1 Peter 4:1-6, Joy vs. the sins of excess (1)

Here are some statistics of problems caused by alcohol in the USA, from 1992:

·       18 million problem drinkers

·       9 million alcoholics who require help

·       $15 billion spent annually

·       30,000 vehicle deaths annually

·       Early death (average 10-12 years earlier)

·       Broken homes (no numbers; just a known fact)

·       Occupational loss (which results in higher prices).

Obviously, I could have updated this.  But what I really want to call attention to is that the sins of excess are not simply statistics.  Sin always brings sorrow, sadness and difficulty (all these are aspects of the “death culture” we live in because of sin).  Statistics actually separate us from the personal destruction brought on by sin.  A statistic can be dealt with politically.  Pass some laws, or fund some programs and we deal with the numbers.  But what we need, always, is to have the need of our hearts met.  That requires a Savior, and there is only One.

What we are dealing with for the most part is the “lust of the flesh,” the desire to feel good.  We find something that brings happiness and then we repeat it again and again.  When it no longer brings the same feeling then we take it to an extreme or move to some other excess.  I understand this because I have experienced it.  It is a temptation that is common to all.

The Greek word for this was pronounced “hedonay” and it is translated “pleasure.”  We get the word “hedonistic” from this term.  In the NT the word is describing the past world out of which we have been saved, the world of “unsanctified carnality, which strive against the work of God and His Spirit and which drag man back again into the kingdom of evil” (from Theological Dictionary of the New Testament).  It helps to know the history of this term in the Greek world, especially in relationship to chara, the Greek term for “joy.”

·       “Hedonay” refers to sensual pleasure.  It has to do with how a person feels.

·       In Plato chara and hedonay are barely distinguished.  In Aristotle, chara is almost completely replaced by hedonay.  Joy is equated with sensual pleasure.

·       Among the Stoics chara is a special instance of hedonay, which is one of the four basic affections.  The Stoics did not trust the emotions, so chara is viewed negatively.  Thus, they developed a system of “good moods” of the soul that were distinct from the affections.

Now if you follow me, you might note that our society is very “Greek” in it’s concept of “joy.”  They are much more concerned with sensuality.  Perhaps we understand how much we need to have our minds renewed when we follow Christ.