Christian Hedonism

Pastor John Piper

I discovered John Piper while I was studying in Oxford. For some inexplicable reason I had never had the occasion to read anything he had written (and there is a lot). But as I started to read him, as I began to test his overarching thesis for ministry--that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him--, I realized, as Piper himself did at my age, that man does not exist to glorify the Creator with staid duty and dry worship, but with our whole selves, with our complete dependency, with our desire.

What Piper was doing was confronting an eminently stale faith, one present in so many of us Westerners. He was crying out, "The hungry will be fed, and the thirsty quenched, in Christ crucified! Seek his face!" If we would only seek our satisfaction in God himself--and not in knowing God or serving God or reading about God--then we would truly taste and see that the Lord is good; we would know what it means to savor and be full and joyful.

He is a man of conviction and passion, of Godward desire and humility, and his teaching has been indescribably helpful to me and to many others. The Holy Spirit has worked through him in me over and over. He is a strong, able, Word-wielding warrior for God. That's why it is so exciting to know that John Piper, my hero, is also my brother. Thank you, Father, for faithful servants and for loving siblings-in-Christ.

Here's a sample to to tempt you to learn more from him and more about Christian hedonism.