Romans 7:21-25 describes the daily struggle to live for God in a way that is (not surprisingly) so true for my own experience:

“So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God"”through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

This video clip from Lord of the Rings illustrates this daily battle between the old nature and the new:

I can really empathise with Smeagol sometimes! Can you think of any other well-known pop culture illustrations for key Biblical truths?

Because stories and illustrations from pop culture are often (sadly) better known than the Bible, I think they can be helpful in introducing or reinforcing a point. However, they clearly have their limits. What do you see (or have you experienced) as the dangers of using pop culture examples, such as this Lord of the Rings clip, to introduce and reinforce a point?

Last month John Piper responded to the question “What are your thoughts on drama and movie clips in church services?”. You can read the transcript here, or watch the video here.

Piper says: “I think the use of video and drama largely is a token of unbelief in the power of preaching. And I think that, to the degree that pastors begin to supplement their preaching with this entertaining spice to help people stay with them and be moved and get helped, it’s going to backfire. It’s going to backfire.”

Do you agree with him?