Trivial Joy-Killers: Why Video Games Can Eradicate Deep Affections for God

Before beginning this article, I would like to preface with a few disclaimers. First, when I say "video games" that term can be replaced with virtually any other technological distraction (PDAs, Ipods, Facebook accounts, Blackberries, TVs, etc) and the same case be made. Second, when I say "video games can eradicate deep affections for God", I use the word can purposefully. I do not mean that any and all leisurely video game playing is inherently evil. Christ is Lord of leisure as well. He has created man to have times of recreation and it is not intrinsically bad. It is important that we recognize that technology is not sinful, but the malpractice or abuse of technology is sinful. Avoiding the Gnostic influences upon the church, we must realize that God created man not only with the expectation that technology would emerge but with the positive command for men to develop and build societies (cf. Gen. 1:28).

Third, I write this article with the deepest humility. Some of my greatest struggles have been when I have allowed leisure to be pushed across the line to indolence and sloth. I do not write these incentives to avoid video game abuse as one who has mastered the discipline of self-control. Rather I write this as one who has been actively engaged in the blood earnest fight for his joy. With that said, consider four reasons why video games can squash your desires for the majestic, all-powerful God of the universe:

1) Video games facilitate withdrawal from Christ's creation.

It has been said before that our culture is a desensitized one. While our numbness has often been attributed to the violence perpetuated through the media, this misses the point entirely. Many cultures in the past have been more violent than ours. Our desensitization is not due to the presence of violence but how that violence is viewed. In past societies, violence was firsthand. It was immediate. Today, we are viewing the sobering realities of life through medium after medium. What this amounts to is the fact that we are experiencing the harsh realities of existence, realities that are meant to be deeply felt, in a way that does not promote deep feeling! We are engaged yet not engaged. This is the conundrum of technology.

The generation emerging in our country today has its first experience with death not in a funeral home but in a video game. How many children spend hours slaughtering enemy soldiers in Call of Duty 4 and yet have not had a firsthand experience with death? Is it any wonder then that when we have spent hours in front of a TV viewing death after death as idle spectators that we are unable to "weep with those who weep (cf. Rom. 12:15)?" As Christians, we are called to be engaged with the world we are surrounded by and to feel deeply other people's sorrow and joy. Video games, by snatching us from the palpable, real world, every day experiences, inhibit us from having these emotions.

2) Video games cause disengagement from the sober realities of life: sin, suffering, death and final judgment.

Similar to what I said above, video games, in their ability to mire you in a fictional, trivial, would-be world, enable us to hide from the weighty, overwhelming realities of life. The Puritans, in their desire to glorify God by enjoying Him in all things, taught that preparing for death was the aim of an entire life. Ponder this quote from Richard Sibbes:

If we desire to end our days in joy and comfort, let us lay the foundation of a comfortable death now betimes. To die well is not a thing of that light moment as some imagine: it is no easy matter. But to die well is a matter of every day. Let us daily do some good that may help us at the time of our death. Every day by repentance pull out the sting of some sin, that so when death comes, we may have nothing to do but to die. To die well is the action of the whole life.

"To die well is the action of the whole life." Does anyone talk like this anymore? Life is serious. There is death. There is judgment. What have you accomplished by your time spent in idleness playing a video game? How are you, through your video game playing, pulling "out the sting of some sin"? Do we have a feel for the all-encompassing, overwhelming and blood earnest task before us? This is impossible work. To play video games, to be seduced by the siren call of our trivial times, is easy. It is easy to be complacent. It is not easy to prepare, with a sin-killing, rigorous, disciplined approach, for death. But by God's Spirit, we will be able to do so.

3) Video Games shrink critical thinking and reading skills, which hinders contemplation and study of the glorious truths of the gospel.

There is not much critical thinking skill that I can think of that is required to play a video game. Perhaps puzzle solving. However, the predictability and repetitiveness of a simulated environment tend to make me believe that this too is minimal. Video game players have been said to make good surgeons because of the hand and eye coordination. There you have it: be a surgeon.

While video game players may make good surgeons, they do not make good soul surgeons. Christ has called us to love him with all our mind (cf. Matt. 22:37). Spending countless hours in addictive, video game playing prevents us from being obedient to this command. Our love for God increases with our knowledge of his manifold perfections. In other words, a vague, abstract, ambiguous conception of a God who is "kind, gracious and has a wonderful plan for my life" leads to minimal love for this God. If we are to stoke the fire of our affections, we must use the poker of God's Word. Brisk, mindless skimming is not the proper use of the Word. We must truly as Luther said, "tap at every root" to get the full benefit. This requires two things: intense, critical thinking and thoughtful reading.

It is a wonder that the almighty, omnipotent, majestic God chose to reveal himself through a book. This book is not some sort of simple, picture book. It was written by forty different authors and is actually made up of 66 different books. It contains figurative language, complex sentences, symbolism, legal language and logical arguments. To read this book in an understanding and meaningful way is hard work! We must labor to become sages of this book. Video games do not contribute to this but distract from this. Hours spent playing video games are hours not spent reading this book or other books that enhance your joy for the book!

4) Video games obscure the ultimate aim of life: to become intoxicated with the wonderful pleasures of knowing the Triune God.

Paul said that the highest end of his life was to boast in nothing except the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Gal. 6:14). The Shorter Catechism puts it this way: "Q: What is the chief end of man? A: To glorify God and enjoy him forever." The goal of our life is to glorify in, exult in, boast over Jesus Christ and him crucified. The sum total of our existence should be a life lived to the praise and glory of God. When you play a video game are you boasting in the cross of Jesus Christ or are you boasting in that 44 yard touchdown reception you threw to win the game in the final second?

Every enjoyment we experience in this life, whether in God or in one of God's gifts, was purchased by the blood of Christ. Therefore, I worry that someone may read this reason and come away with the impression that video game playing cannot be a boasting in the cross ever. That is not what I am saying. Video game playing can be a boasting in the cross when it is springboard to glorify God for the giving of his Son who died so that I could enjoy all things- yes, even video games! If video game playing is done in moderation so that it makes you say, "Lord Jesus, I thank you that you faced the gauntlet of divine wrath and drank the cup of fury of God to its bitter dregs so that I may, with the deepest gratitude to you, enjoy leisure time playing this game. I recognize that apart from your propitious death I was a Hell-deserving worm who did not deserve life much less leisure! Thank you for this gift."

Unfortunately, this is most likely not the sentiments that arise in your heart when you play video games (I know I can say for myself that it is not the case) and certainly not after hours of playing video games. More often than not video games thwart your appreciation for the cross of Christ rather than propel you to adore his grace. By miring us in a detached, make believe world, video games merely become a form of "amusement." Break that word down and you will soon realize that, denotatively, it means to "not think." The prefix "a" means without and "muse" means to reflect or consider. Thus, its literal meaning: "without reflecting or thinking." A word to men: this peril is especially dangerous for us because as fathers and husbands we are called to think. The strongest sinful proclivity for a man is to abdicate and abdication most commonly takes the form of thoughtless withdrawal. We must resist this urge and lead our homes in thoughtful, Christ-honoring initiative.

Standing against a culture that is saturated in the sewer of silliness, we must cling to that which is really weighty and worthy. Let us remind ourselves daily that it is not in the presence of video games (or TVs, or PDAs, or Cell Phones, or CD players, or Ipods, or Computers) that there is fullness of joy, but in God's presence, where also there are "pleasures forevermore (cf. Ps. 16:11)." Soli deo gloria!