a. Define what you think is a reasonable standard of living for a
tremendous worth in God's eyes. Do you see yourselves in this way? Do you live according to this understanding? If you do not, please examine these truths again and see the tremendous difference that Christ's death should make on the way to regard your worth. May the Lord use these words to bless our lives.
Discussion Questions
1. On Achievement:
a. What can we learn about the way you should regard your achievements from Daniel 4:28-37?
b. What can you learn from the way that the Apostle Paul viewed his human achievements? (Philippians 3:4-10)
c. Why does God allow us to fail sometimes? (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
2. On Appearance:
a. How much time and effort do you think you should spend on your appearance?
b. How would you define a dress code that is appropriate and modest?
c. What steps can you take to improve your inward appearance?
3. On Affluence:
a. Define what you think is a reasonable standard of living for a Christian in Singapore to aim for.
b. Define what you think is good stewardship of wealth.
c. What are some ways to avoid being wasteful in your stewardship of time and money?
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How to Handle the Pleasures
of the Non-Christian World
(Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13)
Whenever the June and December holidays come each year, many Singaporeans take the opportunity to take leave and go on vacations overseas. Others choose to visit new places of amusement locally or go on a luxury cruise to a nearby island. All these have one object — Pleasure. I am glad that you have decided to spend your time here at this camp, to enjoy fellowship with one another and feed on God's Word, while at the same time enjoying the nice environment, the good food and service and facilities here.
We live in a pleasure-seeking world. Never before has there been an age like ours — where a man can pursue pleasure in a thousand different ways. Look at all the sophisticated video and computer games on the market, for instance. About 50 years ago the only games which people could enjoy were chess and draughts. And you could not enjoy music unless you had a huge gramophone or valveradios at home. But right now there are portable stereos, walkmans, CDs, car radios. And the latest in entertainment are the Internet, Cable TV and virtual reality. Many cannot imagine what life will be like today without all these things.
The influence this has upon us is very strong. Therefore we often come into conflict with this influence. We face questions like: Should I or should I not do this? And if I do it, how far should I go in doing it? Where do I draw the line? We must try our best to find good scriptural answers to these questions if we are earnestly desiring to
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live lives that will not compromise our relationship with God and our testimony for God.
Is pleasure to be regarded as something that must be alien to us? As something a Christian cannot have at all? There are some who have thought so. In history, there have been many ascetics like the medieval monks who believed that the Christian life means denying all pleasures in life. They lived in total seclusion from society in monasteries and nunneries. One of the most austere monasteries was started by an Egyptian monk called Pachomius in the 4th century. Their monastery consisted of small rooms called cells. And the monks lived three to one cell. All had to give absolute obedience to the Abbot (head monk). They could never at all take off their goatskin clothes, and slept in an almost standing position. They prayed many times a day, fasted 2 days a week and were under a vow of silence and allowed to talk on only 2 days of the week. At mealtimes, they were not supposed even to look at each other. When you hear of this, you would probably say, "That is going to an extreme."
There are non-Christians today who think of the Christian life like that. Many have the wrong notion that once a person becomes a Christian, he cannot enjoy anything in life any more, or at least, what they regard as the 'joys' of life (which, to them, is smoking, drinking, immoral relationships, gambling). And they would not like to become Christians, because they think it is much too restrictive, austere, dull and uninteresting to be one.
But the Christian life is not meant to be devoid of any pleasure and enjoyment. Let us understand that God is not a killjoy. He is not against pleasure. Pleasure is not incompatible with godliness. The psalmist declares, "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." (Psalm 16:11).
According to this verse, pleasures are found with God. Pleasure by itself, is therefore not a bad thing. It is God's gift to us. The word "pleasure" denotes enjoyment and sweetness, which comes from
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something that pleases us, and brings delight to us. It has to do with our senses. We see, hear, touch and feel the things around us and gain pleasure from it.
In fact all the things that God created are meant to be enjoyed. And Genesis 1:31 says, "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." God Himself takes pleasure in the things He made, as Revelation 4:11 testifies: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." According to 1 Timothy 6:17, God giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
He made the wondrous beauty of nature and we can enjoy seeing it. He made the music of birds and of the human voice, and we can enjoy hearing them. He made different kinds of foodstuff: a whole variety of fruits that are sweet or sour, vegetables and meats, and we can enjoy eating them. He created man with abilities to rule over creation and derive pleasure from it by processing the raw materials of nature into new products and inventions.
Ecclesiastes 3:12, 13 says, "I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God." From all this we learn that enjoyment or pleasure is a gift from God. And if we regard it as such, we should receive it from God with thanksgiving.
But pleasure can become bad. And the cause of this is sin. It has caused the downfall of many men, nations and even whole empires. If you have ever studied history you would have learned about the Roman Empire and how great it became. You would have learned also about its downfall. Do you know what were the major causes of its downfall? Too much pleasure. Heavy taxes were being used to provide social security for the unemployed and free food for the poor. Many people did not want to work, but just live on the dole,
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enjoy themselves in the public entertainment that was also financed by taxes.
There was a mad craze for all kinds of pleasure in the Roman Empire. Sports became more and more brutal and exciting as audiences became more bloodthirsty. Gladiators fought to the death in the arena. There were endless parties filled with debauchery going on all the time. Eating was a favourite pastime and people even induced themselves to throw up what they had eaten, so that they could eat some more. Immorality was widespread. Divorce was very common. The people became very decadent. Because of man's sin, pleasure has brought the downfall of many, and it can also become the cause of our own downfall, if we are not careful.
When does pleasure become bad? Let us look at some passages of Scripture to find out. Proverbs 21:17, "he that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man." The key word here is the word "love". When our desire for pleasure becomes so great that we love it, and become obsessed with it, addicted to it, and are willing to forsake many important priorities in order to have it, then that pleasure becomes a snare to us. Instead of spending time with God and for God, we spend time in pleasure. Instead of loving and helping our fellow men the way we should, we seek pleasure for ourselves. If pleasure becomes the most important consideration in your life, and you cannot live without it, beware! It just shows that you have begun to love pleasure, and that is very dangerous.
First Timothy 6:17, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." The key word here is "trust". Timothy was being told by Paul to address those who enjoyed riches, and were trusting in them, instead of in God. But although Paul was speaking about riches, the principle can also be legitimately applied to pleasure, since pleasure, like riches, is given for us to enjoy. If pleasure diverts away your trust from God, then it becomes bad. Instead of seeking fulfillment and satisfaction in God alone, we seek for fulfillment and satisfaction in pleasure. Instead of
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looking to God for comfort and help when we feel down and depressed, we console ourselves by indulging in pleasure and enjoyment. If you find yourself turning to pleasure instead of turning to God to satisfy you, then beware! It shows that your trust is misplaced. You have become an idol worshipper, for pleasure has become your idol. God will not tolerate any other gods in your life!
Both of these verses point us to one very basic principle: You must not give pleasure the place in your life that only God deserves. It is Him that we must love with all our hearts, soul and mind. It is in Him alone that we should trust for every need we have.
But there are perhaps many Christians who think that they can give both pleasure and God equal priority. They would like to have both. This is not possible. A Sunday School teacher was teaching her class the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. She told them how the rich man went to hell because of his sins while Lazarus went to heaven, because he was right with God. Then she asked her students, "Who would you rather be, the rich man or Lazarus?" The answer she expected was of course "Lazarus." But one of her students answered "I want to be like the rich man in life, and like Lazarus in death!" Well, you just cannot have both.
In the Parable of the Sower, as told by Jesus, he described what happened when the seed sown by a sower fell on different types of ground: "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection." (Luke 8:14). In an earlier chapter, we saw that riches can be dangerous to one's spiritual life. Now we see that pleasures can also do the same thing. The pleasures of this life are listed as one of the contributing factors that hinder a person from obeying the Word of God, and from becoming a fruit-bearing Christian.
There are perhaps many times when our hearts were very deeply touched by hearing a good, meaningful message from God's Word in the worship service, and we resolved to apply what God had spoken
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to our hearts and make changes for the better. But after the end of the worship service we got involved immediately in some kind of recreational activity, and the whole impact of the message was lost. While enjoying ourselves, we soon forgot the important lessons that should have been applied. This is one reason it is not good to plan to have one's recreation or sports activities on the Lord's day, after church. I have known of some who immediately after the benediction and postlude would be out of the church in a few seconds, and spend the rest of the day enjoying themselves at a country club, golf club or sailing club. The seed of God's Word that was sown in the morning has been choked by thorns and bears no fruit. Christians must reserve the Lord's day for the things of the Lord rather than to let our love for pleasure rob us of the precious manifold blessings we have gained in the Lord's house.
It would perhaps be better to spend the rest of the Lord's day in quiet meditation on God's Word or in edifying fellowship with other Christians, or in visiting the sick, encouraging the discouraged either on the telephone or by mail. I have heard of one family that spends a portion of the Sunday afternoon to review what was learned during the Sunday school and morning worship.
Paul writing to Titus says, "For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." (Titus 3:3). This verse speaks about the lives that we once had before we knew Christ. The life that was characterised by sin, and in which we even found pleasure in committing sin.
What we learn from this is that we should not seek any kind of pleasure that involves sin, or what we may call "sinful pleasures." Notice that Paul said that at one time, we were actually serving divers lusts and pleasures. The word "serve" here has a strong idea of being enslaved. Thus the picture is one of slavery — being a slave to lusts and pleasures. The desire for pleasure was the master, controlling the past sinful life so much that it was even considered necessary to sin in order to serve this master. This is the thing that
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motivates an alcoholic or a drug-abuser: he knows he should not continue his addiction. He knows that it is wrong, that it destroys his body, and that it may even make him lie, cheat and steal. And yet he still does it, because he craves the pleasure it brings. He is a slave to it. Therefore, if you want pleasure, please be sure that it is not any kind of pleasure that is sinful or that involves sin in it.
Sometimes, however, the pleasure that is sought by men does not involve any act of sin but is somehow associated with sin or with a sinful lifestyle — a lifestyle that is characterized by self-centredness, rebellion to authority, indifference to God and the truths revealed in His Word. To distinguish this from sinful pleasure, we call this kind of pleasure "worldly pleasure", because it is so closely identified with the ungodly non-Christian world system that is accepted everywhere. And God says in 1 John 2:15, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
God commands us not to love those things, if we truly love Him. This means that we should keep away from pleasures that are closely identified with them, because they are the expressions and products of the sinful, rebellious, ungodly lifestyle of the world: things like rock music, trashy novels, outrageous fashion designs, social dancing, and a big proportion of the shows and videos that are being churned out by the huge entertainment industry today.
Some people say: "Why make a big issue out of this? These things are merely cultural. We must not be so narrow-minded. They are not wrong or sinful. It is alright to enjoy them." But we must have the conviction that not all things that are cultural are neutral. Since the Fall of man took place, man's culture has often reflected his own sinful nature. And though many cultural things are not bad, and there are good novels, good music, poetry, art and also good wholesome entertainment which do reflect the image of God in man, there are also many things in culture which are the expressions of his sinful nature. As such, they express ideas of corruption, futility, permissiveness, rebellion, self-centred pride and ambition. If we say
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that all that is merely cultural and immerse ourselves in enjoying them, we will definitely be adversely influenced by them.
A long time ago, when I was a very young Christian in my teens, I actively pursued listening to rock music and a lot of pop music. In the 70's, groups like the Beatles, Abba, America and the Bee Gees were very popular. I used to listen to tapes and records by them over and over again. But I found that it affected my relationship with God. For some reason the music always left me in a mood that was totally unsuitable to thinking about the Lord, reading the Bible or prayer. And even when I was not listening to the music, it would seem to come back into my mind and really took some effort to get it out and concentrate on spiritual things. It was not only the lyrics of the songs that affected me, but the rhythm and the tunes that were not conducive at all to worship and personal devotions.
Therefore, it is important that Christians recognize that they cannot just accept everything that claims to be merely cultural. We need to draw definite lines between what is acceptable in culture and what is not.
And even if we were to think that there is nothing wrong with listening to rock music, reading worldly books and going to certain places of entertainment, like cinemas or karaoke lounges because we think that they are merely cultural, think about how it affects our testimony before others. Our non-Christian friends may conclude that we endorse the worldly, rebellious lifestyle that these things promote.
In the Philippines a few years ago, there was a big fire in a disco in Manila, called the Ozone disco, that killed over a hundred young people. As the identities of the victims were published in the newspapers, it was revealed that about forty of them were Christians. And while we feel sorry for them that they suffered such a terrible death, it also makes us wonder "What were they doing there? Why were they there in the first place?" The papers said that most of the young people there were celebrating the end of examinations and beginning of school holidays. These forty or so Christians had no
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doubt been invited by their non-Christian classmates to join them in celebrating at the disco. They agreed, and lost not just their testimonies, but also their lives. We must be careful not to be closely associated with worldly pleasure by going to such places or sharing in such activity. Our testimony is important.
Now that we have seen the ways in which pleasure can become bad, let us try to outline three concrete steps we can take to avoid these pitfalls, when we seek pleasure.
Seek your chief pleasure in the time
you spend with God
The first step is that God must be your greatest source of pleasure. The pleasures associated with God are real, deep, complete, satisfying and eternal. King David testified in Psalm 16:11, "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." I believe that King David, who wrote this psalm was describing for us what he himself had experienced when he had his quiet time alone with God. There were many things that King David enjoyed: he had wealth and riches and lived as a king in a nice palace at a time when God blessed the nation of Israel. And yet of all the joys that King David enjoyed in this life, he says that none could be compared to the joy of being in the presence of God.
This verse uses a figure of speech called an anthropomorphism. When David refers to God's right hand, this does not mean that God actually has physical hands and feet like we do. What the word "right hand" means in this verse must be connected with God's presence mentioned earlier in the verse. It refers to a special position of close, intimate favour with God. This is a privilege that very few are allowed to have. Our Lord Jesus Christ is said to be at God the Father's right hand. He enjoys the sweetest and most intimate fellowship with the Father. And the good news is that we who are in
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Christ, can also now partake of this very close intimate fellowship with God through Jesus Christ.
And King David, who has partaken of that sweet fellowship tells us that there are great pleasures there: "At thy right hand, there are pleasures for evermore." What are these pleasures? The Hebrew word used here is "Na'iymoth" and in different passages it describes all kinds of things that are lovely, pleasant, sweet, and delightful, which may include nice music, or delicious food, or physical beauty. In this particular context, however, it must refer to all that is lovely, pleasant, sweet and delightful to the soul.
When we spend time alone with the Lord, we will enjoy a deep sense of delight and pleasure that is very hard for me to describe. It is like a foretaste of heaven even while we are still here on earth. But the best part of it all is that the pleasures are lasting. They are eternal. They do not disappear or vanish away, the way that earthly pleasure often does.
This is why in Psalm 27:4, David testified, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD and to enquire in his temple." If we can find full satisfaction in God alone, like David did, then all other pleasures in this world will not attract us as much as they used to. And even if we lose them or have to forsake them, we will not feel a sense of loss. Therefore, seek pleasure first in your relationship with God.
Keep yourself away from all sinful pleasures
We have already seen how any pleasure that involves sin is wrong, and not to be sought after. If I have to steal in order to obtain pleasure, that pleasure is wrong. If I must tell a lie to obtain pleasure, then that pleasure is not for me. If I must hurt someone or even myself in order to gain the pleasure, that pleasure is wrong — and that is why it is wrong to smoke, drink, take drugs, sniff glue, or
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overeat. The second step is to keep away from any pleasure that involves breaking any of God's commandments.
Is it alright for a Christian to drink if he does it moderately? No, because that is the first step toward addiction. Many alcoholics started just by drinking on social occasions.
Another sinful pleasure we should not covet is Gambling. Gambling is a social evil that has ruined many lives and even whole families. It ranges from playing with one-arm bandit coin machines, to games like mahjong, and poker to betting on horses, buying four digits, or buying Singapore Sweep tickets. Now even passengers on SIA flights are able to indulge in playing black jack and one-arm bandit machines during flights. But we must not compromise our conduct. Stay away from such machines or places that have such machines. Why? Because the tendency of our weak human nature is to succumb to temptation and to come under its powerful effects.
The most sought after pleasure in this world today is sexual pleasure. And sexual pleasure is a gift from God, but one that we can legitimately enjoy only within the confines of marriage. That is what it was designed for.
Therefore any sexual pleasure that is derived outside of marriage is outside of God's plan. This is why adultery, fornication, premarital sexual relations, homosexual and other immoral relations must all be regarded as sinful pleasures, and we must keep ourselves far away from them.
We have also seen that there are some forms of pleasure that may not be sinful, but are just closely identified with the sinful lifestyle of the world. Here we must learn to exercise discernment between what is good and bad in culture. Questions often arise about where we should draw the line. For instance between rock music and classical music, there are so many other different types, forming a gradual continuum from one end to the other. A young person may say, "Alright I won't listen any more to rock music, but what about jazz
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or pop music? or country and western? or folk music? How close can I get without crossing the acceptable limit?"
Once upon a time, a rich man put an advertisement for a chauffer to drive his car. Three men responded and came for interview. Each of them was asked exactly the same question by the rich man: "How close can you drive to the edge of a cliff?"
The first man interviewed said, "I can drive so well that I can drive the car one foot away from the edge of the cliff."
The second man, not to be outdone, said, "My driving skill is so good that I can drive just one inch away from the edge of the cliff."
But when the third man was asked this, he replied, "I will drive as far away from the edge of the cliff as possible!" Well I think you can guess who got the job – the third man.
The lesson to learn from this is that if we understand the issues at stake, we would not ask how far we can go in seeking pleasure in questionable forms, nor would we be always asking people to define for us the furthest possible limit in the kind of music we are allowed to hear, the kind of clothes we can wear, the kind of places we can visit, the kind of shows that we can watch, or the kind of functions we can attend without crossing the threshold. If we understand the danger that comes from associating oneself with sinful lifestyles and the folly of loving the world and the things that are in the world, if we treasure our relationship with God and do not want to compromise our love for Him, then we should be asking instead, "How far can I safely keep myself away from these things?" And whenever we feel even the slightest doubt that God would approve of the pleasure in question, we should be willing to give it up.
Receive good pleasures from God with thanksgiving
In the epistle written by James, he said, "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights…" (James 1:17). The Apostle Paul said in 1 Thess 5:18 "In
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everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."
The thing that is being stressed here, is seeing all the good things we find in our lives, including the pleasures we enjoy, always with reference to God. A Christian does not look at these things as just things by themselves anymore, but always with reference to God, recognising Him as the Maker and Final Cause of all things. The third step involves the Christian acknowledging the fact that He gave them out of His love and kindness to us.
This is very different from the way that the world perceives pleasures and good things in life. They see them as things that every man has a right to have; as things they deserve to have, for their own efforts. As a result, when a person does not get to have some good thing or pleasure, he feels that he has an unfair deal in life. He feels deprived, he feels that he is not getting his fair share. On the other hand, a person who has all the good things and pleasures he wants, feels that his whole life consists of them; he would not give them up for anything because he feels it is his right to keep them.
Is this the way we should view good pleasures and good things in our lives? Not at all, because God is not considered at all. And He is really the One responsible for bringing all the good things into our lives, and into the lives of non-Christians. Therefore, we regard them as things received from Him, as things to be thankful for, and as things that must never be put before God in terms of priority. If, for the sake of God, we cannot have something good that we like, we should not feel sore about it. God comes first, and this sometimes requires us to give up good legitimate pleasures or to limit them.
This is a very important biblical principle for us, and it was stated by Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians, not once, but twice, "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." (1 Cor 6:12). And "All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." (! Cor 10:23).
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This principle must be applied when we have to choose between things that are legitimate and things that are expedient, or more important. There are many legitimate pleasures and comforts in our lives. Sleep is one of them. Watching television is another. Then there is the pursuit of various kinds of hobbies: surfing the internet, collecting stamps, playing chess, reading novels, body-building, painting, sports, going window shopping. A Christian does not do anything wrong if he does any of these things. But if, as a result of them, there is not enough time to spend with the Lord, or to do what He wants us to do, and if we find ourselves neglecting our responsibilities as God's stewards, of caring for our loved ones and helping others who are in need, then we must seriously assess our priorities and apply this principle. Sometimes we must firmly regulate our time spent in them and discipline ourselves to stop doing something even though we want to continue, as we are enjoying them so much.
And this we do, because of the deep conviction in our hearts that God must come first. What we enjoy are good things that He has given to us. They can be put aside when His business requires our time and attention.
A father once bought a computer for his son. The son was, of course, delighted and the father told him, "Son, I give this to you because I love you and want you to enjoy yourself with this. You can play whatever games and programs you want. But I ask only this of you: be good, don't neglect your studies, Listen to what I tell you to do, and don't be stubborn." The son eagerly agreed to all of these things and thanked his father greatly. But later on he became so engrossed with the computer, and I think you can guess the rest of the story: he neglected his studies, was stubborn when told to stop, and misbehaved when he could not have his way, and he also spent less time helping his father with household chores and even less time talking with him.
We have the tendency to be like that with the things that God gives to us to enjoy. And every Christian must be careful. This lesson
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