back to indexDoes Philippians 1:23 Prove Christian Hedonism Wrong?
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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? 00:00:54.080 |
Let me read the text to make sure we can see. It's a good question, and it caused me to think hard, 00:01:03.460 |
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 00:01:19.520 |
"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." 00:01:36.440 |
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." 00:02:02.680 |
"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 00:02:23.960 |
And if that's true, then he's saying Christian hedonism principles don't hold. So that's very, very good, good question. 00:02:35.880 |
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 00:03:22.000 |
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, 00:03:41.280 |
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. 00:03:57.480 |
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. 00:04:16.880 |
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 00:04:39.080 |
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 00:05:11.680 |
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, 00:05:31.560 |
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 00:05:46.840 |
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.