Piper on TV
I know, I know, I know… Saturdays are silly times. Times to post funny links or talk about stuff that is irrelevant. I say in reply, (in my manly Christian Bale Batman growl) “Not Today.”
I read this article by John Piper about television. It stirred my heart. It made me think. And it put some things into words that I’ve never quite been able to put into words succinctly before.
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.
This is a scary paragraph for me, because… well, prick me and I nearly bleed movies. I can quote lines from Notting Hill, That Thing You Do, School of Rock, and many others until the cows come home. Remarkably, I have very little aptitude for memorizing important things.
This is a good reminder that what you set as priorities are the things you end up spending time on. Not the things you act like you’ve set as priorities, but the things you actually treat as priorities. A good reminder, but a scary reminder.
Andrew,
A fair number of my colleagues/friends have found my concerns over TV/movies and the effect it has on me to be …mmmmmm….maybe legalistic? I’m sure it has a lot to do with how I present/articulate it so poorly. I thought what Piper had to say was helpful – although I don’t have the tolerance for violence and foul language :l)I also appreciated his humility in admitting he blew it.
If you saw Jerry Bolton’s Facebook this morning you’ll know you can avoid ‘The Proposal’
)