J
jculp123180
Guest
Hi, I'm a noob and I think this is my first post here, but I wrote a blog today about some stuff that's been making me think and I wanted to see what kind of replies people had. Thanks!
The Conquering Nature of Men and the Role of Video Games
I was sitting around with some of my fellow church members last Sunday carrying on some idle conversation when a topic came and went that really caught my attention. My church is right across the street from Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, and one of the former Haskell students had just moved back from New Mexico. She was talking about the guys in her church at home and how they acted when the college group met. She said that the girls were always on one side of the room talking and the guys were always on the other side of the room playing video games. She said that the ladies in her church always asked her "So, when are you going to finally get married?" and her reply was "When they quit doing this." (accompanied by hand motions mimicking a video game controller).
When I was a teenager and the internet barely even existed, those of us with modems used to patronize dial-up bulletin boards (BBS). Through a local BBS I began to play a game called MajorMUD which is a text-based role-playing game where you basically build a character to no end. The character gets bigger, you kill bigger stuff, your character gets bigger, you run out of stuff to kill. This game was so cool for me because there were other people in there with whom I could play and the more I "leveled" the more I wanted to do it some more. I thought this thing was great, but I didn't tell anyone that I played it. I knew that if everyone knew that I spent hours a day playing an online game that I would be viewed as one of "those computer guys" so I just didn't tell anyone. Lately the text-based world has become obsolete (Yes I still played MajorMUD less than a year ago) and the same type of game setup has become graphical. Now not only can you see the monsters you're killing, you can see the other players and make them look different and all sorts of cool stuff.
Well, after the statement made by the girl from my church I began to think about what she meant. I have noticed in the past few years as I meet people that an infatuation with playing video games is becoming more and more normal. I used to tell myself that it was harmless fun but the more that I grow spiritually the more I am beginning to wonder if it is really a wise use of my time. The question I began to consider was this, "Is it really just harmless fun to sit around and spent hours on a video game? Why are video games so appealing to people? Can't it just be considered good fellowship? What's the problem with playing a game every once in a while?"
The first question that I formulated an answer for was this, "Why are video games so appealing to people?" Some of this is true for both men and women, but understand that I am a male and my reflections are mostly on a male perspective. Men are conquerors. It is just part of our nature. It is often said in a marriage counseling setting that a man will find the girl he wants, do everything it takes to win her, marry her, consider the battle won and move on to something else (work, etc.). We like to win things, we like to be strong, we like to feel like we are good at what we do. This is the major reason why a game like MajorMud, or the latest version for me Ragnarok Online, would appeal to a man. He can create a character, give it his own name or any name he chooses, kill things for items that give you money to get better armor, kill more things, get all sorts of cool powers and abilities that he could never even dream of having in real life, and feel like he's accomplished something. Also, even better than real life, if you fail miserably and die trying you can just start over and do it again...There's nothing to lose! Not only this, but some games even allow you to have tons of friends with the same abilities and powers to go help you do these things, friends that often become extremely close and personal...All from the comfort of your own home. It's the perfect opportunity to sit in a room where nobody else can see you and dream that you're something which you're not. And think about it, this doesn't apply just to the online RPG that I've patronized, you can be Obi Wan Kenobi or John Elway depending on which game you're playing.
So, what's the big deal? Why can't I just sit here in my room and level my rogue and make friends with other characters and have a good time? This is the real question that I began to ask myself after I heard that girl's comment. Considering the context of her statement, I began to think about the real state of spiritual maturity for men my age in the church. How many high school and college age men in the church today are really preparing for the life of spiritual leadership that comes as the man's responsibility in the home? Consider it, it's terrifying.
This girl, who made it through a college career of ridicule for what she believed in a culture that is generally uninterested in Christianity, could not see a single man in her church in whom she was willing to put that kind of trust. Here in the United States of America our culture has become so entertainment-driven and our desires so selfish that we spend more time watching the television or playing computer games or video games than we do talking to the God who died to save us from our sin. The body of which we have become a member through faith in Christ has fallen second to the joystick and the mouse. The men of the church who should be desiring to grow and cultivate a relationship with Jesus Christ, and who are set to be the next leaders in our churches are being ineffectualized by the simplicity found in a video game. Our desires are being met at little to no risk, and the church is paying dearly.
This whole idea was brought to the forefront of my mind again today when a young boy asked me to help him beat a certain level in a video game. I told him that I couldn't help him at that time because I was busy and his reply was (whining) "But I can't beat this level and I've been trying and I want to get to the next one." My reply to him, which really got me thinking again was "I can't make beating that game a priority."
I began thinking today about the whole idea of the man's nature to be a conqueror. The parallels here are endless because there are so many things that God has given to us which we take to extremes or apply to outlets never intended by him. Eating is a good example of this; we have to do it and we generally enjoy doing it but if we enjoy it too much then it becomes unhealthy as well as sinful. The real parallel that I've made with this addiction to video games is pornography. God gave us the ability to have sex and he made it enjoyable, but outside the context of marriage it is always wrong. So many men, even men in the church, are being drawn in by the pornography industry. It destroys marriages and lives, those of the one using it and those of the ones he might eventually act those things out on.
I personally think that the infatuation with video games in our culture is having the same effect on the body of Christ as the pornography industry. Both play to a man's desire to do what men do. Both involve little to no risk which equals little to no accountability. Both can be extremely addicting. Both are time consuming. Both generally take up valuable time that could be used being a part of Christ's body, or even drawing closer to God. Both can be turned off at any time and everything that you've felt like you've gained is gone.
Video games may be more subtle than pornography when it comes to drawing a person away from the body, but they work the same none the less. I think that if the American church is going to survive another two generations we need to sell the controllers and put or focus where it really needs to be...On accomplishing the will of God and the spread of His gospel to the world. It's time for men to quit being boys, quit playing games and getting lazy, quit wasting so much time to accomplish something that is gone with the flip of a switch, and quit disappointing the women whom we were meant to honor and serve.
The Conquering Nature of Men and the Role of Video Games
I was sitting around with some of my fellow church members last Sunday carrying on some idle conversation when a topic came and went that really caught my attention. My church is right across the street from Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, and one of the former Haskell students had just moved back from New Mexico. She was talking about the guys in her church at home and how they acted when the college group met. She said that the girls were always on one side of the room talking and the guys were always on the other side of the room playing video games. She said that the ladies in her church always asked her "So, when are you going to finally get married?" and her reply was "When they quit doing this." (accompanied by hand motions mimicking a video game controller).
When I was a teenager and the internet barely even existed, those of us with modems used to patronize dial-up bulletin boards (BBS). Through a local BBS I began to play a game called MajorMUD which is a text-based role-playing game where you basically build a character to no end. The character gets bigger, you kill bigger stuff, your character gets bigger, you run out of stuff to kill. This game was so cool for me because there were other people in there with whom I could play and the more I "leveled" the more I wanted to do it some more. I thought this thing was great, but I didn't tell anyone that I played it. I knew that if everyone knew that I spent hours a day playing an online game that I would be viewed as one of "those computer guys" so I just didn't tell anyone. Lately the text-based world has become obsolete (Yes I still played MajorMUD less than a year ago) and the same type of game setup has become graphical. Now not only can you see the monsters you're killing, you can see the other players and make them look different and all sorts of cool stuff.
Well, after the statement made by the girl from my church I began to think about what she meant. I have noticed in the past few years as I meet people that an infatuation with playing video games is becoming more and more normal. I used to tell myself that it was harmless fun but the more that I grow spiritually the more I am beginning to wonder if it is really a wise use of my time. The question I began to consider was this, "Is it really just harmless fun to sit around and spent hours on a video game? Why are video games so appealing to people? Can't it just be considered good fellowship? What's the problem with playing a game every once in a while?"
The first question that I formulated an answer for was this, "Why are video games so appealing to people?" Some of this is true for both men and women, but understand that I am a male and my reflections are mostly on a male perspective. Men are conquerors. It is just part of our nature. It is often said in a marriage counseling setting that a man will find the girl he wants, do everything it takes to win her, marry her, consider the battle won and move on to something else (work, etc.). We like to win things, we like to be strong, we like to feel like we are good at what we do. This is the major reason why a game like MajorMud, or the latest version for me Ragnarok Online, would appeal to a man. He can create a character, give it his own name or any name he chooses, kill things for items that give you money to get better armor, kill more things, get all sorts of cool powers and abilities that he could never even dream of having in real life, and feel like he's accomplished something. Also, even better than real life, if you fail miserably and die trying you can just start over and do it again...There's nothing to lose! Not only this, but some games even allow you to have tons of friends with the same abilities and powers to go help you do these things, friends that often become extremely close and personal...All from the comfort of your own home. It's the perfect opportunity to sit in a room where nobody else can see you and dream that you're something which you're not. And think about it, this doesn't apply just to the online RPG that I've patronized, you can be Obi Wan Kenobi or John Elway depending on which game you're playing.
So, what's the big deal? Why can't I just sit here in my room and level my rogue and make friends with other characters and have a good time? This is the real question that I began to ask myself after I heard that girl's comment. Considering the context of her statement, I began to think about the real state of spiritual maturity for men my age in the church. How many high school and college age men in the church today are really preparing for the life of spiritual leadership that comes as the man's responsibility in the home? Consider it, it's terrifying.
This girl, who made it through a college career of ridicule for what she believed in a culture that is generally uninterested in Christianity, could not see a single man in her church in whom she was willing to put that kind of trust. Here in the United States of America our culture has become so entertainment-driven and our desires so selfish that we spend more time watching the television or playing computer games or video games than we do talking to the God who died to save us from our sin. The body of which we have become a member through faith in Christ has fallen second to the joystick and the mouse. The men of the church who should be desiring to grow and cultivate a relationship with Jesus Christ, and who are set to be the next leaders in our churches are being ineffectualized by the simplicity found in a video game. Our desires are being met at little to no risk, and the church is paying dearly.
This whole idea was brought to the forefront of my mind again today when a young boy asked me to help him beat a certain level in a video game. I told him that I couldn't help him at that time because I was busy and his reply was (whining) "But I can't beat this level and I've been trying and I want to get to the next one." My reply to him, which really got me thinking again was "I can't make beating that game a priority."
I began thinking today about the whole idea of the man's nature to be a conqueror. The parallels here are endless because there are so many things that God has given to us which we take to extremes or apply to outlets never intended by him. Eating is a good example of this; we have to do it and we generally enjoy doing it but if we enjoy it too much then it becomes unhealthy as well as sinful. The real parallel that I've made with this addiction to video games is pornography. God gave us the ability to have sex and he made it enjoyable, but outside the context of marriage it is always wrong. So many men, even men in the church, are being drawn in by the pornography industry. It destroys marriages and lives, those of the one using it and those of the ones he might eventually act those things out on.
I personally think that the infatuation with video games in our culture is having the same effect on the body of Christ as the pornography industry. Both play to a man's desire to do what men do. Both involve little to no risk which equals little to no accountability. Both can be extremely addicting. Both are time consuming. Both generally take up valuable time that could be used being a part of Christ's body, or even drawing closer to God. Both can be turned off at any time and everything that you've felt like you've gained is gone.
Video games may be more subtle than pornography when it comes to drawing a person away from the body, but they work the same none the less. I think that if the American church is going to survive another two generations we need to sell the controllers and put or focus where it really needs to be...On accomplishing the will of God and the spread of His gospel to the world. It's time for men to quit being boys, quit playing games and getting lazy, quit wasting so much time to accomplish something that is gone with the flip of a switch, and quit disappointing the women whom we were meant to honor and serve.
