Welcome to a new week on the Ask Pastor John podcast with longtime author and pastor John

Piper.

Today we have a question from a listener named Chase.

Hello Pastor John, thank you for taking my question.

According to Arthur C. Brooks, the president of a public policy think tank in Washington,

DC, 88% of our happiness is determined by two factors, events that occurred in our recent

past, 40% and genetics, 48%.

That leaves around 12% left to our day by day control, which can be used to pursue four

basic things, faith, family, community, and work.

The four surest ways to happiness, he says, I'm curious how the idea of Christian hedonism

either compliments or contradicts this research on happiness, the statistical breakdown and

where happiness is found to begin with.

Two comments, first, a comment about the notion that 88% of our happiness is determined

and 12% is left to our day by day control.

Christians don't think that way and I'm leaving aside the whole issue that God controls

at all, not just our past, but the 100%.

I'm not even talking about that.

The reason we don't think that way is that the last 12% of freedom that we have to adjust,

if that were true, the Christian says with this 12% or with the tiny fraction of this

12%, I can embrace the gospel of Jesus, which has three stunning effects regarding that

88% of my past that you say is unchangeably determining of my happiness.

Here are the three effects, number one, through the gospel of Jesus, all my past sins are

...