This is part 2 in a series on “A Theology of Video Games”. To see part 1, click here.
I once had a pastor who had a strict rule for himself: no “R” rated movies. He didn’t even watch The Passion of the Christ when it released.
His reasoning was that “R” rated movies generally incorporated content that wasn’t good for him and his spiritual walk with Jesus. He knew, of course, that not all “R” rated movie were “bad”, but he felt that creating a blanket rule protected him. Plus, what was he really missing out on? He was content and satisfied with his life and didn’t need movies to bring him fulfillment.1
Over the years, I’ve vacillated over whether or not he had the “right” way of things.
On one hand, there is an obvious wisdom here. You can avoid a lot of problematic content by just cutting it out entirely. And there is something freeing in saying “no thanks, I’m good” to media. Many of us can’t say “no” to the impulses we have for consumption, though we would rarely admit it.2
Yet, it never set right with me to take a blanket “no ‘R’ movies” approach for my own life. Firstly, the movie rating system isn’t a good gauge for what is, or isn’t, healthy in the area of spiritual formation. Plenty of PG movies turn my spirit to idolizing violence, vanity, materialism, etc., while a movie like Schindler’s List — which has a strong “R” rating — made me long for the Kingdom of Heaven to reign on earth.
Secular rating systems have a good and needed purpose, but stewarding my spiritual formation isn’t that purpose.
Secondly, I want to engage in difficult content. I’m a Christian, and I want to push deep into all the darkest parts of the world to shine light, not ignore the existence of the darkness.
But I’m also selfish and carnal, and sometimes I just like movies, music, video games, books, and illustrations that are objectively sinful. Throughout my life my, I’ve been drawn to the bloody, gritty, profane, and pornographic.
I don’t say this defensively, just honestly.
And in light of my sin nature and the draw of that content, my former pastor may be right.
Step 1 - Honest Assessment
If there were steps to take to form a healthy Theology of Video Games (and I’m not sure there is), then I think the first step would be to take an honest assessment of our motives for wanting to play video games. This is a time for asking, “why don’t I want to give this up and not come back?”
This needs to be a partner-with-Jesus kind of activity, in which we put all our crappy and defensive excuses aside and just allow Him to show us our sin and carnality. None of us (I repeat, none of us) have purely good reasons for wanting to play video games.
We are all mixed bags who can say with Paul, “For I do not understand what I am doing; for I am not practicing what I want to do, but I do the very thing I hate.”3
I took an honest assessment for the first time a few years ago and discovered a whole bunch of stuff I didn’t like. Sure, I played video games “because I like them”, but that begged the question, “Well, why do you like them?”
After some soul-searching with Jesus, I discovered:
Video games help me cope.
So often, my life feels out of control. With four kids, bills to pay, and life goals that often loom so large and take so long to complete… it feels wonderful to play a game in which I can make things go my way.
I like feeling good at something.
When I fail in a video games, it’s usually a failing-forward experience. I learn, I restart, I succeed. It’s a loop that can happen four or five times in one evening, not spaced out over months or years, like in the rest of my life. And it feels good.4
Going along with that last point, I like feeling… powerful?
That’s not the right word exactly, but it also kinda is. What else do you call that feeling of facing someone or something in (virtual) combat and winning? I dunno, but whatever it is, I like it.
I love story with choice.
I’m a writer, so I love story in general. But stories that let me be both a consumer and a creator at the same time are truly special. Movies are a wonderful art form, but they rarely have the dynamic story telling that video games are capable of.
Video games encourage me to be curious.
More and more, video games want me to explore, push limits, and be curious. That’s so engaging and it scratches an itch I rarely get elsewhere. I can spend an hour just “poking around” in a video game world, seeing what happens when I do this or go there.
I love working with my friends.
Games can give me and my group of friends a collective goal and challenge to work towards, and it’s how I stay connected and in relationship with friends I’ve had for years. If I didn’t play games, I’d lose touch with them, and that scares me.
If you’re a gamer, your list will likely overlap with mine and also include plenty of items mine didn’t have. Whatever your list entails, you must choose to be courageous enough to actually talk to God about who you really are and what your heart really looks like.
The good and the bad.
My list has some “good” things on it (or at least neutral ones). Although we are sinful and fallen people, we’re also image bearers of the Creator of the Universe. Don’t be afraid to ask the Lord to search your heart. Actually, I would say that we should only be afraid of refusing to allow the Lord to work in our hearts.
Step 2 - Admit There Is Some Connection
Many Christians will not grow in their relationship with Jesus simply because they see their spiritual growth separate from everything else in their life. It’s almost like we see our “spirit” as this thing that sits in a white-walled clean room in our hearts, unaffected by what we do, say, or think. Only when we choose to sanitize ourselves, throw on a hazmat suit, and walk into room in our hearts (maybe by attending church, reading our Bible, etc.) do we think that we make any impact on our spirit.
But that’s not true.
It is more helpful to imagine spiritual “you” is a ball of Play-Doh slowly taking on the shape of the media you consume, the activities you participate in, and the community you cultivate.5
If I play video games and see no connection to how it forms me spiritually, I am blind.
I would argue that we play video games because they form us. Video games give us memories and experiences that join in with our lives’ other memories and experiences to shape who we are.
The problem is, if I admit that a connection exists between my spiritual formation and video games, then I must confront the negatives sides to that.
And if I confront the negatives sides of video games, and admit there is a possibility they will form me to be less like Jesus, then I may have to withhold certain games from myself (or stop gaming at all?). And that’s a scary line of thinking, because I really like games.
But if we are willing to concede there is a connection between the video games I play—and how I play them6—then I can have an honest conversation with God about how I should (or shouldn’t) engage with video games.
And the best part is that, when I begin that conversation, I will break down a wall that may have been preventing intimacy with God.
Intimacy with Jesus isn’t born from living a life free of sin and failure, but being fiercely transparent with Jesus about our sin and failure. It is choosing spiritual nakedness before God, rather than covering ourselves up with the fig leaves titled “it’s just a game and doesn’t matter”.
If it didn’t matter, we wouldn’t want to play them so much.
Step 3 - Flounder Desperately and Do Everything Wrong
Our next article will dive into some thoughts on how to play video games in a way that honors God. I might be right with some of those thoughts, though I’m probably—at least a little—wrong.
That’s because I’m still in pseudo-step three of this journey. It’s the step we never leave.
Once we know that there’s a connection between video games and our spiritual formation, we’re faced with a choice: Do we change how we play games so that we are formed to be more like Jesus, or do we continue on doing what seems right in our own eyes?7
Let’s assume we decide to try and be more like Jesus.
The thing is, Jesus didn’t play Halo or Super Mario Smash Melee8 due (at least in part) to His birth being some two thousand years ago. This means we’re left with hypotheticals. Would Jesus have hopped onto a couch and played Overcooked 2? Would He have played 007 Goldeneye? Would He have said “no” to games in general, or just played ones rated “E for Everyone”.
The thing is, I don’t know.
I don’t know exactly what Jesus would do if He were on earth today and in my cultural setting. But I am getting to know His character the more I study the Scriptures and act like Him. As I learn more about Jesus, I continue to refine all areas of my life, including my video gaming.
I feel fairly confident that future-Phil9 will disagree with today-Phil. But all I can do is be incredibly honest with Jesus and act in accordance with my conscious.
This “in accordance with my conscious” thing isn’t anti-Biblical, by the way.
The Apostle Paul was writing to the church in Rome while it struggled with a theological (and very practical for them) question about whether or not they should eat meat that had been sacrificed to a false god prior to them purchasing it. I cannot recommend enough that you read the whole chapter of Romans 14, as it applies to neatly to our conversation here. I’ll just draw attention to Paul’s closing argument.
So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.10
What Paul is saying is, “Eating the meat that was sacrificed to idols is fine, unless you really think it may be wrong. If you think it may really be wrong, then if you eat it it’s sin to you.”
Friend, only do things you truly believe (through faith) pleases the Lord. If you think there is a chance it does not please God, do not do it.
This means that some of us, like those in the Roman church two thousand years ago, will come to different conclusions. Don’t feel pressure to agree with my conclusion about what games to play or not play, but I beg you to think critically about how you engage with video games and be willing to change as God leads you.
Which also means you must be humble and open before the Lord, asking Him to change you.
We’ll pick up this thread next week.
Take note. We’ll come back to this next week.
Read, “I can stop whenever I want to. I just don’t want to.”
Romans 7:15 NASB
Some of us will already know why (dopamine!), but that will be a topic for later articles.
This (imperfect) analogy is pulled from our larger series on the Sanctified Imagination you can find here.
A point we’ll come back to.
See Judges 17:6
Best Smash in my humble opinion.
Refrain from any Phil of the Future jokes, please.
Romans 14: 22-23 NIV
