Christian = Anti-Enjoyment?

Started a new read this week: The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss. It’s a little out of the normal run of books I usually tackle. The subtitle and back cover made this clear before I even opened the first page. “Escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich” and “Warning: do not read this book unless you want to quit your job.“ I’m not looking to quit my job (it’s probably the best fit I’ve ever had in a job and one that I really enjoy); nor am I looking to ‘join the new rich.‘ What I am interested in, though, is learning how to better maximum my work time and effort - to work less and achieve more.

It’s a tough balance to achieve, I think. On one end of the spectrum you have those who are merely hedonists - the “do whatever feels good” crowd intent on sapping life of all it offers, no matter what. One the other end you have the masochists - the “if it doesn’t hurt you you’re not working hard enough” crowd intent on denying any enjoyment out of life. Unfortunately, I think that a lot of Christians are spiritual masochists who somehow believe that to follow Christ means you have to always come out on the short end of the enjoyment stick.

I’m somewhere in the middle - knowing that there is a large part of what it means to live in the Spirit to deny myself (“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.“ Mark 8:34), but also knowing that we have a God who desires to give us good things (“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires.“ Psalms 37:4).

What would the world look like if it were filled with Christians who had true joy instead of walking around angry or depressed all the time?

Posted 07.23.2008

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