Non sinful activities within Video Games (Please Understand I am young)

[Warrior]

People, My sisters already preordered a game for me a long time ago and it comes out today. PLEASE HEAR ME OUT BEFORE YOU JUDGE

This game is Grand Theft Auto V, LISTEN, Before pointing fingers, I have been playing this game for years, And I Can tell you this now....There are many many many things to do in the game besides murder stealing and lust.....There are Non sinful activities within the game I loved doing all my childhood....In the new game Here is a list of things you can do that are not sinful within the game

basejumping
Mountain bike riding
Buying cars (instead of stealing)
Playing fetch with pet dog, Ride around in car with it and take it for walks
Play tennis
Rollercoaster rides
Fly planes around the map
Play Golf
Racing
Ride Jet Skis
Swim and explore underwater with submarine
Race others with running, Swimming, And bike riding
Cruise through the countryside

And many other things also that are not sinful in real life

Now Keep in mind, I DO NOT condone cursing, Lust, or inapropriate themes in The game, That is the part That is sinful, The murder, stealing, Dealing drugs, Gang violence, Sexual sin within the game. That is whats being portrayed in the media.....Now put that all aside, and Imagine me playing the game ONLY for the non sinful activities listed above this paragraph.

Im not so sure that alone would send me to hell......I am Not testing God, I am only trying to be reasonable. Most other Christians would tell their children not to play the game, Very good idea not to if you are young anyways, It can corrupt Children's minds and behaviors if they are influenced, But some people are just harsh telling me that video games will send me to hell (And they capitalize the word hell in all caps) It looks like they are really trying to scare me talking like that...I dont think they understand the game is not all about murder and crime unless you make it that way

Thoughts??

 

[Wormwood]

Sounds like this is bothering your conscience or you wouldn't have written about it. Let me ask you this: if Jesus was hanging out in your living room, would you grab your controller and kick the game on? Anything not done in faith is sin. If you feel it's possibly wrong, why mess with it? Being a Christian is not about finding out what you can do that wont get you sent to hell (as you put it). It's about embracing the grace of God in a way that makes you love his righteousness and desire to live a renewed and pure life out of joy and gratitude.

 

[Eltanin]

I like video games myself, and I actually had the first 2 GTA games back in the day. I understand that they have added more non-criminal content, and from what I understand, you can be the police in the new one?

Anyways, I think following your conscious on this one is better than listening to anyone condemning or justifying your playing of this game, or any other for that matter. Pray about this and see what God lays upon your heart about it. If you feel convicted about the parts of the game that resemble wickedness, but feel that you can play the parts of the game that seem innocent, then you really need to ask yourself if you are up to the challenge of avoiding the temptation of playing the bad part. I mean, there are allot of the innocent parts that you can't get to without playing the criminal parts, am I right?

If this is a personal conviction, then you really should avoid the temptation altogether. There are games where you can do all of those innocent activities without the temptation of playing parts that go against your convictions.

Playing a video game will not send you to Hell, but being disobedient to the convictions that are being set upon you by God can stunt your spiritual growth. If you feel that you might not be meant to play this game, then it would be in your best interest to not play it. This could very well be God trying to keep a distraction out of your life in order to advance you spiritually, and being able to set the game aside, even though your selfish nature would rather not, would really be a testimony of how devoted to God you want to be.

 

[rockytopva]

Two games that hooked me...

Need for Speed High Stakes (The 1990's version)
Microproses Strike Eagle (Another 1990's game)

I have not been hooked since.

 

[Eltanin]

I love the Need for Speed Series. My favorite was Hot Pursuit from 1998. The ultimate cops and robbers game. My brother was always the police. Imagine that, he became a police man as an adult. LOL
I have a few of the later versions of NFS, but Hot Pursuit has a special place in my heart. My son is getting old enough to play NFS now, we might start getting back into them.

I mostly play simulation and strategy games when I do get to play now. Sometimes I play a RPG, but I have allot of real life going on, so it doesn't happen too often anymore. I check out any games that my kids might want to play that we consider, and frankly, there is a part of me that wishes I had time to sit and actually play them. Ah well. Sometimes it stinks to be grown up.

 

[Robertson]

You are putting yourself into a bad place when you play games like that. This would be like saying it's ok to go to a strip joint because you aren't really there for the girls, you are there to talk to your friends and enjoy spending time with them. The fact is, you are placing yourself into an environment that is not conducive to the spirit of God. You are also placing yourself to be in a position to be tempted by such a game that condones such filth. There are other games you can play that are open world environments that don't have the trash.

 

[Robertson]

I love videogames and I personally have been very tempted to go out and buy GTA5. But, I decided that I would rather have the Spirit of the Lord with me than the spirit of wickedness, so I did not buy it. I feel good about that decision and thank God daily that I still have His spirit.

 

[veteran]

2 Cor 6:14-15
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
(KJV)

It doesn't matter that such a game as Grand Theft Auto also has non-criminal activities, it's still conditioning of the mind towards being more open to what is evil. Just because evil exists in this world does not mean it will continue, for this world is to be destroyed by God. And that's how the minds of those in Christ Jesus should be, in the expecting of the future glory of the world to come without evil, and not sinking into satisfaction with this present one.

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

People, My sisters already preordered a game for me a long time ago and it comes out today. PLEASE HEAR ME OUT BEFORE YOU JUDGE

This game is Grand Theft Auto V, LISTEN, Before pointing fingers, I have been playing this game for years, And I Can tell you this now....There are many many many things to do in the game besides murder stealing and lust.....There are Non sinful activities within the game I loved doing all my childhood....In the new game Here is a list of things you can do that are not sinful within the game

basejumping
Mountain bike riding
Buying cars (instead of stealing)
Playing fetch with pet dog, Ride around in car with it and take it for walks
Play tennis
Rollercoaster rides
Fly planes around the map
Play Golf
Racing
Ride Jet Skis
Swim and explore underwater with submarine
Race others with running, Swimming, And bike riding
Cruise through the countryside

And many other things also that are not sinful in real life

Now Keep in mind, I DO NOT condone cursing, Lust, or inapropriate themes in The game, That is the part That is sinful, The murder, stealing, Dealing drugs, Gang violence, Sexual sin within the game. That is whats being portrayed in the media.....Now put that all aside, and Imagine me playing the game ONLY for the non sinful activities listed above this paragraph.

Im not so sure that alone would send me to hell......I am Not testing God, I am only trying to be reasonable. Most other Christians would tell their children not to play the game, Very good idea not to if you are young anyways, It can corrupt Children's minds and behaviors if they are influenced, But some people are just harsh telling me that video games will send me to hell (And they capitalize the word hell in all caps) It looks like they are really trying to scare me talking like that...I dont think they understand the game is not all about murder and crime unless you make it that way

Thoughts??

LOL oh to be young again!

I do hear what you are proposing but also see what's behind it. I grew up Christian too and had to forge my own path forming borders between good and evil apart from what I was taught growing up. It's a discovery process that you shouldn't let anyone rob you of. My opinion is that this video game should be one where righteousness prevails. I never liked Grand Theft Auto because the player got away with stealing cars. I also don't like pirate movies for the same reason and have yet to see a good pirate movie where the British Navy captures the ship and hangs every one of the pirates by the neck. Because I know historically how vicious and murderous pirates were, I don't like movies that make them into heroes.

And I also don't like mafia movies where the mafia is made to seem virtuous

And I also don't like ninja movies. Ninjas were men without honor and the scourge of Japanese society. They were assassins with no code and no scruples.

I hope you see where I'm going with this. We like to make bad guys seem cool in our movies and video games and in our imaginations, the bad guys win. Maybe in the game you propose, the villains are vanquished and the righteous flourish.

But please don't let anyone discourage you. This is your journey and I'm cheering you on!