The Pleasure of Novelty and its Diminishing Satisfaction

Novelty can generally be regarded as that most fleeting perception and fascination of something that is  made exciting and thrilling simply because of its attractive newness.  To be sure, encountering any new and pleasurable thing is almost always delivered with some sense of novelty, but as time passes novelty naturally fades and the true pleasure of a thing can be faithfully seen and asserted.  Novelty, then, is not, in actuality, a quality that one thing possesses inherently but stems from the ideas of Fashionability and Trend.

The excitement afforded by novelty is one not of pleasure, in pleasure's true sense, but of temporality in the emotional sense.  This is to say that novelty is an emotional reaction to the reception of a new and fashionable thing, be it material or relational.  In the end, because novelty is not inherent to the thing itself but is a response of feeling and taste, novelty has cannot be satisfying in itself but is a non-lasting impression of something pleasurable.

However, because novelty is received with a thrill, novelty can be confused with pleasure as misconstrued as the pleasure itself.  As a result of this misconception, that which is truly pleasurable is substituted for that which is merely novel and new.  The net effects of this lopsided illusion is that pleasure will no longer be cherished and pleasurable as it is, but will be replaced with the counterfeit gratifications of novelty.  Essentially, novelty will become that which is considered satisfying while that which is truly satisfying, that which is godly and good, is neglected in favor for what is new, fashionable, trendy, and easily accesible.

But because novelty is by nature fleeting, the law of diminishing returns will be even more in play than usual.  The response, on the part of the individual given over to this sort of confusion, is that novelty will be continually sought out and lusted after.  In a real sense, the person will never be content and will lack any true satisfaction because they will never linger long enough before passing on to the next new, novel thing.  This is like licking the steak without chewing it before quickly moving to lick the bread too.  No satisfaction, just a wanting desire for the novelty of something else, something new.

In order to overcome this illusion, the person must first reckon with the discrepancy, the flaw in their reasoning comes not from their want of joy and pleasure but in where he or she has sourced it, namely, in novelty.  Secondly, the person must be made aware of the vanity and perishing nature of fashionability and trendiness, here today to be swept away by the tide of tomorrow's new wave.  Lastly, the person must remember that, above all else, the source for all satisfaction and pleasure is found in thankfulness in giving glory to God.  Any attempt to replace this is but a shadowy imitation.

The Salt & Light Snowblower

Several years ago, Ned bought a new snow blower, which is a necessity for the snowy winters of Minnesota.  Previously he had always shoveled his driveway and it took over an hour.  But now, with that beautiful machine, he could get it done in less than five minutes.  The ease of snow-blowing took away the all-too familiar dread of having to shovel.  He even enjoyed doing the drive.

The second winter he had the blower, two elderly neighbors from California moved in across the street.  The couple both had heart problems and Ned noticed them struggling to shovel the drive after the first snow fall.  When he saw them wrestling with the snow, he simply started his blower, pushed it across the street, and did their's too.  It just became a part of the routine; twelve minutes for both drives.  Ned then also remembered that his other neighbor, Mike, left for work at 4:30 in the morning, so he bagan doing his too.  Another four minutes.

A few years later, his next door neighbor, Larry, passed away.  Because his widowed wife, Pearl, was also elderly, Ned just started doing hers too.  Another five minutes.  Later that same year, the neighbors down the block had a baby, so Ned added their's to his routine too.  By the end of that year, Ned was snow blowing about a half hour and doing five driveways.

Ned was happy to be the neighborhood plowman, relishing in the joy of caring for and serving his community.  One night, though, he fell deathly ill and had to be taken to the hospital.  Over the course of a two day bed-ridden, hospital stay he recovered and was eventually released.  As his wife was driving him home, he felt so bad because there had been a huge snowfall the night before.

However, as they arrived back in the neighborhood, he was astonished to see that all of the driveways were done.  To his amazement, Ned's wife told him that in the morning she looked out the front window to see one of their other neighbors, whom they had never even met, doing the driveways.  Ned nearly broke into tears. He never realized the affect that he had made over the past few years.

The point is example.  If we are to be the salt and light of the world, the very hands and feet of Christ, then we need to look at the needs around us and step in to fill them.  Jesus calls us to love as He loves us.  Think of that: He gave His very life, dying upon the cross to serve and to love all humankind.  Laying down our preference and our comfort in order to care for others is what being a Christian is all about.  Therefore, let us seek out opportunities to serve and then seize them for Him!

Joy

One of the great gifts that God bestows is joy, overwhelming joy.  Joy, defined, is the pairing of happiness and contentment mixed with delight.  Joy is not to be understood as merely pleasure, far more delightful than contentment, and much less fickle than happiness; it is dense.  Because of the complexity and depth inherent to joy, it warrants further discussion.

By way of introduction, joy is a response to worship and praise.  The presence of God is marked by two distinctly different but equal reactions, reverence and joy.  Although, the reverent response to the presence of God is beyond the scope of this discussion, but reverence is also met with joy (Psa. 92:4, 126:2; Job 8:21).  This should be the primary source of joy, that is, praise of Christ Jesus.  When we praise Him, truly worship Him, we will be filled with joy.  Therefore, if we do not feel joyful we should examine the sincerity of our worship.  Chances are that any lack of joy can be traced to a lack of worship.

Furthermore, it is important to remember that joy is a gift given to those who believe in Him (John 15:11, 16:24; Heb. 1:9; 1 Pet. 1:8).  Lasting joy is a gift reserved for believers.  Certainly unbelievers can, through common grace, possess glimpses of joy in the form of happiness or contentment.  However, the joy that Scripture describes goes beyond human concepts to a joy that surpasses human understandings.

Additionally, joy is a fruit of Christian character.  The importance of this distinction is that the breeding ground for character is suffering.  In this way, then, suffering grows the fruit of joy.  Scripture confirms this (Rom. 5:1-5; Phil 1:29; James 1:2-4).  Suffering serves to reduce and refine joy in the hearts and lives of Christians.

Because joy is essentially a spiritual matter, we know that flesh cannot cause joy.  If this is so, then we are reminded that no fleshly pursuit can prompt or cause joy.  Therefore, any perceived joy that we may claim to be derived from the flesh is ultimately not joy, but is to be thought of as a shadow of joy, more akin to one of its components.  Therefore, let us then pursue joy of a higher kind, to be received from the Lord!

The Prospect of Pleasure

God is a God of enjoyment.  He created the world and took pleasure in it, defining it all as good (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).  The Lord delights and enjoys and, as we were created in His image, we do too.  The pertinent question is what does God then say about pleasure?  Surprisingly, the Bible has much to say about indulgence, both positive and negative.  The purpose of this discourse is to address the biblical understanding of pleasure.

Many Christians have a distorted understanding of pleasure that is neither scripturally founded nor healthy.  If we do not understand our pleasure and what constitutes as healthy pleasure, then we open ourselves to spiritual attack and the potential for sinfulness.  Instead, understanding pleasure is essential to living the full life that God has gifted us with and called us to.

There is such a variety of pleasures to choose from that one could be spend the whole of a lifetime simply studying pleasure.  Pleasure in and of itself is not fulfilling apart from the the Fulfiller, which is the Lord.  Unfortunately, the endless search to fill pleasures seems to be the modus operani for much of the world.  As a result, the world is inundated with hurt and unfulfilled people, longing for the pleasure that lasts.  Think of Solomon, the ultimate measure of wealth and worldly pleasure could not find contentment in the world (See Ecclesiastes 1-12--that's right, the whole book).

A modern concept that is biblically supported in this regard is the law of diminishing returns, or as Solomon writes: "If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it (Pro. 25:15)." The word that covers this is temperance, also referred to as self-restraint.  This is one of the keys to pleasure, that our pleasures refresh us but if not kept in check, they may become a burden or stumbling block for ourselves or anyone else.

Think of David, in the midst of a battle, calling out for the simple refreshment (pleasure) of a drink from his well at Bethlehem.  Three of his mighty men thus risk their lives to bring him such a pleasure only to see David to refuse the pleasure for its cost (2 Sam. 23:15-17).  We should take this mind among us, that pleasure should be weighed for its merits as much for its true cost.

Pleasure is a distinct gift from God.  We should enjoy this life.  However, enjoyment and pleasure should never come in the way of our ultimate mission, which is to love the Lord and to preach His gospel to the world.  If our pleasure(s) are hindering our effectiveness or pulls us from our primary mission, then we need to rethink our priorities and where we are placing our pleasure.

The Lord is the source of life and the giver of pleasure.  We should then seek our pleasure in Him.  He desires for us to delight in Him.  This is an amazing proposition.  Instead of looking to the fleeting whimsy of this world, let us look to the eternal Lord as the source of our enjoyment and pleasure.