Audio Transcript

Jesus died to make us pure — that’s the powerful truth we encounter in our Navigators Bible Reading today in Titus 2:14. Christ “gave himself . . . to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” This is why the only sin we can truly purge from our lives is sin that’s already been forgiven. The gospel isn’t just the starting point of the Christian life; it’s essential for every step forward.

Here’s the order. Step one: Sin is canceled by the blood of Christ. We are justified before God. Step two: That forgiven sin is then purged from our lives by the Spirit as we grow in holiness. We must never reverse the order. First, sin is canceled — then, sin is conquered. This order is vital. This theme is precious. This theme is at the heart of gospel transformation that we celebrate often, as you can see in the APJ book on pages 274 and 275. He died to make his bride, the church, beautiful in real, lived-out holiness. That truth motivates us to fight sin, especially sins of the eyes and heart. So, what does this mean in the battle against lust — particularly when it comes to watching nudity in movies or on social media?

Sexualized content is everywhere. Advertisers use suggestive images to sell. Social media influencers post provocative or semi-nude photos to gain followers. Musicians often rely on sexual appeal to captivate audiences, both on stage and in music videos. Movies and shows include nudity — sometimes in graphic scenes, other times in ways that objectify characters or suggest sexual innuendo. Then there’s more explicit content: pornographic material available on subscription platforms and adult websites, offering direct access to lust-driven media. Lust fuels so much of Western media. So, Pastor John, what are your convictions here? How do you personally navigate this culture while honoring Christ’s call to purity?

Pursuit of Radical Purity

Tony, the closer I get to death and meeting Jesus personally face to face and giving an account for my life and for the careless words that I’ve spoken (Matthew 12:36) — and how much more for intentional stares — the more sure I am of my resolve to never intentionally look at a TV show or a movie or a website or a magazine where I know I will see photos or films of nudity. Never. That’s my resolve. And the closer I get to death, the better I feel about that and the more committed I become.

And I want to invite, frankly, all Christians to join me in this pursuit of greater purity of heart and mind. In our day, when entertainment media is virtually the lingua franca of the world, this is an invitation to be an alien. And I believe with all my heart that what the world needs is radically bold, sacrificially loving, God-besotted freaks, aliens.

“If we choose to endorse or embrace or enjoy impurity, we take a spear and ram it into Jesus’s side.”

In other words, I am inviting you to say no to the world for the sake of the world. The world does not need more cool, hip, culturally savvy, irrelevant copies of itself. That’s a hoax that thousands of young Christians have been duped by. They’ve got to be hip, cool, savvy, culturally aware, watching everything in order not to be freakish, and that is undoing them morally and, I think, for their witness.

Twelve Reasons to Be Resolved

So, here are my reasons. I’ve got twelve, so it’s going to take a few minutes. But, people, I need these if nobody else does, and I think others do too. Here are my reasons for why I’m committed to this kind of radical abstention from anything I know is going to present me with nudity.

Reason 1

Jesus died to purify me. He died to purify his people. It is an absolute travesty of the cross to treat it as though Jesus died only to forgive us for the sin of watching nudity and not to purify us for the power not to watch it. He has blood-bought power in his cross. He died to make us pure. “[He] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession” (Titus 2:14). If we choose to endorse or embrace or enjoy or pursue impurity, we take a spear and ram it into Jesus’s side every time we do (Hebrews 6:6). He suffered to set us free from impurity.

Reason 2

There is in the Bible from beginning to end, a radical call for holiness of mind and heart and life. “As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). Or 2 Corinthians 7:1: “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” Nudity in movies and photos is not holy and does not advance our holiness. It is unholy and impure.

Reason 3

Jesus said, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away” (Matthew 5:28–29). Seeing naked women causes men and women — women seeing naked men — to sin with their minds and their desires and often with their bodies. If Jesus told us to guard our hearts by gouging out our eyes to prevent lust, how much more would he say, “Don’t watch it”?

Reason 4

Life in Christ is not mainly the avoidance of evil, but mainly the passionate pursuit of good. Philippians 4:8: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” My father used to say, “Be so busy doing you don’t have time to don’t.” When people accuse us fundamentalists of being people with a bunch of don’ts, I’ve never felt that way. My life is not a constrained life. It is a free life. “You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

Reason 5

I want to see and know God as fully as possible in this life and the next. Watching nudity is a huge hindrance to that pursuit. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). The defilement of the mind and heart by watching nudity dulls the heart’s ability to see and enjoy God.

Reason 6

God calls women to “adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control.” That’s 1 Timothy 2:9. When we pursue or receive or embrace nudity in our entertainment, we are implicitly endorsing the sin of the women who sell themselves to this way, and we are therefore uncaring about their souls. They are disobeying 1 Timothy 2:9, and we are saying that’s okay.

Reason 7

Most Christians are hypocrites in watching nudity because, on the one hand, they say by their watching that this is okay. And on the other hand, they know deep down they would not want their daughter or their wife to be playing this role. That’s hypocrisy.

Reason 8

Nudity is not like murder and violence on the screen. That’s make-believe; nobody really gets killed. But nudity is not make-believe. These actresses are really naked in front of the camera, doing exactly what the director says to do with their legs and their hands and their breasts. They’re standing there, and they’re naked in front of millions of people — for the world to see.

Reason 9

Sexual relations is a beautiful thing. God created it and pronounced it good. But, as David Hubbard said when I was in seminary, it is not a spectator sport. It is a holy joy that is sacred in its secure place of tender love. Men and women who want to be watched in their nudity are in the category with exhibitionists who pull down their pants at the top of escalators.

Reason 10

There is no great film that needs nudity to add to its greatness. No, there isn’t. There are creative ways to be true to reality without turning sex into a spectator sport and without putting actors and actresses in morally compromised situations on the set. It is not great artistic integrity that is driving this. Underneath all of it is male sexual appetite driving this business, and following from that is peer pressure in the industry and the desire for ratings that sell. It’s not art that puts nudity in. It’s the appeal of prurience. It sells.

Reason 11

Christians do not watch nudity with a view to maximizing holiness. That’s not what keeps them coming back to the shows. They know deep down that these TV shows or these movies are shot through with the commendation and exaltation of attitudes and actions that are utterly out of step with death to self and with exaltation of Christ. No, what keeps those Christians coming back is the fear that if they took Christ at his word and made holiness as serious as I’m saying it is, they would have to stop seeing so many TV shows and so many movies. They would be viewed as freakish. And that today is the worst evil of all. To be seen as freakish is a much greater evil than to be unholy.

Reason 12

There is one biblical guideline that makes life very simple. Romans 14:23: “Whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.” My paraphrase: If you doubt, don’t. That would alter the viewing habits of millions — and oh, how sweetly they would sleep with their conscience!

So, I say it again: Join me in the pursuit of the kind of purity that sees God and knows the fullness of joy in his presence and the everlasting pleasure at his right hand.