So I’m a gamer.
I’m ten years younger than the ‘average’ gamer, but I still feel like I’ve been at it a while. I did the whole World of Warcraft thing (I’ve no shame…), Tony Hawks, Burnout, Resistance, Counter Strike. My latest was Killzone 2 and it’s no Half Life, but it’s a good romp with incredible graphics.
But it’s got me thinking it really has. How does my gaming fit into my Christianity? Movies, books and music are thought about a lot in Christian terms and the proliferation of Christianity into those mediums is extensive. But for whatever reason with regards to gaming the community is relatively quiet. That’s not to say Christians aren’t gamers, in fact quite the opposite in my experience, but there is definitely still some distance between the way we think about games and the way we think about our other forms of entertainment.
I don’t have any concrete views I’m looking to plug here, I just want to get thinking.
So here’s the crux of it. The question I’m asking myself is – am I going to be able to rid the earth, by gratuitously violent means, of various social and virtual evils in Heaven? My instinctive, knee jerk response is no. There’s no more crying or pain or tears or death, but does that mean that no more Metal Gear Solid? There’s no violence in Heaven, so there’s no Halo either, right?
If this is the case, then surely it must be wrong, even sinful for me to enjoy these games so much now. Or is it okay because I’m only shooting Helghan and not humans? Are we really going to want to recreate the horrors of war in Heaven? So why do we enjoy it so much now? It feels like I’m just making the most of death while it lasts.
Gaming is gift from God, I know. It’s something to zone out to, to have a riot with your mates. There’s way too much good in it for me to condemn it completely. So how do we reconcile that to the violence in games or to the deficiency in morals that it promotes? Or are these not problems at all?
Questions, questions, questions. I want to hear your thoughts. Let’s try and come up with some answers for my next post.
)
June 22, 2009
haha, I and another brother gamer (Mike L) had a similar discussion last year after we realised how much time we were spending in WoW (World of Warcraft).
Our ideas:
1. Always say grace while playing a game – God is the creator of everything, and I guess that includes games too. So I guess that means that God created Azeroth! I should be thankful for that. (I need to take this one to heart)
2. Don’t let games become an idol:
a. Use them for the building of relationships. On this point, I must admit that I am guilty of the WoW sin of WoW-gelism, but I’m unapologetic. If I’m playing with a random stranger, then I’ll start up a conversation and pray that it leads to the Gospel. I’ve had a few decent conversations, and I pray that God will use those planted seeds. And I know of fruit. There is a couple whom I met in my guild who are Christians in NZ. They don’t get to attend church due to shift work, but I’ve hopefully helped encourage them with other resources.
b. Beware escapism. Why are you trying to escape God’s good creation? If it’s cos the world sucks, maybe not such a good idea. If it’s to take time out to chill, then OK.
3. On the question of violence… I guess its the same as watching a violent movie. Gratuitous violence is unnecessary (c.f. Soldier of Fortune etc). Unnecessary violence is unnecessary (c.f. GTA). But some violence adds to the tension of the game, just like any good movie. But if all your games are violent… I’m struggling to think of a game that isn’t though… I guess the question is “Why violence?” What is the purpose of violence in the game? If its a tool for tension/storyline, maybe ok, but it violence is enjoyable (aka GTA) then that’s when I would have issues…
Good ideas mate… need to keep thinking about it
S