LIVING TO PLEASE GOD:
Life for a Higher Purpose & Pleasure
By Lee Gatiss
IVP. 132 pages. £10.99
ISBN 978 1 789 745 399
It’s hard to imagine a more pressing matter than knowing how to put a smile on our heavenly Father’s face. Writing in an engaging and accessible style, Lee Gatiss (Director of the Church Society) offers us a thought-provoking exploration of this central theme in the Christian life.
At the outset, he asks the probing question: “If God followed you on social media, what would He make of your posts?” (p.1).
Drawing on personal anecdotes as well as the wisdom of the ages, he traces the theme of pleasing God through both the Old and New Testaments and always focusing on the Lord Jesus. Having addressed the question of why please God and who pleases God, he turns to specific areas of the Christian life, including the importance of social justice, repentance (I loved the section on Luke 15), worship, and giving.
I was particularly struck by the opening chapter on “God’s happiness”. Gatiss rightly observes that “Thinking about pleasing God … leads to some tricky questions about divine emotions…” He builds on an article he wrote for Foundations magazine in 2020. “In himself, He does not change … He is not prone to bouts of unhappiness, despair or depression… Rather, when His word says that we please God or that He delights in us, the idea is that our actions resonate with the harmony of God Himself.” (p.8).
In contrast with the contemporary pursuit of happiness (what the American Declaration of Independence calls our “inalienable right”), Gatiss emphasises the wisdom of the Scriptures – “Our true and best happiness comes only as a by-product of a greater quest – enjoying God and being enjoyed by Him.”
Each chapter concludes with a delightfully Anglican prayer (as befits the Director of the Church Society) and a series of questions to ponder.
In a warm and winsome way, Gatiss encourages us to consider how our lives can be lived in a way that brings joy to God. It’s a good read for Lent – or any other time of the year for that matter.
