Pulse: Pray...And Pass the Ammunition

By Seminarian Doug Taylor

The phrase “in the world, not of the world” has been used for a long time to summarize Jesus’ message to the eleven in John 17. It’s fitting. We have been born anew in the waters of Holy Baptism, but we weren’t taken from the earth when that occurred. We still live in a violent and sinful world. In response, many “Christian” products have popped up as alternatives to secular ones, like Christian romance novels, Christian television channels, and even Christian candies. The world of video games is no different. So-called Christian video games (CVGs) have been around about as long as video games themselves have been around, starting with the Bible Adventures series for the old Nintendo, which came out in the early 90s.

Games such as Baby Moses, Noah’s Ark, and David and Goliath sold well in Christian bookstores as an alternative to games that could spiritually harm young children, like Super Mario Brothers with its lustful pursuit of a princess, or the endless gluttony of Pac-Man, or the pro-witchcraft agenda of The Legend of Zelda. OK, those examples are probably going a little too far, but you get the idea.

As the technology has gotten better and better, more of these games have come out, including The Bible Game, where a portion of the game on one system involves hitting demons on the head with Bibles to trigger Bible trivia questions. (What? You didn’t hit demons in the head with Bibles during confirmation? Sorry. You missed out.) There’s also Dance Praise, which, you might have guessed, is a Dance Dance Revolution-type game that and I quote, “turns your computer into a dance arcade with Christian hits.” I don’t know about you, but the one time I played DDR, I don’t remember hearing any objectionable lyrics, probably because I was too busy stepping on the wrong arrows, tripping myself, and falling to the floor in embarrassment.

One CVG has been in the news in the last few months: Left Behind: Eternal Forces.The game takes its story from the Left Behind series of books, which has made millions and millions of dollars, with thirteen books in the series, and a new series on the way. It’s a strategy game a lot like Age of Empires with realistic cityscapes of New York City for the characters to fight the “Global Community” (read: United Nations), who are the forces of the Antichrist. Instead of finding canteens or food for health, players use the power of prayer and worship to embolden their forces to fight, using real military weaponry. There are strategic units to control, which range “from Prayer Warrior and Worship Leaders to Spies, Special Forces and Battle Tanks!” (Throughout the research for this article, I found a lot of exclamations, so, remember guys, if you want to sell a CVG, use exclamation marks.) The game has been criticized by both Christians and non- Christians, the non-Christians saying it was offensive and violent, and the Christians saying it was...offensive and violent, as killing of non-Christians runs rampant throughout the game.

The main reason these games are out there, as we’ve heard from the makers of CVGs, is that most video games are too violent and immoral for kids to play. In many cases, they’re right. It’s time to be honest: Grand Theft Auto is fun, but it’s horribly un-Christian, with zero respect for God’s creations of life and good order. Other games fit under the same criteria: it is not good for us to play games that violate the commandments and our Christian consciences.With that principle in mind, I resolve to never play Christian video games. Wait. What?

Yup, you heard me. These games seem to be forgetting something, something so important that it violates at least this Christian’s conscience. They’re forgetting Jesus Christ, the bloody sacrifice for the sins of the world, because we are not saved by our own doing but by His working faith in us. It’s easy to create a world where we are supposedly free from sin through creating our own media or baptizing secular styles, like contemporary Christian music does. But it doesn’t work. It becomes all about us and not about Jesus Christ and becomes sinful as a result. A game should not be considered Christian if it is merely lacking senseless bloodshed or sexual innuendos, nor should a game be considered immoral if there is violence in it. A game with a policeman or soldier defending his country from lawlessness, genocide, or any other evil upholds the government that God has put in place. The college football dynasty set up in a game like NCAA Football could be run by a man who is a humble witness to our Lord doing his job to the best of his ability in the station of life that God has given to him. When we are in those stations, serving God, we witness to He who was, is, and will come again. Being in this world and not of it points to the cross more than being in our own worlds and not of this world.

Doug Taylor is a student at Concordia Theological Seminary, where he is preparing for the Holy Ministry. He follows way too many sports and enjoys playing just a couple of them. He can be reached at douglasjtaylor@gmail.com.