Thursday, November 19, 2009 » Pastor John Piper has over 39,000 followers � on Twitter. He has even more followers of his ministry as a mega church pastor and bestselling author of �Don�t Waste Your Life.� So when Piper tweeted, �Is anyone really addicted to porn? Put a blowtorch in their face; they will turn off the computer. IF they believe it�s real� on Nov. 8, both fans and critics of Piper began asking for answers.
�Honestly, any time a well-known figure tweets about something that affects thousands of people, and then doesn�t engage the conversation, it can be dangerous,� author Matthew Paul Turner said in response to Piper�s tweet. �But with that particular tweet, I think people wanted Piper to explain himself.�
He added, �I still want to know what he meant by �blowtorch.��
On his blog, Turner, who was a critic of the pastor prior to the tweet, wrote a letter to Piper, asking him to clarify what the porn tweet meant.
�So, come on, stop being the Holy Riddler: Tell us what you mean!� Turner said on his blog. �Do you have a secret you need to share? Don�t be afraid to tell us � we�re Americans: we love secrets. Have you become a welder? Have you been Googling for pictures of Levi Johnston? Did Jesus appear to you as an Arminian? � Whatever it is, John, you can tell us.�
Several of Piper�s Twitter followers responded similarly, questioning the validity of the statement.
One follower said, �What the heck are you even talking about?�
Another, �WTF?�
One follower asked if someone had stolen Piper�s iPhone, leading him to tweet this message. Others linked Piper to www.xxxchurch.com, a Web site ministry devoted to combating porn addiction.
On Nov. 9 Piper tweeted again about porn, this time with Biblical support: �Elder porn. �Have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures?� Ezekiel 8:12.� This too caused many of Piper�s followers to respond.
One Twitter follower said, �Congratulations. I�ve never seen a verse taken so out of context.�
Pastor Tom Cochran (�05) of New Journey Community Church in Wabash was shocked that a pastor as conservative as Piper had tweeted that. Cochran said he expected someone like Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Wash., who is notoriously controversial, to say something like that, not Piper.
�I�m actually surprised that Piper pulled that one,� Cochran said.
Cochran said that whenever he tweets or updates his Facebook status, he is careful to say only something that he would be able to defend if a CNN reporter came to his house and demanded an explanation.
�We�ve got to make sure that when we say something or do something that�s in front of people, we�ve got to have a reason for it, and it better be one that�s God-honoring and pointing people to Christ, and not just because we�re opinionated or arrogant,� Cochran said.
�Don�t speak just because you have a platform,� he added. Indiana Wesleyan associate professor of religion Keith Drury, in his Tuesday Column (www.tuesdaycolumn.com), does a good job of getting his audience to think, but still leave room for open dialogue, according to Cochran. The key is to leave room for discussion. �Twitter isn�t about just making blanket statements,� said Turner, �so if you�re not willing to engage the conversation, you have to be careful about what and how you tweet.�
Read Turner�s letter to Piper in its entirety at www.jesusneedsnewpr.blogspot.com/2009/11/dear-john-piper.html.