Week 3: Chapter 2 — Worship: The Feast of Christian Hedonism

1.Piper opens this chapter by confronting the idea that true worship requires us to set aside our own desire for joy. His counterargument is that worship without delight is not really worship at all — it is mere performance. Do you agree? What is at stake in this distinction?

2.Piper uses the analogy of a husband who tells his wife on their anniversary, "I am doing this because it is my duty" versus one who says he is there because she is his greatest joy. The first husband has not honored the wife, even if his actions are identical. How does this analogy illuminate the difference between dutiful and delightful worship?

3.Piper argues that God is not honored by worship that is merely correct in form but empty of genuine delight. He draws on C.S. Lewis's insight that "the Psalmists in telling everyone to praise God are doing what all men do when they speak of what they care about" — praise is the natural overflow of pleasure. Do you experience your worship as overflow, or does it feel more like a transaction?