“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price . . .” (1 Corinthians 6:19b–20a).
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f you’re a video game player, you know what this means. To be owned means that someone is beating you badly. And that person is telling you and everyone else. One definition of own is appreciate some of the this:“Owned: v.To be made a fool of; To make a fool of; To confound or benefits that gaming proprove wrong; Embarrassing someone: Being embarrassed.” Not so great, vides, provided one plays wisely. And, yes, I play huh? But ownage is a part of video gaming. It’s part of the culture. video games with my
H I G H E R T H I N G S
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I admit it: I really like playing video games. Console, PC, Arcade, online, offline—it doesn’t really matter. I like them all. And I have for a long time. I remember the days of Pong and had an Atari. When I was in college, we would often spend countless hours playing a variety of games—strategy, first-person shooters—just to pass the time. Frankly, this drove my parents nuts. “Why do you waste your time!?!” they yelled, er, asked. I claimed that it wasn’t wasting time; I was honing my skills. “What skills?” came the inevitable reply. “Eye-hand coordination,” said I. “That sounds like an important skill for a future pastor,” they countered.“What will it help you do? Make better hand movements when you preach?” Hmmmm. They had a point. Larry’s excuse number two. “Strategic thinking! These games help clarify my thinking so that I will preach more clearly!” I think I had a point on this one. I still do. My parents weren’t against my game playing; they were worried I was wasting my time on something useless. And you know, they had a point too. Now that I’m a parent, I find myself repeating those words with my own kids. I worry about them wasting too much time on video games at the expense of their homework and exercise. But I also
kids (though I am the one who is usually owned). That really is the key—playing wisely and responsibly as a child of God. For while there is nothing worse than being owned on a video game, there is nothing better than God’s ownage. God has bought and paid for you with the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of His Son, Jesus Christ. As Luther put it in the Small Catechism in his explanation of the Second Article of the Creed,“I believe that Jesus Christ . . . has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness . . . .” Or, as a hymn puts it,“God’s own child, I gladly say it: I am baptized into Christ! He, because I could not pay it, Gave my full redemption price. Do I need earth’s treasure many? I have one worth more than any That brought me salvation free Lasting to eternity!” (Hymnal Supplement 98, 844)
OWNED By Rev. Dr. Lawrence R. Rast Jr.
