Well hello again and welcome back (or hello and welcome if this is your first time joining us 😃😃!)!! Days after I published the video/post on 'whether christians should listen to regular music', a dear friend of mine asked me to write a post/make a video that dealt with video games. More specifically, he wanted to know whether christians should play video games; whether video games is something we (christians) can or should invest our time in. From the context he gave me I understood that he had a debate amongst his buddies and, well, some were in favor of playing, some were not. The obvious question became: "who's right and who's wrong?". I will try and clarify/answer this question once and for all, and, of course, with the help of God's word... the Bible. Isn't it amazing that God left us a life manual? All we need to know and do to be successful in life (spiritually - not the "success" as defined in society) is in the Bible.
To better guide our discussion, I will split the answer into several pieces in the form of questions which, together, assemble the puzzle to answer the ultimate question: "Should (or can) christians play video games?". Makes sense? Let's take a look at the individual pieces:
Getting it straight. Is it a sin to play video games?
Why people might think playing video games is bad and what does the Bible has to say?
Are there video games that are better than others? Which video games (if any) should I play?
So wrapping up... can I play or not?
Without further ado... let's get into it!!
Piece #1: Is it a sin to play video games?
I believe that the underlying statement behind debates such as: "should christians play video games?", is that playing video games is a sin. Christians, naturally, usually tend to associate and directly link something that's bad with it being a sin. Hey, there's nothing wrong with this, at the end we all aim to stop doing bad things... but just because something is or may be perceived as bad, does not mean that it is a sin. A classic example, as we've discussed before, is music. Listening to secular music might not be a wise move and it can be bad for us... but that doesn't make listening to secular music a sin. Another can be the famous debate around masturbation (we'll talk about this in a future topic... stay tuned); in short, masturbation in and on itself is not a sin even though its a bad and we might even say terrible practice. Well... playing video games fall along the exact same line as these others. Don't take it from me; let's look at the Bible:
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." - 1 John 3:4
So, the Bible defines sin as the transgression of the law. "Which law?"... you might ask... well, the law given by God in Exodus 20. I invite you to read the chapter and commit to memory the 10 commandments. Wether you read it or not, I guarantee you that there is not a single verse which states: "You shall not play video games.". Question answered, right? Playing video games is not a sin. Does this mean that I'm free to play as much as I want however I want? Well, take a pause here. Read again. I said that playing video games all on its own is not a sin... this, however, does not mean that the mental or lifestyle consequences that we might have because of the playing are not. Got it? We'll get there in a minute. For now let's understand that playing video games is not a sin. Let's take a look at another verse here:
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify." - 1 Corinthians 10:23
You know what this verse is saying? Let me translate... It basically says that you can play as much video games as you want, whichever you want, however you want... but this does not mean that doing so is good for you. Think about that and let's move on.
Piece #2: Why would playing video games be bad?
Be careful... it's a TRAP!!!
Ohh boy... I'm afraid there's much to say about this but we'll keep this section short, I promise. First things first, before jumping into conclusions while reading this section, I invite you to complete this and read the next section as well. They go hand-in-hand and without one or the other, you'd miss the whole picture. Second... there's truly lots to say the negative consequences of video games (as a whole - not pointing towards one game in specific), but we'll discuss the two more broad and relevant to our discussion:
(1) It's a matter of what enters...
The Bible says:
"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." - 2 Corinthians 3:18
...it also says:
"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light." - Matthew 6:22
You get where am I going with this, right? Putting these two verses together we arrive at the conclusion that we are transformed based on what we contemplate and observe. What enters through our eyes DOES have a very significant impact in our lives even when we don't perceive it. I'll give you a classical example... Think about what TV and news has done to our minds in the past 20-30 years. When I was a kid, seeing in the news that someone was murdered was a horrendous thing, a newsflash... today we've been so exposed to those kinds of news that we would actually be surprised the day that nobody gets murdered. As a society, we've been desensitized to the loss of human life. Same has happened with nudity on TV... years ago it was a huge deal, today is so normal people actually expects it in a movie or show. As these, many other things and situations clearly show the problem of exposing our minds to something constantly. Looking at 'bad' things often and repeatedly will eventually cause for us as individuals to consider that thing 'normal' or at the very least makes us indifferent towards the particular situation or conduct. Do you think the effects of video games are any different?
Nowadays there are video games about killing, about spirits and dead people, about war, about violence, games that deal with drugs and substance abuse, some games are even loaded with sexual misconduct and nudity... and... the list goes on. Do ALL the games have this type of content... no, but the vast majority of games out there have these types of images. Now we ask ourselves, as christians, do we want to invest the precious time that God has given us on this planet to expose ourselves to these types of games? Well, not really... right? The Bible says:
"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." - Phillipians 4:8
This verse pretty much speak for itself... right? After all, God got it right. I invite you to do a "Google Search" for keywords or phrases such as: "effects of video games on child mind" or something along those lines... you'll come to find that violent video games DO have a negative effect on the mind (among many MANY other bad consequences...). Let's honor God with how we chose to spend our time, including with what video games we play.
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(2) It's also a matter of time...
The Bible is full of verses in which God or Jesus ask from us to pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to help others (Matthew 25:40), to read and educate ourselves (Proverbs 1:7), to grow (Psalms 25:8-9), to exercise and care for our bodies (1 Corinthians 9:26-27), to take it easy (Matthew 6:34), to preach the gospel (Matthew 28:18-20)... above all, to work on developing a relationship with God. Our days are naturally short and aside from all these tasks that God asks from us, we also need to carve out time to do our normal daily tasks like working, eating, studying, family time, personal time, daily chores or activities, sleeping...etc. All these are components, tasks that together help us build a better, meaningful life. Now the question... where do video games fit in that schedule?
99% of the time when we play video games we're without a doubt replacing one of the tasks above to do so. The more time we invest playing video games means the less time we have for God, family, and other things. The amount of time we dedicate to play video games MATTER.
Satan knows our weaknesses and he is an expert at distractions, at making our minds captive and busy to not have time for God. Video games are known to cause addiction and there have been many studies not only on the consequences of video gaming, but on the addictions to it. Psychologist Phillip Zimbardo once stated that, on average, kids and teens amase over 10,000 hours of video gaming by the time they turn 21 (... and that was a while back, now the statistics could be much more). Think about that... 10,000 hours equals to approximately 1.15 years of their life in which they did nothing but play. Ellen G. White wrote in the book " The adventist Home":
"Satan's work is to lead men to ignore God, to so engross and absorb the mind that God will not be in their thoughts. The education they have received has been of a character to confuse the mind and eclipse the true light. Satan does not wish the people to have a knowledge of God; and if he can set in operation games and theatrical performances that will so confuse the senses of the young that human beings will perish in darkness while light shines all about them, he is well pleased." - EGW, The Adventist Home, Ch. 66
Self explanatory... huh? How great would it be if by 21 we would all have amassed 10,000 hours with God? It's important to watch out in what we're investing our time.
Piece #3: Are all video games bad/addicting?
You want the short and straight up answer? The answer is: no.
Not all games are bad and not all of them are addicting. There are many types of video games that are actually quite beneficial:
Video games for education (for learning programming, learning math... etc.)
Video games for training (like flight simulators, operation/surgery simulators...)
Video games for mind exercising (like memory games, puzzle games...)
Video games to promote exercise
Video games to be played as a family
...and of course, just video games that are fun and "christian-approved" like Minecraft, Build it, Simcity, rollercoaster tycoon, candy-crush...etc... simply games that entertain in a simple and sane way.
Although all games have the potential to be addictive, when properly used, many games can actually be beneficial. Here's the thing, my mom used to say to me that "everything in excess is bad... even the good things". And that could not be more correct. Wouldn't you agree? Water and carrots are good for you, but if all you eat is water and carrots you'll be quite deficient of many nutrients. Same with video games, some might be good, but if you're always playing them and not taking time to other important things... then it's not really good for you.
Everything is a choice, from what type of games we play to how much time we dedicate to them... all is a personal choice.
Piece #4: Putting it all together... can christians play or not?
Well OF COURSE WE CAN!!! I myself am a person that every once in a while finds myself playing some Xbox. There's absolutely nothing wrong with playing, there is a problem (however) in (1) what type of games we chose to play and (2) how much of our time we're dedicating to playing. There's more to life, MUCH more than what video games can offer, but hey, the occasional play to relax and immerse ourselves into the virtual world has absolutely nothing wrong. Just as some find relaxing to sit and stare at the sky or mountains, others find relaxing to play a bit... and THAT'S OK.
Remember, is not the act of playing video games, but rather how much time we're allowing the video game to take from us and what type of content we're inputting into our minds. We need to protect our relationship with God no matter what. Whatever it is, including video games, that takes our minds into thinking stuff we shouldn't... needs to be cut. Whatever it is, including video games, that takes too much of our time to the point we don't have time for God or family... needs to be cut. The Bible says:
"If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell." - Matthew 5:29-30
If video games are damaging your relationship with God... cut them from your life. If they are just a means to relaxation and a very spontaneous occasional thing... go for it! At the end, as stated, is all a personal choice!!
Closing
I have a cousin that I had lost communication with for literally decades and, funnily enough, recently I came across him playing Xbox online and playing video games has happened to be the way we have restored a long-lost relationship. Now we play every once in a while and have a good time together. Is that bad? Of course not. Just as with me, many others find that there's a positive side of playing here and there. Again, is not a matter of playing, is a matter of what are we playing and how much time we're spending playing.
Hope this has answered the question and, as always, feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, concerns, suggestions, or anything in between!! God bless you in the wonderful name of Jesus and until next one!
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