Video Games: A Conduit to Christ

By Ashley Walmsley

The Apostle Paul would probably have been an Xbox sort-of guy. His references in 1 Corinthians 9 to running and boxing suggest he might’ve enjoyed a few goes at Fight Night or even Punch Out! on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. But if the great apostle embarked on his writings today, would he have played video games? Paul showed an interest in, and had knowledge of, popular sources of entertainment at the time, such as sport. Maybe, just maybe, he would have done the same today with video games. Of course, it wasn’t about the entertainment at all really. It was about using that entertainment as a base to make a point, walking in territory familiar to his audience in order to engage them.

Today, Christians can reach out to those who enjoy a digital world of new levels, high scores and power-ups.

The traditional idea of a video game player is a teenage male locked away in his bedroom smashing a keyboard with headphones on and a severe need for deodorant. While that stereotype may still apply, the rise in mobile phone ownership sees the majority of people with a gaming device in their pockets. So rather than the teenager with personal hygiene challenges reaching new levels behind closed doors, a video gamer is also the mother flicking away at Candy Crush Saga on her phone while waiting in the car outside the school in the afternoon. It’s the father having a sneaky dip into Angry Birds when he’s meant to be watching the under-8 netball fixture on a Saturday morning. It’s the 20-something female receptionist with Solitaire slipped away behind the other computer windows for when things are slow. And it’s the elderly rivals in the retirement village common room doing their best to topple each other at bowling on the Nintendo Wii.

Video games can be a channel through which to reach people for Christ. While games are wide and varied in their gameplay, there are some concepts which can be used as the basis of spiritual discussions. Here are three.

Saved in time

Saving a game means the progress to that point is locked away, secure. There is an opportunity here to think of the security of salvation when a person gets “saved”. So, if the “game of life” gets shut down (i.e. death or Christ’s return), is that person confident he or she has hit the save button?

The Creator’s view

A popular game genre is real-time strategy where a player must raise up a civilisation. It is a curious (if somewhat limited) chance to view things from God’s perspective. Would a player be willing to inject themselves into the game, to actually become one of the tiny, pixelated characters in order to save them? It’s a picture of Christ coming into the world.

A forgiving approach

Multiplayer video games once meant two people standing side-by-side at the video arcade. These days it’s more likely to mean two people battling it out over the internet. Like competitive sport, it gives insight to a person’s reaction to conflict. Is the automatic response to have a rematch? To get a bigger weapon and go revenge hunting? Or is it a chance to show grace, to not retaliate but congratulate? In some highly heated online gaming communities, this attitude certainly stands out as a light in a dark place.

It’s impossible to know if the Apostle Paul would have felt comfortable picking up a controller or swiping a smart phone, but perhaps it’s time modern disciples used games to connect to others, either in-person or online, to let them know a holy God loves them dearly.

Ashley Walmsley is the author of Press Upwards, a Christian devotional book based on video games. To get in touch, please email pressupwards@gmail.com