2 Corinthians 10:5
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
There is a spiritual war being waged all around all of us, as the above scripture states. This war occurs beyond our realm of physical sight and outside the reach of our flesh. In the above passage, the apostle Paul is defending the ministry he has been doing among the various cultures of his time. Although he speaks of war, his language is that of opinions, arguments, and knowledge. The strongholds he alludes to are not physical castles or bunkers, but strong towers of spirituality and philosophy that dominate the thinking and worldview of those who live under the influence of popular culture.
The culture of Paul’s day was defined by philosophy, multiple gods, and constant debate about the truth of reality, morality, and the very meaning of our existence. We may claim that our society doesn’t care about philosophy much anymore, particularly in video games, but as with cinema, music, and the media in general, values and statements about the very meaning of life are being communicated more than we realize.
Paul states that the Christian’s war is against the occupation of the enemy in our lives through the power wielded by cultural ideologies. Our world and everything in it is the work of God, the one true Creator and storyteller. His glory and presence, his very fingerprints, are all over his creation. Romans 1:19 states that, “what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” Even in a culture that is depraved and defiant towards God, evidence of God’s truth can be found. The term “culture” is not used specifically in relation to American culture, but to all culture that is created by humanity. God is the original Creator and the very act of creation that we see displayed in our culture through arts and media, even video games, is an expression of a gift given to us by God the Creator. The role of Christianity in response to culture is to seek out the truth and grace of God in what is being produced and presented to us.
Let’s take an example from early church history. In Acts 17, Paul visits Athens to spread the good news of Jesus. What he witnesses is a city full of shrines, monuments, and statues devoted to hundreds of gods. After observing the city and their polytheistic culture, Paul addresses them with these words,
“Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”
Paul inhabited the culture of Athens and paid close attention to the citizens’ objects of worship. After careful observation he was able to find and reclaim the truth of God amongst a sea of idolatry. Even the polytheistic and pagan culture of Athens contained within it the acknowledgement of the one true God. In the same way, our modern culture of entertainment through movies, music, and video games contains traces of evidence that point to the original Creator, the “unknown God” as it were.
This blog is not intended to criticize games and point out every element of immorality or questionable content. This blog is also not intended to recommend or discourage the playing or purchase of any game presented based on their seeming conformity or lack thereof to Christian thinking. Christianity has historically been known for condemning works of art in culture and that is not what this blog is about. The intention of this blog is to create a space for open dialogue between the culture of video gaming and Christianity.
The goal is that the content and discussion of this blog would follow in Paul’s footsteps by reclaiming the absolute truth of God from the narratives, ideas, and images presented by popular video games. My goal as the writer, by the grace of God, is to seek out signs pointing to Jesus in the culture of video games. In doing so, I hope to encourage open dialogue between Christians and non-Christians alike about the narrative and ideas presented by the interactive story telling of video games. Ultimately, whatever good work that is accomplished through this blog will be attributed to God alone. I am not the reclaimer, just a broken instrument who seeks to find what God has already reclaimed to himself. God is the Reclaimer and seeks that we may reclaim his truth from culture so that he may reclaim us to himself.
Thank you for visiting and please discuss and enjoy this blog.
