Pastor John Piper is pushing back against a viral social media post by Jordan Peterson stating that life’s purpose is meaning rather than happiness, insisting — through his “Christian Hedonist” theology — that believers glorify God by finding true joy in Him even amid suffering.
In a Nov. 12, 2024, post on X that garnered 2.1 million views and 31,000 likes, Peterson, a Canadian psychologist, wrote, “Life is suffering. The purpose of life is not to be happy, but to find something that sustains you in spite of suffering.”
In response to a reader who asked the pastor to share his thoughts on the topic, Piper, founder of Desiring God, acknowledged a core truth in Peterson’s message: chasing superficial, momentary pleasure is futile.
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Peterson is “right that for most people, happiness is experienced as fleeting, superficial, unpredictable, and impulsive” when pursued as an end in itself, Piper said in a recent episode of his “Ask Pastor John” podcast.
He also agreed that life should indeed be “profoundly meaningful” rather than spent in pursuit of empty pleasures. “I want people to have lives that are profoundly meaningful. So, amen, yes,” Piper noted.
However, the Don’t Waste Your Life author diverged from Peterson on the role of happiness in life’s purpose. Piper, who is known for teaching a philosophy of “Christian Hedonism,” stressed that the concept of happiness shouldn’t be discarded, but redeemed.
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In contrast to Peterson’s approach of abandoning “happiness” as a life goal, Piper contended that true, deep happiness “rooted in God” is not only legitimate but essential.
The Minnesota-based pastor cautioned that even “meaning” can become an empty concept if divorced from God.
“I’ve been pursuing a different strategy than Jordan Peterson in the hope of rescuing people from the pursuit of fleeting, unpredictable, impulsive, superficial and (I would add) God-dishonoring, Christ-diminishing, Bible-ignoring, damning happiness,” he said.
Drawing from biblical teaching, Piper laid out five key points to explain why joy in God stands at the heart of creation and the Christian life. First, Piper said God created the world to display His glory.
“Creation is the overflow of God’s exuberance in being God,” he explained, meaning the universe exists to showcase God’s greatness, beauty and worth.
“You might say that creation is the overflow of God’s exuberance in being God, in being great and beautiful and valuable, supremely so — so much so that He means to go public with His glory and communicate it,” he said.
Second, human beings are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27) and designed to reflect that glory, Piper said, adding: “That’s what images are for; they image forth what they are images of.”
Third, Piper addressed the reality of sin and suffering, emphasizing that no one lives out God’s purpose perfectly; in fact, humanity has turned away and become “enemies of God.”
Fourth, Piper stressed that being “supremely happy” in God is crucial to honoring Him, a principle that lies at the heart of his Christian Hedonist perspective. The pastor defined the term in a 2015 piece as “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
“Being supremely happy in God […] is essential to glorifying God and showing that He’s supremely valuable,” he said, “and this is true especially in our suffering.”
When believers continue to delight in God amid trials, it demonstrates that God is more precious than health, comfort or any earthly gain, he said. “If we can maintain a deep and unshaken happiness in God through suffering, we make Him look as precious as He really is,” Piper explained.
Finally, Piper noted that if God is most glorified when His creation is satisfied in Him, then pursuing joy in God is not optional but commanded.
“Happiness, joy, pleasure — they’re not optional for the Christian,” he said, pointing to the Bible’s many calls to rejoice. Scripture repeatedly instructs believers to “Delight yourself in the Lord” and “Rejoice in the Lord always.”
“As the psalmist says, ‘In your presence [O God] there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore’ (Psalm 16:11),” he concluded. “Enjoying Him is not a byproduct of something greater. It is the essence of human greatness. It is the essence of worship.”
