In a recent post at his Desiring God blog, Piper wrote:
“I think relevance in preaching hangs very little on watching movies, and I think that much exposure to sensuality, banality, and God-absent entertainment does more to deaden our capacities for joy in Jesus than it does to make us spiritually powerful in the lives of the living dead. Sources of spiritual power – which are what we desperately need – are not in the cinema. You will not want your biographer to write: Prick him and he bleeds movies.”
Piper went on to say, “If you want to be relevant, say, for prostitutes, don’t watch a movie with a lot of tumbles in a brothel. Immerse yourself in the gospel, which is tailor-made for prostitutes; then watch Jesus deal with them in the Bible; then go find a prostitute and talk to her. Listen to her, not the movie. Being entertained by sin does not increase compassion for sinners.
“There are, perhaps, a few extraordinary men who can watch action-packed, suspenseful, sexually explicit films and come away more godly. But there are not many. And I am certainly not one of them.”
What do you think? Is Piper right? Partly right? Does it “depend on the circumstances”? Weigh in with your opinion in the comments section below, and/or let us know at CT Movies.
