I came across this old quote from Dr. Piper about TV. I wonder what could also be said about the things reading blogs does to people today? Certainly some of these observations apply equally. Perhaps we could add to this list becoming cynical and argumentative. Having said that, if God is gracious to us, I think those of us who are bloggers do realize at some point the folly of our ways and find that as we blog more and more, the blog wars attract us less and less. Anyway, here is John Piper on the subject of television:
“I know that in my preaching I am addressing a visually oriented and TV influenced people.
I know that 98% of you have televisions, and in 1971 the average adult in America watched 23 hours a week. I believe John Stott is right in his new book on preaching when he says that lengthy exposure to television tends to produce physical laziness, intellectual flabbiness, emotional exhaustion, psychological confusion, and moral disorientation. What this means for us preachers (especially me) is that we must improve our ability to communicate effectively and hold attention with no antics, no stringed orchestras, no violence, and no sex. But it does not mean that we can abandon our calling to preach the whole counsel of God. And therefore it should be expected that preaching will sometimes be the most demanding thing you hear all week. I can’t see how it would be otherwise, unless I make easy what the apostles couldn’t.”
John Piper, Grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of Our Lord, June 20, 1982. (Available electronically from Logos Bible Software.)
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