Theologians and psychologists step into the room and oppose the suffering.
Longtime pastor and theologian John Piper used a recent episode of his popular podcast, Ask Pastor John, to respond to a viral post about suffering and happiness from Canadian psychologist and thought leader Jordan Peterson.
In a post in X, which has accumulated over 2 million views, Peterson wrote, “Life is suffering. The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to find something that supports you despite your suffering.”
Life is suffering. The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to find something that will support you despite your suffering.
– Dr. Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) November 12, 2024
Piper, 79, agreed to at least part of Peterson’s declaration, and admitted that chasing after fleeting happiness was a fruitless effort. The preacher said in his podcast that the 62-year-old author “for most people, happiness is experienced as fleeting, superficial, unpredictable and impulsive.”
“I want people to have a deep and meaningful life,” Piper said. “So, amen. Yes.”
But that’s where their agreement ended. Piper then explained where his theology is divided from Peterson’s point of view, delving into the so-called “Christian hedonism.”
Piper summed it up like this:
The author of “Unbelief of Battle” believes that rather than completely abandoning happiness, deeply offended happiness is attainable and essential to Christian life, but only if it is “rooted in God.”
“I have pursued a strategy that is different from Jordan Peterson with Jordan Peterson, in the hopes of saving people from fleeting, unpredictable, impulsive, superficial, and (I add) dichotomi, ignoring the Bible and pursuing terrible happiness,” Piper said.
Piper outlined five important reasons why Christians should pursue deep, lasting happiness.
He began by explaining, “Creation is an overflow of God’s enthusiasm of being God, great, beautiful and valuable, and to the greatest extent that it means that he will gloriously reveal and convey it.”
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Second, he pointed out the fact that humans are made of God’s image (Genesis 1:27).
“We are designed to reflect and expand the glory of God, His greatness, beauty and values,” he said. “That’s the purpose of images. They imagine what they are images. We are made to know God and look back at God and each other’s beauty.”
Third, for this broken world, Piper admitted that no one would bring these values to life completely, as humans are born as “the enemy of God.”
Finally, he said that respectful happiness is “essential” to Christian life.
“I have discovered in the Bible that I am very happy with God and very satisfied with him, that the best content to praise him and that he is essential to show that he is incredibly precious and beautiful,” he said. “And this applies especially to our suffering. It shows that if we maintain happiness, satisfaction, satisfaction, joy, joy, he is worth more than health and more worthier than health.”
Referring to Philippians 1:20-23, Piper added:
Finally, Piper makes his point, pointing to Psalm 16:11. In the poem, the psalmist writes, “You will give me the joy of your existence and the joy of living with you forever” (NLT), “You will show me the way of life.”
“Enjoying him is not a byproduct of anything bigger,” he explained. “It is the essence of human greatness. It is the essence of worship.”
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