“We are not talking about marble statues or a Holocaust documentary or a physician examining a patient. We are talking about two naked people doing in front of us what naked people do together. Take the medium of television out of it. Would you go into a private room and look through a peep hole to watch this? Would anyone think that’s the sort of thing we can give thanks for? Or the sort of thing mature Christians do?”

Lately, I have been heartbroken over how many Bible-believing Christians approve of watching certain movies which include scenes with on-screen nudity and sexual content (by which I mean literal sexual content, not something implied). I’m not just talking about immature Christians who make excuses to watch things like Game of Thrones. I’m talking about pastors, worship leaders, and other popular Christians in the evangelical world who are arguing for these kinds of movies and shows from another angle. One that seems more “Christian,” more appropriate, even sanctifying. And no, the argument does not include watching a censored version of a particular movie.

They argue that the issue of on-screen nudity is a gray area. If a certain film is artistic, or has redemptive qualities about it, or even if its intention is to simply reveal the horror of sexual sin, then we can approve of watching on-screen nudity and sexual content, so long as it doesn’t cause us to personally sin, or that our faith isn’t shaken because we watched it (Rom. 14:22-23 is used in defense of this). But is on-screen nudity really a gray area? Perhaps in the case of a documentary of the Sistine Chapel or of a South American tribe, but that isn’t what I’m talking about. In the words of Kevin DeYoung:

We are not talking about marble statues or a Holocaust documentary or a physician examining a patient. We are talking about two naked people doing in front of us what naked people do together. Take the medium of television out of it. Would you go into a private room and look through a peep hole to watch this? Would anyone think that’s the sort of thing we can give thanks for? Or the sort of thing mature Christians do?

Can Christians Ever Approve of Watching Such a Thing?

Can we possibly approve of watching a movie which displays people literally getting naked, or mostly naked, and engaging in real sexual acts, so long as it has a good message or is over-all excellent and artistic in its quality (again, I’m not talking about a censored version of Braveheart, I’m talking about watching and encouraging other Christians to watch these specific scenes)? Not only is there something deeply wrong when a film attempts to expose the horror of sin, while causing the actors to sin in order to get their point across (such as Knight of Cups), but there is also something deeply wrong when Christians approve of watching it.

I realize I may sound like a resounding gong or one of those legalist Christians who struggles with lust and therefore I feel like I have to condemn everyone else for watching on-screen nudity. I also realize that the topic of what Christians should or shouldn’t watch is incredibly complicated (and I am by no means perfect). I will also be the first to admit that Christians do have certain liberties, which means there are some things which may be okay for some us but not others (1 Cor. 8; Rom. 14). But since adultery, fornication, and all forms of sexual immorality are sinful (and grievous to God – Gen. 6; Jer. 8:18-9:3; Hos. 11; etc.), then the actors engaging in these things are clearly doing something deeply offensive to God (and likely causing millions of other people to lust in the process). Sin is terrible. Always.

It should make us weep (James 4:8-9). It should make us feel uncomfortable. The psalmists didn’t cry out for God’s justice because they were bloodthirsty, but because they genuinely loathed the sin around them (Ps. 5, 58, 68, etc.). Ezra refused to eat or drink because he was so sorrowful over the sins of the people in his community (Ezra 10:6). Jeremiah cried out “My anguish! My anguish! I writhe in pain!” because of the foolishness and evil surrounding him (Jer. 4:19-21).

How then, as Christians, could we ever justify being entertained by on-screen sexual nudity, despite its intent (or even how “explicit” it may or may not be)?

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