John Piper: Why I Don’t Have a Television and Rarely Go to Movies

Avatar for Richard Clark

Richard Clark

Richard Clark is the Founding Editor of Christ and Pop Culture. He is also the managing editor of Gamechurch and a freelance writer for Unwinnable, Paste, and other outlets. He lives with his wife in Louisville, KY and has a MA in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Twitter Facebook

2 Comments

  1. There’s no denying that what Piper argues here has great weight. I can honestly say that there are plenty of times in my life where I have felt the wastefunless of my own television viewing. That being said, however, we here at CAPC have tried to highlight a number of the often overlooked benefits of television and film.Some that come to mind include: creating community, expanding our emotional range, communicating Biblical truths in powerful ways (I will address this in my upcoming post), and I am sure there are others that I am missing.

    What Piper is addressing is, I believe, true. But I think it has more to do with our own hearts than it does to do with the medium of television and film specifically.

    Reply

  2. @David
    Right, and we could probably add that entertainment as relaxation and rest is not wrong. The Bible quite clearly has a high regard for parties, feasts, music, dancing, storytelling, and rest, and I think it is reasonable to throw modern forms of entertainment in with these–as long as we are willing to critically and Biblically examine the modern forms of entertainment and do not allow them to overwhelm our lives. Just as we should not be amusing ourselves to death, we also shouldn’t buy into a unbiblical protestant work ethic which views vacations and rest as sinful.

    In regard to his stance on nudity, I sympathize with his concern–pornography is a huge problem in our culture–but I do not think that he is accurately interpreting Scripture when he seems to imply that it is sin to look at any naked woman other than your wife.

    Reply

Comments are now closed for this article.