth, to love others,
00:00:38.440 | it would deny that the path of loving others is also the pursuit of our highest joy in God?
00:00:47.040 | What do you say to Tony?
00:00:49.040 | That's a really sharp question.
00:00:54.080 | Let me read the text to make sure we can see. It's a good question, and it caused me to think hard,
00:01:00.800 | and I thank Tony for it.
00:01:03.460 | Philippians 1 21, following, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
00:01:09.320 | If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me." So the contrast is between my gain and
00:01:17.320 | fruitful labor.
00:01:19.520 | "Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ,
00:01:27.000 | for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account."
00:01:34.440 | So the contrast is between
00:01:36.440 | far better right now for Paul in heaven versus more needed for the Philippians faith.
00:01:44.600 | Verse 25, "Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all
00:01:50.880 | for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me
00:01:55.920 | you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again."
00:02:00.280 | Now Tony asks,
00:02:02.680 | "Wouldn't it seem here that Paul chooses a lesser
00:02:07.480 | joy, staying on the earth, in order to love others,
00:02:12.120 | which would deny then, if he did that, would deny that the path of loving others is
00:02:18.680 | a pursuit of his highest joy in God?
00:02:23.960 | And if that's true, then he's saying Christian hedonism principles don't hold. So that's very, very good, good question.
00:02:31.600 | Here's my answer.
00:02:33.680 | Paul did not say
00:02:35.880 | staying on earth is a lesser joy in the long run.
00:02:41.920 | And if you asked him, "Do you think that staying on earth and
00:02:46.960 | serving the faith and the joy of the Philippians
00:02:50.480 | would bring you even greater joy with Christ in the age to come?"
00:02:56.960 | I think he would say, "Yes," because he says in verse 26
00:03:01.840 | that he's laboring for their faith so that in me
00:03:07.080 | you may have ample cause to glory in Christ. In other words, he shares in that
00:03:12.560 | glory because of working for them.
00:03:16.440 | His work for them is
00:03:19.000 | self-denial in one sense, but it is a
00:03:22.000 | participation in another sense. So that's why I think he says in Philippians 2 17,
00:03:29.760 | "Even if I am poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith,
00:03:36.080 | I am
00:03:38.000 | glad and rejoice with you all."
00:03:41.280 | So in Paul's mind, his staying on the earth and serving the joy and faith of the Philippians is a
00:03:49.320 | compounding of his joy in Christ in the long run.
00:03:55.280 | So then the question remains,
00:03:57.480 | well, was he not talking then like a Christian hedonist when he said in verse 21 that death would be gained?
00:04:05.800 | And in verse 23 that he desires to depart and be with Christ.
00:04:12.760 | If staying here and serving the church is
00:04:16.880 | compounding his long-term joy, is he then choosing a
00:04:23.160 | lesser joy in wanting to go to heaven? And I think the answer is that Paul was not
00:04:30.200 | measuring
00:04:32.160 | his
00:04:33.320 | presence with Christ now
00:04:35.480 | against presence with him
00:04:39.080 | later after more years of ministry. Rather, he was measuring his presence with Christ now
00:04:47.440 | against sitting in jail in Rome. And he's saying that would be far better
00:04:54.520 | than sitting here in jail in Rome. He wasn't thinking in terms of contrasting.
00:05:01.440 | Well, what I'm really choosing between is I'd rather go to heaven now and be with Christ than to have in
00:05:09.560 | ten years from now
00:05:11.680 | multiple joys in heaven with Christ because of all these people that are going to be built up in their faith.
00:05:16.800 | I don't think he was he was thinking that way. So two
00:05:19.920 | different possibilities were in his mind. Going to be with Christ is best right now,
00:05:27.600 | measured against long-term
00:05:30.480 | responsibilities.
00:05:31.560 | Staying to advance the faith of the Philippians is best for them.
00:05:36.680 | That's how I, at the present anyway, work out the issue and think Paul is
00:05:43.240 | acting like a consistent Christian hedonist.
00:05:46.840 | Thank you, Pastor John, and thank you, Pastor Tony, for the great question. Please keep sending us those kinds of questions. Those are great.
00:05:53.720 | So what is this thing we call Christian hedonism?
00:05:58.480 | We have a little four-minute video to explain it.
00:06:01.000 | You can go to DesiringGod.org and click on the tab at the top of the page that says "About" and
00:06:05.960 | there you'll find a little video to explain Christian hedonism, which explains what we're all about at Desiring God.
00:06:13.280 | I'm your host Tony Reinke. We'll see you tomorrow.
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