Christians are coming off the highest, most celebrated
day on the calendar – Easter! So much
time and energy is spent, both at the church and family level, to plan and
prepare for this special day. And it is
all VERY worth it! We proclaim the
victorious power of the resurrection. We
sing songs of victory. We revel in the
re-telling of the Gospel story. With so
many guests and family members in the crowd, worship attendance swells and
there is an air of expectancy and hope.
It’s an exciting time.
But then there is the Sunday after . . . and worship
attendance, even for committed Christians who regularly attend church, craters
far below the normal average.
I wonder if this is a reflection of something much
deeper, something that affects our worship life all the time whether we are
aware of it or not.
I wonder how many of us are suffering from a
case of anhedonia?
Anhedonia is the inability to experience
pleasure from the typical events of life.
People become so addicted to extreme forms of stimulation, that
they become bored with the ordinary. We continue
chasing the next big thrill, but in the end never actually experience the
pleasure we are seeking.
Archibald Hart says, “The endless pursuit of pleasure is
leaving us numb.”
Anhedonia effects every area of our lives by gearing us
to expect and even demand to be thrilled and excited every step of the way. If we aren’t thrilled and excited then the
experience is simply deemed unworthy of our time and attention. Here
is an example: Check out a reality
show and how the producers have to do more and more to get us to keep tuning
in!
Even in worship, if the experience doesn’t WOW us we are tempted
to think God wasn’t present or that worship had no value. Here is the problem. There is nothing wrong with being thrilled
and excited in worship. It is a good
thing to have an air of expectancy and openness in our worship. That is a mature, God-centered posture. What is dangerous is the temptation to draw
an equal sign between our sense of being thrilled and God’s presence.
Here is why . . . I don’t find being convicted of my sin
to be very thrilling, but it’s still an absolutely essential part of my worship
life. I also don’t particularly enjoy
being challenged to take difficult steps of obedience that require significant
risk. It’s not very thrilling, but I can’t
grow as a disciple without it. Finally,
I cannot draw strength and joy from the normal, repetitive and routine aspects
of my Christian walk because those things – even if they are important – are just
far too routine.
So what do I do to fight anhedonia when it
shows up? I must intentionally
alter my perspective to value the small, ordinary and routine aspects of my
walk with God and my worship life. I
must engage in disciplines that don’t make me satisfied with the boring, but
instead give me the gift of taking great pleasure and joy out the everyday
experiences of life with God.
How about you?
Where has anhedonia showed up in your life? What have you done to combat it?
What a great topic!
ReplyDeleteI have always been somewhat of a thrill-seeker and have gone to great extremes to "keep the excitement alive". Unfortunately, my pursuit of pleasure led me down a dismal and self-defeating pathway to alcohol addiction. I often became bored with everyday life and would have a few drinks to liven things up. This pattern created profound emotional highs and lows in my life on a daily basis and sadly, became the norm for me.
It wasn't until I met God that I had any sort of stability. I can remember sitting in my living room on a perticularly rough day fighting the urge to drink and crying out passionately to Him. He spoke to my heart that day and said, "You are just going to have to sit here and learn how to be uncomfortable". No drink could have ever given me the satisfaction that I experienced by submitting to His guidance.
I thank God for the work He has done and is continuing to do, and I am certain that He is a God of consistency. So, I continue to strive to be more like Him. He will show us extraordinary things in our ordinary, everyday lives if we ask him to open the eyes of our hearts and minds.
Love & Light,
~Julie
When i was a new believer, i thought how cool it would be to live in these last days, but . . the more i come to know the ways of our Lord, the more i realize how very serious it is for us to be alive at this time.
ReplyDeleteOne of the first scripture verses i committed to memorey was 2 Corinthians 10:5, where Paul tells us to cast down every vain imagination that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. It wasn't until 7 years later that i even began to understand what the obedience of Christ really was, when i read Luke 22:43-44 when our Savior labored so hard to accept the will of God that his sweat became as great drops of blood.
How casual i am sometimes about my committment to Christ! How often has obedience caused me to even break a sweat let alone labor so that i endured any real discomfort? Yet Paul says we should die daily - to self!
The very first bible verse i ever memorized was Proverbs 3:5-6, . . which says in part to lean not on my own understanding, but acknowledge God in all my ways. . .
So at the end of the day i must ask, have i truly acknowledged God in all my ways; taking every thought captive to be sure it lined up with God's word? And on a daily basis i must admit that again i have fallen short, and would not be accepted but for the Grace of our Lord.
When i finally began to understand the measure of Grace that has been extended to me, basic disciplines of faith are no longer options i can pick and choose according to how i feel or what will 'stimulate' my sensory perceptions.
i pray God's help for us to become as the early church in the days following the Resurrection, when is spite of opposition, threats, and persecutions, those who knew and loved Jesus continued daily, in one accord, with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all people . . and may the Lord also add daily to our numbers as He did then. Be Blessed