Conviction

C O N V I C T I O N

Ok, today we will be discussing conviction while playing games. Now most people aren’t going to be convicted by playing Mario, but games like Dead Space or Gears of War might propose a problem.

Have you ever felt, while playing a game, a strange feeling while you were playing it? Like a “Is this really appropriate?” or “Is this something a Christian should play?” type of feeling. If you have, I hope you have thought thoroughly through it, and come to your conclusion, instead of just brushing it off your shoulder. I highly recommend you read the comments on this forum topic http://forums.guide2games.org/topic/2452-do-you-ever-feel-convicted-while-playing/page__pid__72143__st__0&#entry72143 . Very interesting opinions! You can also share your opinions with us by hopping on board and joining the forums!

Now I will hash out my thoughts. If you are playing a game, say Call of Duty: Black Ops, and you are hearing all of this profane language, but you feel something inside telling you to stop and think about what you are feeding your body. But you dismiss that thought automatically thinking you will come to say anything like this, so you keep playing. Then when you play online, and you hear a lot of people using even more profane language and still continue playing. Then after a while of playing and having some guy kill you every 5 seconds and you find yourself thinking or even using this kind of language that you thought you would never use. You have fallen and given in to Satan who is trying to pull you away from Christ. If you had listened to this conviction when you first started playing, this never would’ve happened. But since it was such a good game you kept on playing and fell into temptation. Now, the issue might not be language with everyone. It might be violence or sexual content. Either way, it is the same basic thing that happens.

You might be asking, now: “How do I prevent this from happening?” Well first off, you might want to look at the ESRB descriptors before you buy a game. A game probably some of us might struggle with whether it be lust, profane language, or violence, is Mass Effect 3. Now, this isn’t the worst game out there, but being as its fairly new, and there is no offensive content on the cover (as was the situation with the example I was thinking about using, Catherine) I will use this as an example. If you are wondering if you should play a game, look at the back of the game case near the bottom in a little box with the ESRB rating as shown in the picture with a big red arrow. (picture above) Notice all of the descriptors in the next, enlarged image of the rating. (picture below) If the descriptors for your game pass your offensive content test, move on to the next step. Go ahead and play it and see how you feel. If you, or a friend, or family member notice a change in your behavior since you got the game, it’s a definite return! Go right to the store and return the game as soon as possible. Another test is if you get a feeling while you are playing, like the “Should a Christian be playing this?” feeling I mentioned above, you should consult God about it and not play it for a few days. Your feeling of conviction might not be about the content though. You might even feel conviction about playing Mario if you are spending many too many hours playing it, when you could be doing something useful. Games that most people spend too much time on though are RPG’s like The Elder Scrolls (series) or MMORPG’s like World of Warcraft. If you are shirking your responsibilities because you are spending too much time playing a game, take a break from it until you can get control of yourself and how much time you spend playing.

 

 If you follow these steps, you will probably never go wrong! Keep in mind that God may or may not want you to play a certain game. If your friend plays a game and feels no conviction and you do, don’t feel that you need to play it too just because they do, or that your conviction isn’t real. If you feel something, yes, it is real and you should pay attention to it! Some games simply aren’t for some people.

That’s all for now! If you have any questions, leave them in the comment box below. Think about what I wrote while you are playing, but as always – have fun!