Christ Centered Gamer

I am just curious, knowing that some gamers spend countless hours playing computer games. But at the end of the day, has it shown any tangible benefits to your spiritual walk? Has it produced any fruit for God's Kingdom?

The Lord Jesus said, "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev 22:12

Is Christ really at the center of your gaming activities?

made a website and some Christian friendly game servers..maybe you heard of them

I try to prioritize and spend time with God and family first

If someone is spending countless hours on a video game, especially at the expense of other activities (like schoolwork, work, Scripture studies), then there may be addiction issues at play. But that's a different issue entirely.

If anything one of the great things about sites like this is that it provides a forum - and even some servers - for like-minded Christians to get together and play some games. Given how hostile some game servers and sites are - not to mention how outwardly hostile some can be towards Christians - places like this are a blessing. A place to fellowship and enjoy the company of other Christians. A shelter from the slings and arrows of the outside world.

Unless, Max the Ax, you're implying that good, decent Christians should forswear all forms of gaming and devote their lives solely to studying Scriptures and singing nothing but hymns. That may indeed be a worthwhile pursuit, but it isn't for everyone....

The thing is, you never know what will inspire someone to Christ, or what will motivate them to turn away from sin. I remember reading an article a while ago about the Christian rock group Skillet. During one concert, the lead singer met a couple of fans who said that they turned their lives around and left their old careers after being particularly moved by one Skillet song (sadly, the article didn't specify what song moved them). Their old profession? They made pornography! You can't get much worse or un-Godly than that! But somehow, a song from some hard-rock Christian band made them wake up and realize that they were headed in entirely the wrong direction.

There's a reason why Jesus hung around with harlots, thieves and tax collectors. He went where the people needed Him the most. Do you expect to follow His example if the only company you keep is with your Sunday School friends, talking about the Scriptures and practicing for the church choir?

There are a lot of people who play video games right now, and not all of them are Christian. This could be a good opportunity to go out and "spread the good news," as it were!

Jesus talked about the harvest being plentiful and the workers few.

That is certainly the case in the video game industry. I have been blessed to have had so many doors opened to me in the industry. I am constantly putting the idea out there for games that glorify God. From reporting on the Christian game developers to talking to developers, publishers, CEOs and planting the idea of creating and marketing games to believers. The Bible Game, and Larryboy and the Bad Apple were released in part to the fact that FFG kept asking the industry to fill that void.

I have been blessed to attend 7 E3 conference events over a ten year period. A bit burned out, and taking some time off those events. I have been able to witness to fellow video game journalists, editors, PR, marketing, and a wide array of people involved in making games. I lost track of how many times I heard: "we never heard that feedback before." From why can't the women in these fighting games wear more clothes? to where are the clean and safe games for kids? We gave them a Godly perspective that they claimed they never heard anywhere else. You know how many people were baffled by my putting others before myself at E3? There were some who could not even begin to comprehend that perspective/viewpoint.

The Apostle Paul talked about being all things to all men. Decades of video games trained me to have something to talk to non-believer gamers about. Like those decades Moses spent out tending sheep. God uses things for His Kingdom in a way we may not see until later. I didn't see it until I was knee deep in the industry. Then I understood I was being trained for ministry in a certain missions field.I do see the video game industry as a missions field.

Fellow believers would write books on how horrible video games are. Fellow gamers (non-believers) rejected it because those books were written by outsiders. When I wrote Video Game Lies, they could not reject it. One of their own wrote it. One of their own shined the light of truth on the issues and problems in the industry. How many more missionaries to video games is God training right now?

@ CCGR you wrote, "made a website and some Christian friendly game servers..."

In response to this, I say thank you, and from other responses, it appears that it is much appreciated.... Unsaved gamers can indeed be brutal in their attitudes and behavior. Meeting places for gaming believers is a necessity especially in these last days.

@ sstavix I believe that gaming has great potential for reaching the lost. There are some ministries out there actively reaching persons at conventions.


@ FamilyFriendlyGaming "Jesus talked about the harvest being plentiful and the workers few."

I agree with you wholeheartedly the demographic of gamers is a MASSIVE harvest field of persons between 20 - 45 to reach them effectively would be an excellent achievement, and a vision that I can embrace.


In general I like and appreciate the responses. What is most important is that we stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit and don't miss out on opportunities to be a witness for Christ when the opportunity arises.

I've played video games for my entire life. Heck, I made a RuneScape account and actually played it with my cousin when I was 6 years old. So I've been playing games for at least 13 years. The internet hasn't stolen my faith yet Honestly, I think it's amazing how everyone's faith is almost hidden in the background of everything else. You never hear it discussed, but if you bring it up and get a discussion going you can build quite the community of believers

@BrWe2

I think you nailed it, we must ever be mindful that we are Christians first, Gamers second. We must let our lights shine.

My parents only let me play a few hours a week, and remind me to keep God first.

Margo

I stopped gaming for the first reason. When I saw I played like 21days worth of Call of Duty I stopped. However im coming back to (work) by streaming and hopefully donations. As well as meeying people, influencing them. Being a good role model and ministering to others.

Not hiding my faith but being around the lost and hopefully building with them.

So for me its my life. Fun gaming maybe make abit of money and ministry abit so im ok with gaming then.

I think as long as you dont over do it, or if you play ALOT at least get paid for if. Time is short

when I play games I like to try and encourage other kids to pray if they seem upset. God always listens and he answers prayers in His time when it is best for you.

When Christ is central in your life, all things you do will reflect that reality. The same should hold true for gaming.

I will not pretend that I'm perfect, when it comes to reflecting Christ when gaming, or in life, but He has brought about some really cool opportunities for me to share His love, and encourage people, through both. Sometimes while playing an online game, I've come across someone who is very bummed out about the way their game went, and feeling down in general, and I can take some time to encourage them and leave them feeling better than before the conversation. I enjoy that opportunity, because it feels like using something temporary to have a positive effect for eternity. Especially so if I'm able to share about Christ. When I'm talking with friends in game, talking about life includes such things as "Just got home from church," as a part of life, and not something to be ashamed of.

Another way gaming has had a positive effect on my life as a believer is through analogy. I find that God speaks to me through analogy and connections quite often, and gaming in general, and certain types in specific, can have an analogy on Christian life, and life as a whole, and I can learn things about myself and the way I do things and the reason, and find connections to the way that God is with us, through the structure of the games.

I try not to spend too much time playing online games as it shifts my focus off of God and onto myself. Got to balance this life i have. One life to live He has given me.

Would you like an honest answer, or a lifelong addicted "Gamers" answer? I have a feeling you are looking for an honest answer!

I was playing games since before the internet was even created, back when we used BBS's with 1200 Baud Modems on an AT&T 6300 640k Ram system, Floppy A and B drive, under MS DOS Operating System. Windows wasn't even a dirty word in my vocabulary, as it is now. I didn't even get into multiplayer gaming until my mid 30's, because I had been so well trained by that time, to play against the computer in singleplayer campaigns!

if I can count my good experiences in multiplayer gaming, I only recall three times, I ever had any fun!
1) Arma 1 gaming clan called DSF (Delta Strike Force), we played every night, had great missions, got along for the most part.
2) Arma 3 gaming clan called OTF (Operation Task Force), Christian woman named Eve was the host of the server. She wouldn't allow any cursing.
3) Minecraft - I played for a year or so on Odyssey-Craft, was great friends with lots of people, knew almost everyone, even the Head Admin, then the server shutdown 9 months ago, I didn't know it, and went to log back into play last week, and it was gone, shutdown... Everyone I knew either quit playing minecraft, or moved on to other servers, playing here and there, but not as seriously as we had been.

In my life I've played well over 200 or more games, we're not talking the trash games that are buggy and incomplete sold on Steam; I'm talking AAA games. Games a lot of kids haven't heard of growing up today. I was being trolled the other day, and this kid didn't even know what IWar 2 was. It blew my mind...

Now on to your question... The honest truth from a life long gamer!

NO! God does not exist at all in gaming, you can sugar coat it, and give yourself excuses as a Christian to keep playing, but in all my experiences in the gaming industry, and the worlds they create for us to play, God is the only thing missing, while everything else is a double serving, including filthy language, suggestive themes, but if you are looking for God? Good luck! Not going to find anything except utter contempt for Christianity! 7 Days to Die, itself has suggestive hidden images while your mining for resources! All things Satan are being packaged and sold to kids, from games like Deadspace, where they get a full dose of anything and everything! Grand Theft Auto is one of the worst, because it's one of the most popular!

Trolling has become the thing these days! Mostly found in sandbox universe games, where factions, building and base construction are emphasized! Minecraft is under attack big time by trolls who use hacks such as X-Ray, and other tools found on the internet. You name it! Any multiplayer game out there, whether it's Rust, Hurt World, 7 Days to Die, Space Engineers, you'll encounter trolls looking to grief. Time is the "currency" in game, not the $19.99, $29.99, $39.99, $49.99, or even the $54.99 you paid for the game. Your paying for "time", and there are games I play now, that I've put over 2,200 hours of game play into, and other games I've put even more!

Let me tell you about Minecraft... This game makes you work so HARD, for so little reward... You start playing at 5:30pm, and next time you look at your clock it's 3am in the morning... The Devil's Time Machine!

I've played so many games, for countless hours, that I don't even have to play a game anymore, to satisfy my dopamine's, all I have to do is talk about it, and take everything I've ever liked about all the games I've played, and mix them into one game... Whammo, the best game I've ever NOT played, and I've spent 6 to 8 hours talking to myself, aloud in my room, creating this imaginary game!

Now I want to ask YOU a question?

Can a Christian Gamer play "casually"? Because from my experience a non-Christian Gamer, CAN NOT! We either go all in, or not at all!

We play "seriously", because reality is so painful, and restrictive, that virtual reality is a far better place to exist! Does God exist, NO! Do I love Jesus Christ? YES! Do I acknowledge Him with my mouth, YES, do I give Him every second of every day, ...NO! Hardly even an hour! BUT, there have been days where I have given God 8 hours of my life, listening to God's word on the internet, people I admire, such as Amir Tsarfati, and Ravi Zacharias.

I know God, because I know the Word of God! So many Christians say they know God, but how can you know God, if you do not know the Word of God! In the beginning was the Word the Word was with God, and the Word was God! When standing before God on Judgment day, will God find his Word on your heart, or will He say, "I don't know you!"

Roman's 10:9
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

God knows me, God knows my heart, I may make it to Heaven, but I'll be a bit on the crispy side!

Can I be honest with you?

In this life, God has taught us, not to seek rewards, and gain, and I understand that, because all I've discovered has brought me pain and suffering, and I don't care about money, never had much of it anyway... There were times when I was still in the workplace, when I woke up and the first thing out of my mouth, "God! I'm exhausted!" -- I'm exhausted and I just woke up! How many times have I told my mom, "I'm tired!", to have her reply, "Your not getting enough sleep!"... "Mom! That's not the kind of tired I'm talking about!"

You work and you work and you work, for NOTHING! You spend your life living paycheck to paycheck, why? So we can work towards that American Dream that we slave for, and the One Percent ENJOY... That's not life, and if that's life, I don't it! I've come to the conclusion that if God does not exist, then we may as well end our lives now, because life has no meaning, if GOD does not exist, other than to work till the day you die, ...if you are lucky, you'll retire to a life of medical bills and pharmaceutical drugs!

The more pain this world gives me, the more I lean towards Jesus Christ! But God has placed with me a strange love for computers and artificial intelligence, that I can't break free from! I just quite smoking cold turkey after 25 years of chain smoking, no problem, it's hard, it is, but I did it; Stopped going to girly websites, because I got tired of saying, "Forgive me!" Got so bad, I stopped asking forgiveness, because I knew I would return! Until God did something, I don't know what it was, but I haven't been back! Doesn't mean I'm not lonely, it just means, I'm not half as sorry as I usually am!

I don't believe in God because He has crowns to offer in His Kingdom! I don't believe in God because He has rewards and streets of Gold! I could care a less about a reward system I've been denying in this life... I believe in God, because I fear God, because I believe the Bible is true, and that heaven and hell is true, because the wages of sin is death, and I know I am a sinner, and without acknowledging Jesus Christ, and His death upon the cross, I can not have eternal life. That's why my favorite verse in the Bible is... The two men on the cross...

"If you are the Son of God, save Yourself and us!", ..."Have you no fear of God? Know you not, our punishment is just, and we belong here, but this Man has done nothing! Jesus, remember me, when You enter into Your Kingdom!"

Verily, I say unto you, this night you shall be with me, in Paradise!

I believe in God, because I don't want to go to eternal damnation where the worm never dies, and the flame is never quenched!

ps. Now please may I play Minecraft, I can't think of nothing else to post, this is more like punishment, than gaming! I feel like I'm in first grade with my nose in the corner again! Disclaimer: I'm not admitting my nose was ever in a corner, but if it was, I'm assuming that's what it would feel like, perhaps something similar!

Here's my two cents: I believe that God is the creator of all things, even things we use for entertainment: Movies, music, games, etc. Satan can have an influence over these creations, and unfortunately he has done so, in a very big way, to where there are countless M-rated games full of blood, gore, sexual content (GTA series, Saints Row, etc) and through my eyes it seems that those types of games vastly outnumber everything else, and it can get frustrating trying to go shopping for a new game to play and all that seems to be force-fed to us are these M-rated titles.

Nowadays, I try very hard to focus on the important things in my life, such as my walk with Christ, and it can get very frustrating, especially with my challenges with Asperger syndrome and Generalized Anxiety Disorder/Agoraphobia, but when I feel at peace, and God is the focus, it's the greatest feeling in the world, a feeling that no Call of Duty title can provide me. I'm at the point right now where the only time I'll ever be in a bit of a gaming marathon is if I'm looking to see how long it would take me to beat any one game (Super Mario Bros. 3, which for the record, takes me just a couple hours.)

Some games, like Minecraft, help me pass time more enjoyably while still doing productive things at the same time, like listening to Bible lectures, etc.