The Limits Of Pleasure

Ecclesiastes 2 isn’t King Solomon suggesting there’s no joy or that we should just grab whatever pleasure we can. Instead, it’s about the limits of pleasure. The book of Ecclesiastes is what we call wisdom literature, and it’s crucial to understand that wisdom isn’t law.

The law of gravity always works — if you jump, you fall — principles of wisdom are not hard and fast. They describe how the world normally works. We get into trouble when we read wisdom and think, “I did this, so I should get that,” (Parenting books based on Wisdom Literature).

Ecclesiastes 2 reminds us that things don’t always work out the way they mostly do. Gravity is consistent; pleasure isn’t.

When it comes to earthly pleasures, we tend to fall into one of two ditches, one on each side of the road.

On one side, we have hedonism. Hedonists say that pleasure is our ultimate end. What makes me feel good must be good. It borrows from Christianity with the very non-Christian Prosperity Gospel, which say God intends for us to have endless pleasure and abundance, NOW. It’s a perversion of the teaching that our chief end is “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Yes, we are to enjoy God, but hedonism twists this into enjoying pleasure for its own sake.

On the other side of the road is asceticism.

This is the ideology of those who believe true godliness means shunning the world’s pleasures. And honestly, this is a common trap for Christians. Think about it: when people talk about Christianity, how often do people focus on all the things you have to “give up”? Being a Christian means not doing this, not doing that. “I don’t drink, smoke, or chew, don’t hang with those that do.” Prove how godly you are by listing all the pleasures you deny yourself. Pre-Christian!

Ecclesiastes Chp. 1 tells us there are limits of wisdom and knowledge, they’re essential but have boundaries. We need to approach pleasure with the same perspective. As Christians, we might be hesitant to say “pleasure is essential” because we’ve been taught pleasure is naughty, or that if something brings us delight, it can’t be from God. This is the wrongful influence of asceticism

Earthly pleasure is unavoidable and it was designed to be so. God created the world for His glory and for our pleasure. Before the Fall, Adam lived in an environment that brought him pleasure. Genesis 1:31 tells us, God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. God planted a garden with every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. Pleasure is built into creation.

Our senses warn us with unpleasantness when something is bad. How do I know milk is sour? I smell it, I taste it, and know not to drink it.

But here’s our problem. Because of the Fall, our ability to enjoy pleasure is warped, we’re broken, so that, as Ephesians 2 describes, there is a constant craving to carry out the pleasures of the body and the mind. Pleasure first, above self, God, even above self and self-preservation.

Christians, since we know it’s warped, then try to create lists: “ungodly pleasures” we avoid, and “godly pleasures” we allow.

The problem is, this removes our heart from the equation and leads to asceticism and legalism, where we feel righteous simply by adhering to a list.

Obviously, a lot of this is cultural. Solomon gives a comprehensive list of pleasures the author pursued: wine, houses, vineyards, gardens, fruit trees, pools, slaves, flocks, gold, music, and concubines.

We quickly categorize: Concubines bad, getting drunk, bad, slaves bad.

What about fruit trees? Or music? How much music do we have at fingertips? More than Solomon ever had, and it’s available on demand!

This list forces us to check ourselves. We pat ourselves on the back for denying some pleasures, some things God even gave to us to enjoy, while being completely blind to others we freely indulge in. Fruit trees and Gardening are things which bring many pleasure, but we would never call it that.

Legalism and asceticism can infect us without us realizing.

While earthly pleasures are unavoidable it’s vital to remember that earthly pleasures never fully satisfy because we’re broken. Just as knowledge has limits, so does pleasure. Chapter 1 teaches knowledge is only a means to an end, and chapter 2 teaches the same thing about seeking pleasures. Solomon describes it as vanity, a striving after wind. You can chase the wind all you want, you’ll never catch it.

Anyone who’s lived long enough understands the vicious cycle of pleasure:

1. Discover a pleasure. 2. Experience the pleasure. 3 Delight in that pleasure. 4. Indulge in that pleasure. 5. Stop getting pleasure from the thing. 6. Hate it!