Our Love for Jesus is “Erotic to the Core” says John Piper at John MacArthur's Shepherds Conference

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In 2020, before everything started, I attended Shepherd's Conference at Grace Community Church.

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John MacArthur puts this on every year and I really enjoyed it and I thought I might like to go back.

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But I wouldn't have gone this year because I found out John Piper was asked to speak.

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You know, some people notice that I quote from John MacArthur and I use some of his material.

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I've been accused of putting John MacArthur on a pedestal, which is ridiculous. I mean, so you think a pastor is beneficial, so that means you idolize him.

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I mean, these people, it's a false accusation. I've disagreed with John MacArthur on several occasions and this is one of them.

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Why did he have John Piper speak at this year's Shepherd's Conference? Well, what's the problem with John Piper?

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Well, John Piper, one of his doctrines, matter of fact, the doctrine he's most well known for is

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Christian hedonism. Of course, hedonism is an ungodly thing. It's the pursuit of pleasure, worldly pleasure.

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But John Piper came up with, created his own strange doctrine known as Christian hedonism and it led him to say this about a

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Christian's love for Jesus. He says, here's the headline from the dissenter.

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John Piper says, our love for Jesus is erotic to the core.

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Let's watch what he said. What are we after in our people's lives?

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And everybody said, obedience. So did I. Amen. But you had already quoted, if you love me, you will obey me.

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So I'm thinking, I'm after love, folks. And you are too. And because that love, that love is not equal to obedience and that love is not equal to agape.

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That love is erotic to the core. That's an overstatement. Eros means

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I find pleasure in you, Jesus. I find pleasure in you,

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Jesus. You are my preciousness. And there comes obedience. Okay.

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So obviously that's just weird, cringy. The article continues.

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The New Testament primarily uses three Greek words to describe love, agape, phileo, and eros.

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Agape is often described as the highest form of love, a selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love prominently featured in the

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Christian scriptures. I mean, if we talk about a love that's divine, that God has for us, it would be agape.

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Phileo is a reference to brotherly love, right? You think of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.

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So friendship, affection, but eros is traditionally understood as referring to romantic or a passionate love, often associated with physical attraction and desire.

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So at this week's, this past week's Shepherds Conference, John Piper at John MacArthur's church, while not in such a graphic detail as some, because some people from the

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Gospel Coalition have also said this, saying totally inappropriate things and comparing

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Christ's love for the church. And I'm not even going to repeat what they said. It was so profane.

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But John MacArthur, excuse me, John Piper said something very different.

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He said that a Christian's love for Jesus is, or maybe should be, erotic to the core.

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Now you notice he caught himself and he's like, okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But yeah, that's, it's just weird that anyone would even think to say something like that.

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So this article from the Dissenter, it says that John Piper's statements are confusing at best and false teaching at worst.

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And I'll just say this. Some people misunderstand when I do a video and I'm disagreeing with somebody.

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People sometimes assume that I'm saying, well, this person's a false teacher, this person's a heretic, this and that.

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Don't ever assume that. If I don't say that, then that's not what I'm saying, right? I actually have to come out and say, so I'm not saying

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John Piper is a false teacher, although I wouldn't recommend him. And I'm going to explain why.

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I don't think this is enough to say, hey, don't, I wouldn't listen to the guy just because of this, but this isn't the first thing.

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And again, this is tied to his strange doctrine known as Christian hedonism. But the article continues, not only does the

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New Testament never once use the term eros to describe the love between Christ and the church, but the biblical portrayal of our love for Jesus is deeply relational, characterized by agape, selfless, sacrificial love.

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It is not typically associated with the English term erotic due to its contemporary connotations, right?

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When you hear the word erotic, this is not something that would be involved in a

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Christian context except if you're preaching against a lust or something like that.

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So again, for John Piper to even think that, nevermind say that,

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I don't know. I mean, it's really weird. John Piper's error, the article says, in labeling our love for Jesus as erotic is a manifestation of a deeper theological misinterpretation concerning the

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Christian's relationship with Christ, deeply entrenched in what he terms Christian hedonism.

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So yes, this is a strange doctrine that John Piper literally created out of thin air.

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He calls it Christian hedonism. And isn't this what people do these days? They take something that's either bad or maybe you might say it's worldly, and then they just add the word

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Christian to it. So you have rock and roll. Oh, well, that's okay. It's Christian rock and roll.

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And a lot of people watching probably don't have a problem with that. Fine. I'm not going to make a big deal about it.

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But then there's rap music. I mean, rap music is, for the most part, violent and crude and the things they say about women and all the rest.

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Well, yeah, but if it's Christian rap, then it's okay, right? No, I reject the idea that Christian rap is even a thing.

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But now you have people talking about, well, there's the homosexual movement. Yeah, but if it's

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Christian homosexuality, and there actually is a movement where they're talking about, you know,

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Christian this and Christian that, and just attach the label Christian to it.

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So hedonism is bad. Yeah, but it's Christian hedonism. No, there's no such thing.

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So the article says, this doctrine of Christian hedonism posits that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

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A doctrine by which his entire ministry revolves around, that's

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John Piper, fundamentally misinterprets the essence of Christian joy and our pursuit of God.

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While the desire to find satisfaction in God is biblically sound, the framing of this pursuit as hedonism, a term historically associated with the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good, is skews the biblical portrayal of self -denial, sacrifice, and the taking up of one's cross to follow

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Christ, Luke 9, 23. By equating our deepest, most righteous desires for God with a term laden with connotations of self -centered pleasure seeking,

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Piper's theology shifts the focus from God's glory to our own emotional satisfaction.

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And listen, I know that people think of the Dissenter website along with Protestia as, you know, it's just sort of like this website that exposes false teachers.

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There's actually a lot of good writing on the Dissenter website, and I think they just nailed it right here.

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So John Piper said, again, the headline, he said, our love for Jesus, or the

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Christian's love for Jesus is, or in his mind, should be erotic to the core.

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I sort of feel uncomfortable even saying that. So John Piper, is

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John Piper a false teacher? That's what some people are going to ask. I would say if this is all that it was, if this is something that he said and everything else

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I heard from him was good, I would chalk it up as, okay, he spoke and he immediately recognized that, okay, he went a little too far.

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And I believe in grace. Okay. I really do believe in showing people grace. I'm sure if you take, you know, 10 years of sermons that I've preached,

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I've probably said a few dumb things. I don't think I've ever said anything like this, honestly, but I've probably said some things

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I wish I could take back. So yeah, I would say that we should show grace.

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But John Piper, you know, what's, what's the problem with John, John Piper? It's not just this.

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The Christian hedonism doctrine alone is enough for me to just not, not want to recommend his ministry.

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Also, he has partnered with people like Beth Moore, Lecrae and Rick Warren.

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So that's troubling. And then, uh, when asked about, I think he was asked about firearms and self -defense and John Piper said he wasn't sure if an intruder broke in in the middle of the night and wanted to do harm to his wife, he wasn't sure if he would, you know, use violence to defend his own wife.

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And a lot of people had a problem with that, including myself. I realized a

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Christian is not obligated to own a firearm. I do own a firearm. I like to target shoot and the last thing in the world

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I would ever want to do. And I think this is true for any Christian. The last thing you would ever want to do is shoot somebody and God forbid, kill another human being.

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But if they're breaking in in the middle of the night and they're trying to harm or kill your wife and kids, uh, as a man, you better be willing to do something about it.

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And John Piper said he wasn't sure if he would. And to me, that was one of the worst things, uh, even though he didn't say that in a sermon, he said it in an interview and yeah, that's bad.

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Here's another thing John Piper said in a sermon where he seemingly denies the doctrine of salvation by faith alone.

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Watch. How do you get into heaven? You don't get into heaven by faith alone.

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You get justified by faith alone. You get into a position where God is a hundred percent for you by faith alone.

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And in order to get into heaven, that faith must bear the fruit of love. I saw in a fresh light, the word work out, your salvation means produce it, bring it about, effect it.

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Peter O 'Brien in his commentary takes this phrase. He says the word implies continuous, sustained, strenuous effort and as dangerous as this language is.

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I mean, this is on the brink of heresy. Okay. So this is the final justification doctrine of John Piper.

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And notice he admits that it's at the brink or up to the brink of heresy.

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Well, if you're teaching something and in your mind you think, okay, this, this is practically heresy. You probably shouldn't teach it.

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So all of these things together, I would not recommend John Piper.

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And as much as I love John MacArthur, I don't know why John MacArthur or, and if I mix their two names up in the video, just, you know who

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I'm talking about. John Piper, not a big fan. I would not recommend him. John MacArthur though,

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I like John MacArthur, but this is one of those times where I disagree with him. I don't know why he had

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John Piper speak. Christian hedonism, final justification, all of this.

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It's no surprise that he comes out with some strange, you know, doctrine.

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So I disagree with John MacArthur's decision to have

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John Piper speak at this year's Shepherds Conference. So I hope this video was helpful and just remember, test everything over and against the word of God.

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If there's a pastor out there teaching Christian hedonism or that the

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Christian's love for Jesus should be erotic, you have to ask yourself, okay, where's that in the

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Bible? And if it's not in the Bible, it's probably not someone you should be listening to.