Does John Piper Hate Fun?

Ask Pastor John

Desiring God

John Piper, Unknown, 163859, Pastor, Ask, Theology, Desiring God, Religion & Spirituality/christianity, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Questions

4.8 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 26 July 2016

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In an age when many of us are infected with the vocabulary of entertainment and amusement, we need to see models of serious joy.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Pastor John, Dan in Salem, Oregon, writes in to ask why you hate fun so much.
0:10.7	Hello, Pastor John.
0:11.7	I have heard you disapprove of the concept of, quote, unquote, fun as applied to the
0:16.0	things of God before and sermons.
0:18.5	I would like for you to explain more what you have against this word, particularly in
0:22.7	light of your acceptance of the often-maligned word, happy, when applied to the things of
0:28.0	God.
0:29.0	Why reject fun, which can connote enjoyment and pleasure while accepting happy, which is
0:34.4	to many Christians, a worldly substitute for God's joy.
0:37.9	I'm feeling confused by your lexical choices, and I know how highly you value the clarity
0:42.8	of language.
0:43.8	What would you say to Dan?
0:46.7	My lament is only secondarily concerned with words, and is primarily concerned with a
0:57.6	spirit of levity or lightness.
1:02.5	And I'm distinguishing levity from a robust, large-hearted sense of humor.
1:09.7	My lament is with a spirit of flippancy, jokingness, silliness, playfulness, a spirit that is
1:18.2	manifestly uncomfortable with serious joy.
1:24.2	And only comfortable with chipper, upbeat, jolly feelings of joy, language, particular
1:32.3	words like fun or happy is not the main issue for me.
1:37.8	It is something much deeper than that that I'm concerned about.
1:42.4	It really doesn't matter to me.
1:44.6	What words a pastor uses.
	...

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