Idols in our Lives: Pleasure

By:  Dale Weckbacher

2 Timothy 3:1-5

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

(ESV)

Perhaps one of the major obstacles of people becoming a believer and follower of Jesus Christ in their lives is the erroneous perception that becoming a Christian means they will have no fun or pleasure in their lives.  However, many passages of scripture attest to the benefits of joy and pleasure in one’s life (Psalm 16,Proverbs 17:22, Proverbs 15:13).  God also takes pleasure in things (Zephaniah 3:17) and is desirous of us enjoying abundance in our lives, the opposite of what our enemy the Devil desires (John 10:10).  However, we must strive to insure our pursuit of pleasure does not become an idol in our lives, taking the place of God, which should be our greatest pleasure.  (1) (2)

2 Timothy 3:1-5 provides a snapshot of the world’s culture in the last days.  Even a casual look at the news in our society today would indicate that according to this list we are living in the last days but what I find puzzling about this passage is that it tells Timothy to avoid people participating in these things.  The reason I find this puzzling is that as one that believes the purpose of the church, which consists of each one of us that professes faith in Jesus as our savior, is reaching out to the lost in our world, how can we reach out to these people we have no contact with?

Clarification of this dilemma in scripture is found by determining who the ones to avoid are.  This is easy in this instance for in the first part of 2 Timothy 3:5 Paul speaks of them as people having the appearance of godliness but denying its power.  In other words, Paul is not speaking of avoidance of unbelievers from whom such behaviors are expected but people engaged in these behaviors while professing a belief in Jesus as their savoir. 

Unfortunately, however, as we live in the last days and the second coming of Jesus nears, we are witnessing the idol of selfish pleasure-seeking seep into the church.  Instead of churches being change agents in culture leading their congregations into a deeper relationship with God their creator and reaching out to the lost of their communities, we are witnessing churches that are reshaped by the culture around them.  Churches are taking on the characteristics of

1)      Narcissism – Narcissism is defined as excessive self-love.  (3)  Many come to church after a hard week of working in the world seeking spiritual refreshment.  While this is the main reason we gather regularly, our refreshment is often a glitzy program with a feel-good message not unlike self-help seminars we see in the corporate world.  Jesus told the Samaritan Woman at the well that the true worshipers of God worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).  When we come to church we should find our refreshment in a genuine worship of our Lord in spirit, usually in song, and not some professional performance by professional musicians with the purpose of entertaining us, coupled with a teaching of truth from God’s Word which may not necessarily make us feel good.  When we leave church services we should feel refreshed knowing who God is and not how great we are.

2)      Consumerism – Consumerism is a preoccupation with society of acquiring consumer, or worldly goods. (3) Scripture teaches us that where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Luke 12:34).  Unfortunately, however, churches and congregations in our time are caught up in a form of Christian consumerism.  Consumers of Christianity flock to churches expecting to receive some nicely packaged program making them feel good about themselves while the leaders of churches, not unlike businesses in the corporate world, seek to package Christianity in a form acceptable to these consumers seeking something to make them feel good. 

3)      Therapeutic – All the narcissism and consumerism in our culture comes with a price, stress.  (3) While stress is a part of ordinary life, excessive stress in our lives can have dangerous health consequences.  (4)  Learning to manage stress, especially excessive stress in our lives, is crucial to maintaining both physical and mental health.  A glitzy musical performance coupled with a feel-good self-help message on Sunday may offer temporary relief but it is more like taking a drug or drinking to overcome stress, once the effect of the pill or alcohol wears off, the root cause of the stress remains.  As Christians, we have a personal relationship with God our creator.  We have His Word, the Bible.  As such, we have the only thing that can get to the root cause of excessive stress in our lives.  Instead of putting a self-help bandage on the stress in people’s lives, we must help people enter into a personal relationship with God their creator through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  We then must encourage them to grow in their relationship through regular study of the Word of God allowing it to both encourage and at times cut to the heart of what is truly causing the stress in their lives (Hebrews 4:12).

Perhaps you are reading this and have never entered into a personal relationship with Jesus as your savior.  Or perhaps you are reading this and once had a strong personal relationship with God but have drifted away.  If that is you I invite you to pray with me now,

Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23).  I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).  I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my life.

As Christians, we must not allow worldly pleasure to become an idol in our lives and instead make our relationship with God our greatest pleasure.  As church organizations, we must make our priority helping people enter into a relationship with God through acceptance of Jesus as their savior and then help them grow in that relationship by engaging in true worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23).  This is worship glorifying God and not the performers on the stage and truth from the Word of God.  My prayer is that in the last days the world would see the church engaged in this manner.

1. Gotquestions.org. Is God opposed to pleasure? www.gotquestions.org. [Online] Gotquestions.org. [Cited: September 2, 2017.] https://www.gotquestions.org/God-pleasure.html.

2. Wegman, Hannah. Modern Day Idolatry: Putting Anything Before God. www.christianpost.com. [Online] The Christian Post, May 27, 2015. [Cited: August 26, 2017.] http://www.christianpost.com/news/modern-day-idolatry-putting-anything-before-god-139630/.

3. 5Point7 Community Church. It’s not about us. www.5point7.org. [Online] 5point7 Community Church. [Cited: September 2, 2017.] http://www.5point7.org/its-not-about-us/.

4. Melissa Conrad Stoppler, MD. Stress. www.medicinenet.com. [Online] Medicinenet.com. [Cited: September 2, 2017.] http://www.medicinenet.com/stress/article.htm.