The Search For Satisfaction Series

The Search for Satisfaction

Rev. Brian Bill

Ecclesiastes 2:1-17

July 20-21, 2024

According to the 2024 World Happiness Report, the U.S. ranks 23rd on a global measure of happiness across 143 countries in the world. This is worse than last year, when we came in at number 15. Americans under 30 are even more dissatisfied with life, with their happiness score dropping to 62nd.

With so much affluence, entertainment options, and ease, why are Americans so unhappy? In her book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, Anna Lembke writes:

Compared to our ancestors, we’re living in a world of opulence. On the bright side, constant access to all resources and remarkable amenities creates a world of opportunities. On the other hand, this way of living turns many people into dopamine addicts. You’re likely one of them. After all, who isn’t? With so many temptations being a click away, it’s hard not to fall into the trap of overconsumption.

Our society is swimming in various “isms” that are leaving people feeling empty and ultimately unhappy. Here are 10 popular beliefs that come to mind.

1. Individualism. Life is all about me, myself, and I.

2. Materialism. Material possessions are more important than spiritual values.

3. Relativism. There are no objective or absolute truths.

4. Humanism. A focus on humanity and human solutions over the divine.

5. Pluralism. All beliefs and behaviors are equally valid.

6. Rationalism. Opinions and actions are based on reason alone.

7. Darwinism. All of life evolved from nothing into something.

8. Nihilism. Life is not worth living because it is meaningless.

9. Escapism. The seeking of diversions to escape from reality.

10. Hedonism. The pursuit of pleasure and sensual self-indulgence as the primary motivation of life.

Several studies confirm that most people today are pursuing a hollow hedonistic lifestyle as they seek enjoyment and pleasure as their top goal. One study showed that 88% of Americans are classified as high in hedonism.

In an article from earlier this year called, The State of the Culture, Ted Gioia believes the fastest growing sector of the “culture economy” is distraction, demonstrated through the ceaseless activity of scrolling or swiping (this article is available on Sermon Extras on our website and mobile app – ironically, you’ll have to scroll or swipe to find it).

Our brain rewards these brief bursts of distraction by releasing the neurochemical dopamine, which makes us feel pleasure, leading us to continuously repeat the process in our quest for gratification.

He calls this the “dopamine loop” and pictures it like this:

Stimulus ? Dopamine Release ? Desire for More ? Habit Formation.

To say it another way, distraction leads to pleasure, which leads to reinforcement, ending in addiction. All this leads to a craving for more stimuli, which releases more dopamine, which creates a desire for more, leading the individual into more unholy habits and cycles of sin.

He describes this “dopamine cartel” like a cultural food chain where entertainment swallows art, distraction overtakes entertainment, leading to addiction, which ends up consuming distraction. One reviewer referred to TikTok and other social media apps utilizing brief videos as “digital opium.” As Gioia describes our “dopamine culture,” he writes these startling words: “The more addicts rely on these stimuli, the less pleasure they receive. At a certain point, this cycle creates ‘anhedonia,’ the complete absence of enjoyment in an experience supposedly pursued for pleasure.”

That’s what Solomon learned as well. The more he hunted for happiness, the more unhappy he became, concluding that it was like chasing after the wind. Last weekend, we finished Ecclesiastes 1 by learning that dissatisfaction is designed to lead us to find satisfaction in God alone. Solomon conducted three experiments by studying the unprofitable work in front of him, the unending world around him, and the unsatisfying wisdom within him. He concluded it was boring and tedious in verse 8: “All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.”

In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon puts his search for satisfaction into dopamine hyperdrive as he throws himself into a hedonistic lifestyle. Here’s a general outline which will help guide us through his existential experiments.

• Pleasure (1-3).

• Projects (4-6).

• Possessions (7-8).

• Prestige (9-10).

• Performance (11-12).

• Perspective (13-17).

The more Solomon pursued pleasure, projects, possessions, prestige, and performance, the more he lost perspective on the purpose of life. We will never find our purpose in life if we put the pursuit of our pleasures above God’s priorities.

1. Pleasure. In his search for satisfaction, Solomon plunged headlong into pleasure in the first part of verse 1: “I said in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself…’” This was a deliberate decision where he determined in his heart to find happiness through hedonism. The phrase “come now” is a strong imperative which shows he didn’t drift into this lurid lifestyle but rather made a deliberate decision to partake of pleasure. The phrase “enjoy yourself” literally means, “I will plunge in.” This is similar to the mindset of the man Jesus described in Luke 12:19 who said, “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, drink, be merry.’”