We come to the final entry in this series. Up to this point, the position has been argued that videogames are an acceptable medium of recreation for Christians to consume. What must be discussed now is the limitations one puts upon themselves when playing a game. In our culture today that values autonomy and personal choice, the concept of setting personal restrictions is anathema. However, we as Christians understand that the flesh is wicked and incurably sick (Jer. 17:9). Therefore, we know that we must rein in our flesh, and make it subservient to Christ.
I do not intend to be Pharisaical here. In other words, the limitations I put forth are not limitations that I believe others must observe. They are limitations that I observe. If one feels led to respond differently, then that is no problem, as long as you are doing it for the Lord.
I do, however, insist on one principle. This principle applies to every Christian everywhere. If you disagree with me here, then be prepared to defend your case. If you get nothing else from this whole series, let the following principle sink in deeply:
Do not check your theology at the Main Menu!
In reality, this applies not only to videogames, but to media entirely. Truly, this applies everywhere. If all things "were created through Him and for Him" (Col 1:16), then every aspect of life, entertainment included, must take Christianity into account. What games one plays, and how one plays those games, must be suitable for a Christian.
Now to my personal limits. The four areas that I categorize my limitations are the areas of addictiveness, violence, sexuality, and language.
Addictiveness
This I know from personal experience: games can be addictive. This is a double problem: On the one hand, our time is valuable, and we shouldn't be spending a large amount of it on videogames, or any other form of entertainment. On the other hand, it is very possible to play a videogame so much that when you aren't playing it, your mind continues to think about it. When you are so busy thinking about a videogame that it impacts your ability to think about things that are true, noble, pure, etc., the issue must be dealt with. Therefore, I limit the time that I spend playing games. It isn't a hard and fast rule, but gaming certainly isn't something I do every day (which is very different from how I was a decade ago, when I probably played games for about 5-6 hours a day). When I'm in school, I'll routinely go over a week without playing, and usually if I did it was a multiplayer game that I would play with my wife after the kids went to bed.
In addition to general time limits, I have also banned myself from playing a few games simply due to how addictive and mind-consuming they are. The two games on my no-play-list are Pokemon and Guild Wars. While I'd like to play them sometimes, I simply can't allow it. I know my flesh.
Violence
Next is violence. Some people think that if a game is violent at all, then it is unacceptable. I do not hold that view. I take a more nuanced understanding of violence. We must remember that the Bible is a very violent book; if our children are to read that, then I take from it that violence can have a place in other forms of media.
Here's my view: I don't play games in which the protagonist, as the Player Character, indulges in needless, grotesque killing of human beings. That clarification is important. If the villain of the game is wickedly murdering, that is not a great issue to me, for it is my job as the protagonist to stop them. But when it is the "good guy" who is going around slaughtering mercilessly, that is very different. The ends do not justify the means. Most first-person shooters fail on this from the get-go. The general rule when it comes to FPSs is that when you see a group of enemies, your goal is to end all of their lives. I reject that. The killing is completely needless. A great example of the inverse is a scene from a recent Tomb Raider game. Lara Croft, as a scared girl mustering all of her strength to survive, is forced into a situation where either she kills the enemy, or she will be killed. She kills him, but with great reluctance. After realizing the gravity of what she's done, she actually vomits. She killed another human being. In this scenario, the enemy was treated by the protagonist as a human being with dignity, and she feels both reluctance and shame in taking his life. Contrast this with Call of Duty, where you control a hardened soldier who dispatches of entire squads of men with less heartache than if he spilled milk. While both involve the main character taking the life of another, one treats human life with dignity, and the other degrades human life. I will gladly play the former, I will not play the latter.
The grotesque nature of much killing in games also deserves commentary. Take the Assassin's Creed series of games, for example. Oftentimes in these games combat comes in the form of defeating squads of enemies. When one kills the last enemy, the action often slows down, and the camera zooms in to show an exceedingly grotesque finish. This is unacceptable.
Constrast that with Splinter Cell: Blacklist. I was very excited about that game, because I was told that you could play as Sam Fisher and never kill a single opponent. After getting it, I played the first level, and that's exactly what I did. I must have defeated 50 militant terrorists, without ending the [digital] lives of any of them. I actually went out of my way to dispatch of my enemy in such a way to show them dignity, despite their disgusting ideological beliefs. Violence like this, inside of a videogame, is much more palatable than your typical "kill everyone in this room" mentality.
Sexuality and Language
We now come to both sexuality and foul language in videogames. This ranges from characters (mostly female) showing a little too much skin, to whole sections of games where the goal is to have unmarried sex. Language is relatively self-explanatory.
Honestly, I don't have a clear cut line even for myself, in large part because I don't really have to. The sorts of games that have an excessive display of sexuality or language are the same games that have an excessive display of violence. I suppose a loose line would be that if fornication was required to continue in a game, then I would not. Furthermore, if there was a large amount of foul language [an admittedly subjective standard] then I would not want to play it. If it just had the occasional curse word, however, I wouldn't be too opposed. The only exception I make here is the use of the Tetragrammaton. If God's Personal Name is used flippantly, I want nothing to do with it. (This is the same reason why I don't watch Joe Dirt anymore). The Word God is common in our language, and can refer to any deity, actual or imaginary. To actually say “Yahweh" takes extra effort and understanding, and I will not tolerate its misuse in my entertainment.
Conclusion
As this series comes to an end, I feel it helpful to quickly explain why I wrote about it in the first place.
As both a Christian and a gamer, I have often been considered something of an oddity in both camps.
As a Christian, I have found very little common ground in the gaming community, a community which holds agnosticism, if not flat out atheism, as almost a pre-requisite to acceptance. It is strange to stand firm on the rock when everyone else is sailing on ships of sand.
As a gamer, I have been looked at with a sort of assumption that I'm lazy. An assumption which I do not believe is legitimate. I don’t want to brag, but here goes. Not only do I go to church on Sundays, but also Wednesdays. And I teach Sunday School. And I go to Seminary. And I plan on homeschooling (not an easy task in the slightest). And I lead Family Worship. And we take the burden of our children during Sunday church service. Even today, I am taking vacation in order to potty train my son. I can be given called a number of things, but lazy is not one of them, especially if this laziness is grounded on my preferred recreational activity of choice.
To those who are gamers, but not Christians, I say this: Investigate the claims of Christianity. Christianity is not the end of fun. Rather, it is the beginning of true joy, in which videogames can certainly play a part.
To those who are Christians, but not gamers, I say this: Do not paint with so broad a brush as to assume that all gamers are the same. I suspect that if someone knew a few Catholics in high school, and then assumed that you pray to Mary and baptize infants, and believe that you have to attend Mass to get God's grace, that you would not appreciate such broad assumption. Recognize that many gamers have a burning love for Jesus Christ, and that submission to His will filters into the games we play.
To those who are both Christians and gamers, I say this: You are not alone. Enjoy your Christ, and enjoy your games. But know that Christ will always, always be sweeter than the new Zelda. I conclude with a principle that applies to every videogame, but will never apply to Christ:
The long-awaited will become the long-forgotten.
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