Earlier this week I mentioned how much Jenni and I enjoyed listening to J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

Several good-intentioned people rebuked me on the premise that Harry Potter is dark literature that Christians should avoid. I privately asked each person three questions:

1. Have you read Kevin Bauder’s series on fantasy literature (I link to it in my post)?
2. Do you have a problem with C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia or J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings?
3. Have you read any of the Harry Potter books?

Their answers were consistent:

1. No.
2. I’m not sure because I haven’t read them. (Some added a comment like this: But I’ve seen The Lord of the Rings movies, and I think Christians should avoid those, too.)
3. No.

I don’t mind disagreement on this issue. The underlying desire to glorify God by avoiding worldliness is commendable. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask that people be more informed about this issue before admonishing others about it.

Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor of University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan, reflects on “worldliness in entertainment” as a “high place.”