by Nathan Wehr
“Be not deceived” were the first words that Jesus spoke when His disciples asked Him what would be the sign of His coming. Today there are many deceptions in and out of God’s church. One of the realms where people are ensnared is entertainment. Before I delve right into my opinion on this topic of “Christian” video games, I want to take a step back and establish some ground work.
The written Word, which started with Moses, utilized very primitive technology that did not change for over a thousand years. Copies were maintained by the tedious task of hand transcription.
When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1436, it was probably the first major leap in technology since the invention of the wheel, and definitely the single most important tool used by the Reformation. Protestants then had the ability to put truth in the hands of the people in a way that could never be achieved without utilizing modern tools. Though God’s people needed to embrace the printing press—then a revolutionary piece of technology—the media itself had not changed, and would not change for a long time.
Nearly 500 years later, the only media available to distribute the gospel would still be the printed page. Not until the 1920s did radio and television become available in people’s homes. This was brand new technology and along with it came brand new mediums of communication. However, it took God’s church a lot longer to make use of it. It wasn’t until 1937 that Voice of Prophecy began broadcasting on the radio—and then it was not until 1986 that 3ABN began its television ministry.
Technology began to unnerve conservative Seventh-day Adventists when it ushered in this new kind of media. They began to criticize it by saying that if we utilize television to spread the gospel, we were becoming too much like the world. Today the battlefield looks much different. The lines have been redrawn, the soldiers have changed their positions, and overwhelmingly, Seventh-day Adventists are in favor of just about any type of media or entertainment, as long as it promotes good intentions.
One of the trendier things to do is to take things that people are addicted to and cover it up with Christian words, Christian symbols, or Christian ideas. Examples of these would be rap and rock music.
The latest of these trendy activities that I have come across is Christian video games. Anyone who has gained the victory over their addiction to video games knows right away that they cannot possibly draw anyone to Christ. But, I believe that there are more subtle deceptions in all of this that are not readily seen from the surface.
Despite official reports from leading universities that violent media does not necessarily lead to violent crime, it seems obvious that the opposite would be true.
One of the more prolific writers on the topic is former West Point psychology professor, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman. In his books, he repeatedly refers to first-person shooters as “murder simulators.”
How does this happen? How can playing video games change a person’s behavior in real life? I believe it happens for several reasons. The first of which is that by beholding—or by doing—we become changed. Most will agree that a person’s environment, and his interaction with it, has an impression on their psyche. Prolonged exposure to certain types of behavior will eventually render themselves as being normal. This by itself is dangerous enough. But, video games add another layer to the complexity of human impression—virtualization.
Virtualization is a big buzzword in a lot of big fields. In the field of video gaming, it is taking hypothetical, real-world scenarios and presenting them to the gamer in a noncommittal and harmless environment. Why is this dangerous? Because the addictions that people have, virtual or not, hold the potential to influence everything that they do. Violent video games, when they become an addiction, can drive a person to commit real and violent crimes. These crimes are often committed in the same manner that they would be in the game. In this way, people are living the life of the person they play in the game. In some cases, the events of virtuality and reality are foggy in the minds of the perpetrators. Mentally deranged people are even more susceptible to these types of psychological phenomena.
In my opinion, virtualization cuts down to the fundamentals of why Christian video games could never lead anyone to Christ. This is because, as Christians, we are striving to have a living connection with Christ. This comes through prayer, Bible study, and the exercise of our faith. Video games, by their very nature, are steering away from reality, to take someone on a journey or live an experience they otherwise would not or should not be able to. This is contrary to the Christian experience. A Christian experience is absolutely possible and it is as real as it gets—it needs to be.
Another problem with video games is that they are addicting. Christians are supposed to help people break free from their addictions, not steer them in a different direction. If someone is hooked on smoking, we would not try to encourage them to smoke incense instead of cigarettes. We would strive to help them break the habit of smoking altogether.
One thing we need to realize is that we are all players in a much bigger game—a game of eternal life and death. How are we going to wake people up and persuade them to start playing on the right side of the field? I challenge everyone who has made it to the end of this article to answer that for themselves. In Matthew 24, the Bible says that after the gospel of the kingdom is preached in all the world, Christ will come.
We each have a spot on the team. All of us have our part to play. But, this great controversy is not virtual. Why should our evangelism be any less? There is a world to win!
Nathan Wehr is a senior Media Ministries major at Hartland College.
