This is part 3 in a series on “A Theology of Video Games”. Click here to see the series homepage.
Although I’ve never thought of it this way until writing this series, I think you could classify my approach to video games as a mix of disciplines and guidelines.
Disciplines are life exercises I have put in place to help shape me to be like Jesus and keep my heart turned toward him.
Guidelines are guardrails I’ve put up because I’m aware of my sin nature (especially in light of God’s holiness). These are lines I’ve identified that I don’t think Jesus would cross, and so I don’t either.1
Below are a catalogue of some of those disciplines and guidelines. Please don’t think of this as “everyone must do these to be holy”, but as a challenge I give to you.
Read them, process them, and incorporate similar disciplines and guidelines into your life.
Regular Fasting
Every January and July, I fast from video games2. I chose those months randomly—though it works out nice that’s it the beginning and middle of the year—but the rhythm is very intentional.
These fasts help keep me from falling into unhealthy habits. For me, it’s easy to get to the point where video games either become
a coping mechanism3 and/or
the place I spend my creative energy.
In fact, I also choose to fast video games during times of high stress or grief. I know me and I know the temptation to “check out” from life by escaping into a fictional world.
So, this first discipline helps shape me into a person who both has creative energy for endeavors I’m called to and is more inclined to run to Jesus when I experience stress.
I once heard someone, discussing a different spiritual discipline, as a way of “realigning their eyes on Jesus”. I like that image. Certain spiritual practices, like fasting—whether food, video games, or something else which may hold our hearts—can remind our bodies and minds that Jesus is the Lord of our life, and the sustenance for our souls.
He is always my ultimate joy, not any form of entertainment.
Play Like Jesus
Video games are, by default, an engagement-driven form of entertainment. They are active, not passive.
Like it or not, the active choices I make in a game can shape me as a person. This is an uncomfortable truth, and one that is commonly denied. But denying something doesn’t make it untrue.
So, if the choices I make in a game will form me in some way, I need to play a game like Jesus would.
This has complication that arise very quickly, but let’s first stick to some areas in which the lines are clearer, and we’ll work towards the gray areas afterward.
Decisions in Role Play Games
It’s common today to have RPGs which allow the player to do “good” things and “bad” things.4 In fact, I’m playing one of the greatest of such games right now with my oldest son, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic5. As he and I are going through the game, the character is faced with “light side” and “dark side” choices.
I am teaching my son to treat those moments like “real life”, trying to choose what seems most right in God’s eyes. Sometimes he and I are tempted to choose a “not so nice” option in order to be mean or vengeful, but I force us to play the “good” way.
This means I block us off from “evil play throughs” and from seeing certain gameplay options and storylines.
I acknowledge that.
But it’s a guardrail, a way of protecting my (and my son’s) heart. It may be small and feel really insignificant, but that’s how many things feel in the Kingdom. What seems to have no outward meaning to the world often contains eternal significance.
When you have a moment in a game in which you have your character do something cruel, then you feel a warmth of humor or satisfaction, you’ve shaped yourself to be a little less like Jesus.
Considering More Linear Gameplay
But what about games that contain no options, but the the player is forced to do certain actions, some of which seem bad?
For example, I remember one moment when playing It Takes Two with my wife. We had to engage in trying to murder a stuffed elephant that had come to life. The scene was strange because I felt bad as I spammed the “x” button to try and force the elephant off a cliff tabletop.
So what’s the answer?
Pay attention to your conscious, or spirit.
Usually, I just opt out of games in which the I should do something that makes me uncomfortable. Though, I’ll make exceptions when the art seems to have a bigger narrative and a more nuanced view. It Takes Two is a good example of that. The scene I referenced earlier was very intentionally written in a way to communicate “this is bad”.6
Other games get far more complicated, such as The Last of Us. Many of us will come down on two different sides of that conversation.
But games like Grand Theft Auto should just be avoided. They are designed, from the ground up, in calling “good” what God calls “bad”.
For those ready to fight me on this last point, I’ll just say that most of us have video game backlogs so long we could play into retirement and not put a dent in them. Instead of flirting with something we all know is jacked up, we can just choose a different game.
No Hyper-Realistic “Shooty-Shooty Bang-Bang”
Shooters are a large part of the video gaming landscape, and they range wildly in type. For me, I stay away from “hyper-realistic” shooting games. These are games in which I would participate in a very believable shooting/killing experience.
I acknowledge that terms such as “realistic” and “believable” are subjective. I get that. Is Call of Duty hyper-realistic? Is Battlefield?
I won’t make a blanket statement. I’ll just say that in my past (and perhaps yours too) I liked the idea of using violence to be a “good guy”. Action movies and shooters were my jam, and it always intended to conceal carry a gun so I could save the day if needed. These thoughts did not form me to be like Jesus.
I’m far removed from that pre-Jesus person, which is why I generally don’t enjoy shooting a real-looking gun at real-looking people.
Generally, which means sometimes I do.
And when I do, I need to ask “why do I like this?” And asking that question led to a realization that sometimes I play video games because I like the idea of doing something Jesus does not enjoy.
So I don’t play hyper-realistic shooters.
It’s a line I’ve drawn for myself, meaning there are large swaths of games I don’t play. For me, playing such games would make me go against my conscious and it would be a sin for me.
So now I wonder if I’m a hypocrite when I make an exception and play a game like Overwatch 2, which isn’t hyper-realistic but does include shooting at human-like characters. Or The Finals, or Battlefront, or any number of other games I’ve played since taking this stance.
I don’t know if I’m right, but I think there’s something important about being willing to admit where we are weak and then making space for God to convict us there.
God can work in my weakness, but won’t work in my pride.
Be Intentional and Don’t Make Excuses
I need to be very thoughtful and very intentional about why I play video games to ensure that I’m being the person God desires me to be.
And when I feel an excuse or defensiveness rising up—“I’m tired”, “it’s not a big deal”, “I just like the story”, “I need to be in the world to minister to the world”, etc.—I reject it.
Excuses are for children, not for maturing followers of Jesus.
Actually—speaking of children—being a father has been a catalyst for deep intentionality in my life. I play games I don’t allow my children to play based on their current stage of development, and that means I can dance very closely with hypocrisy.7 Because I’m making that decision—to do something I wouldn’t let my children do—I should have a good reason for it.
Currently I’m playing through Baldur’s Gate 3. So, I need to ask myself why I’m playing through it, and be raw and honest.
The answer, for the record, is that I like it. It’s a fantastic piece of art made with care by people who are excellent at their craft.
It’s also a game filled with stuff that does not please Jesus. Stuff that’s genuinely evil and wrong, which has made me consider stopping. But I haven’t because it is also a game that give me the ability to choose good and bad, so i can navigate this dirty video game landscape in a way that may be pleasing to Jesus.
I also may be wrong.
All I can do is be humble and keep questioning and muddling through tough questions. I must be sure I don’t just exert my “right” to do what I want because I fall under God’s grace, and use these questions and gray spaces to become more mature and meditative in my walk with Jesus.
Maybe I’m just making complicated excuses to justify my desire to play video games. Maybe I’m helping myself and others blaze a path forward to Christ-likeness in the engagement of a complicated art form.
Time will tell. All I can do is sit before the Father, modeling myself after the Son, and giving the Spirit free reign in my life.
God help me.
I’m sure these will change as I get to know Jesus better.
Excepting only when playing with friends who I could not otherwise see.
We’ll discuss this in a future post.
The best ones often blur the lines.
GOAT
See the Sanctified Imagination article titled “The Art of Examining Art”.
Though, to be fair, I drive cars and drink alcohol, and they can’t do those either.
