Is world of warcraft a sin to play?

I play WoW AND I rarely go to "church", but guess what...I am STILL a Christian! :O

I know! You can start a Christian guild of holy warriors and convert people to Christianity. Then, you will be doing the lord's work AND getting your dose of WOW smack. In a way it balances itself out. Then you can name your guy "The Priest" (probably taken) and go kill demons together and also try to limit clan member online times to 1.5-2 hours a day.

I believe it is imperative that people have leisure times for themselves during the day. They should also have leisure times with their family and friends. If you are playing WOW with your friends that you see during the day, even better. Maybe your dad plays and you get some father son bonding times going too.

On the other hand, people are dying somewhere out in the world of famine, homelessness, wars, etc. while you are at home playing games in a fantasy world. However, you paid for it and we shouldn't feel guilty about what we earned. Maybe it's right if you pay the same amount you pay for WOW subscription every month to charity every month.

Well, my time playing WoW did put me in contact with several people I count as close friends now, even though I pretty much don't play anymore. One of these friends was a pagan, and our friendship and the debates here and there actually got her to convert to Christianity and clean her life up a bit. It kind of throws a wrench in the doctrine of "every hour you spend on WoW is an hour you haven't spent serving God!" if you end up serving God through WoW.

Also. I play on an RP server, and I decided that, since WoW's lore dictates that the undead forsook the Light(the closest thing to God humans worship) after death, that I wanted to play an undead that still clung to his old religion. That ended up growing into a small band of undead and other horde members that believed this altruistic faith of the Holy Light was a good idea, and THAT grew into an underground church. They met to hold sermons in secret places around undead towns, they fought and fled persecution, and they even mounted outreach programs and lent their fighting talents to other groups that were in need/set upon by evil characters.

I used Christian messages as the heart of each sermon my character taught. Most of which were parables Jesus taught. There was one on how the church must serve as a body, one about forgiveness that included the debtor who wouldn't forgive a man indebted to him, his first message was about how the church shouldn't fear that which can only kill the body (IE, other forsaken seeking to persecute them), I could go on and on. I stopped playing WoW for the most part, and sadly had to stop running the guild after 2 years, due to wrapping up college, but it was a rewarding time in which I got to feed the word of God into the WoW community, and even had a few friends tell me I bolstered their faith in Christ; or in some cases, just gave them a better impression of Christians as someone whose philosophy isn't summed up in the words, "Thou shalt not."

^Probably the best perspective I've read throughout the whole topic.

The game itself is not inherently evil. What you do with the game is like what you do with any other kind of game in life (even sports). You can obsess over it and injure your life, relax/learn with it and enrich your life, or use it as a tool and assist other’s lives. In my experience, online gaming for any significant amount of time becomes less and less about the game’s content and more and more about the interactions between people.

i was heavily into dungeons and dragons, for all who dont know its like wow but before computers, never had any problems.....

This is a really good question and that you care enough to ask, shows you do love God and want to serve Him. Obviously and for good reason, Wow is an awesome game. The art is enough to want to just fly around and see it's beauty. I have not played this game for the reasons I am about to state, but I will try to address the question quickly. I am not implying I know everything about this game, but I don't have to. I know enough to see it is not something God approves of. Quite the opposite.

Anything that includes casting spells, or fortune telling, is not of God. Period. God specifically warns us all through out the bible that we are not to be a part of it. The whole game is filled with characters who look like they come out of the pits of hell. You destroy something by casting a power on, or over it. You heal with powers. Nowhere do the powers glorify the same God we serve. Who or what does it glorify? It's all about the satisfaction of obtaining your goals by killing or destroying or being powerful from powers that are not of our real God. Fantasy or not, it is wrong. And where does the power come from? This doesn't help anyone be a real soldier or be prepared in any way for the realities of war. In real wars, people who do come home deal with real deep issues about the real blood and gore and destruction they have seen and done. Yes, it is just fantasy. But there is a place deep in our conscious and spirit that tells us when something doesn't feel right or is just plain wrong and that is the holy Spirit. I know feeling an anger or justification for killing a "bad guy" in any number of TV shows, is wrong. A lot of shows, movies, pictures and online games only desensitize us to the Holy Spirit inside us telling us "NO" don't go there.

Every teen or young person I know thinks they aren't susceptible to being pulled away from their faith in Jesus. But do the wrong thing a little bit at a time will take you one inch at a time away from your faith and make you question other things later. Satan knows, get them while they are young and rebellious because they think they are strong or know better then their old fogey parents who are out of it. We were your age. And we know the bible better. We see how people and the world has changed. We've seen our friends fall away and know pretty much it happened one step at a time.

Here in the South is a saying, "You can let a bird fly over your head, but you don't have to let it nest there." True enough, but let it fly over enough and soon you don't notice the things being dropped on your head. Pretty soon there's a nest there you don't even notice. My suggestion is to study the bible to see what it says about magic. Fantasy or not, you are performing it when you play this game.

You don't want to OPEN any doors to Satan. Fantasy or not you are doing that and you don't even know the underlying implications this will have somewhere down the road.

Hi,

I think a game like WOW is between you and God. The bible says:

Ecc 7:16-17 Be not righteous overmuch; neither make thyself overwise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

We can be so Spiritually mined, or so righteous, that we destroy our lives. God does not want you to do anything against your own will. If you love the game, play it knowing God loves YOU.

However I once asked God about my game playing habits and he told me, for me, it was best not to play. As there were more important things to be mindful of. But each person is called differently just because he tells me some thing does not mean it applies to you. I know God would be happy with me even if I chose to play computer games. He is a kind and generous father, not a bossy boots.

is playing games like wow wrong? my reply to this is that God does not mind you doing what you want as long as you are not putting wow for example before God. God needs to be #1 in your life. if you are putting more importance upon anything before God then it is wrong. also as you grow God may ask you to give up on wow. For example a friend of mine God told him to give up hunting. hunting is not wrong but God wanted him to go into the ministry and hunting was consuming a lot of his time so God told him to stop hunting and he did it for God. has my friend refused then he would of been in open rebellion to God. i hope this helps

God bless

By careful you do not become addicted to these games and forget your duty as a Christian to your fellow man. I've seen people who have allowed these things to take over their lives and effect how they treat themselves and others. Games are in no way a measure of a person. The level of involvement in humanity is and the fraudulent world of cyberspace can be quite enticing since one's responsibilities there are nil. The same can be said for internet forums such as the one we are currently on. They can give one the delusion that they have family amongst the membership which can easily be turned to disappointment with a single thoughtless rant by those the feel close to.

Illusion and delusion can be indistinguishable in a world that can be brought to a close by the flipping of a power switch. It's fine to let a reality such as this into your mind but keep it out of your heart. Once in there then it may consume you.

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Satt said:

I play WoW AND I rarely go to "church", but guess what...I am STILL a Christian! :O

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And how is that working out for you?

This is a easy answer but.. knowing most do not want to hear. Jesus died for the worlds sins. No matter what we do He does not judge us nor condemn us. He will never ever make you feel guilty.. He waits till we make the choice to follow Him.. It has to be a free choice. We force people to believe to do things.. turn or burn? Words that never came out of His mouth. Your spouse or that person sleeping around..what do you think? Yet Christ? Does not accuse anyone.. He loves and forgives and says..go and sin no more.

See its not that GOD does not want us to have any fun but this is NOT his world.. satan is the god of this world..yet that is about to end. Satan does not play fair. Adam and Eve.. never said a word.. just took a bite.. what can one silly little bite..no killing not Anime no other gods no super man no spider man no harry potter..no just a bite. Look what it cost GOD! He lost how many? He lost HIS creation.

So a game a cartoon..anime manga.. that has witchcraft, spells, death, summon demons little kids.. you think this is ok because? Its not real? People treat everything like this. Music movies.. we think.. well they are not form God nothing about God or Jesus same with music so.. they must be ok. Jesus called His own what? You being evil know how to give good gifts....you are of your father the devil. We are CHILDREN of GOD that believe in His only son. We are in this world not part of it. Now saying .. I simply do not agree ..does not change the truth.

Strange huh.. well we can think of any person and they dont even have to be real and just lust in our heart our mind..its a sin. We dont have to fully stop at a stop sign or stick to 65mph.. over it just a bit ..its ok right? God does not play. He is just..and He is not a man nor does He think like one. If we do things that kill steal destroy..use magic witchcraft sorcery.. we think its ok..its 2016 not the middle ages haha!

Yet I wonder what would happen in Moses day.. a you would be put to death...oh but I bet God has changed.. Jesus came.. so.. it must be better now right? The LAW was not tossed away with.. again.. before Jesus we could think of any person and lusts and it was not a sin. yet GOD took it up a step..now..if you just THINK IT you did it. We are not of this world.. in it not part of it.

Go to China for me. As you stand there it is as if I am standing there. Remember you are not like them..do not do the things they do. You open doors to something that unless you repent even God can not stop. Well you are FREE.. you listen to you open the door you watch the show the movie read the book.. everyone does it.. IS Jesus lord of your life? What does lord mean? OH I sin more then most..so please dont think I dont do have not done.. Yet let it be written.. Father in Jesus name I repent of all I have done that is not pleasing in your sight and for the things I should repent for but do not know.. hold them not to my account..to my charge.. change me 1st.. EVERYTHING.. the way YOU want it.. I say ok.. in Jesus name

I've been a serious gamer since i was around 18. I stopped last year at age 28. Here are my 2 cents...
The reason I stopped is because I started reading more into Christianity. I always knew there was something weird with the pentagram in Diablo II when you press escape, shooting a cross in an old chapel to get a gem in a game called Clive barker's Undying. I did find an ingenius way, I went below the cross and shot upwards without hittting the cross and it worked ) but most of the time you can't. In Vampires - the Masquerade, you are a vampire, and at a certain point a priest wants to kill you. So he cites passages from the bible, and you go in a trance an see heaven and a big cross, it damages you and you have to hurry and kill him before he keeps praying on you and shooting you.

Concerning wow:
Wow is filled with pagan symbols, the CROSS carried by discipline priests who you kill (the cross without Christ, just symbols on top of it!?), the tree of life and eye of horus paintings, the joy you get when you kill (cuz kill = win, and sometimes dancing over their dead body if they were good or planting a flag on them ), allying with the bad to defeat evil , especially with the latest expansion called Legion (cuz being good is not enough, Light is not enough to defeat darkness , which is a witchcraft notion. They believe Satan is stronger thans God that's why he rules the earth) etc...

I used to say it's ok as long as it's just fantasy, but it was really not. If i'm a monk and with alliance, doesn't mean I'm the good guy. God doesn't care if I kill an orc horde. The game is called WARcraft. This is was satan wants, war and destruction. You can claim you are doing something good by killing "monsters". But eventually you may be killing your fellow holy paladin or whoever. In no circumstance are we justified to kill right? And it doesn't matter if it's just in your head, in a simulated world, or in real life. The Bible makes this very clear, the thought is what counts.

I reached 2400 personal rating, I became a semi-pro, playing between 4-8 hours per day with my brother. My wife was getting very annoyed, and she filmed me once while i was playing. Looking back, i looked kinda scary. I was so focused I would get REALLY angry for the slightest interruption. My posture was as if i was a stone, only my fingers and lips moving, for hours on end. It required my extreme attention and devotion. I was competing with the best after all, and MILLISECONDS was what it took between winning and losing. The amount of information I had to process, between memorizing all the spells of all characters, all their strategies, counting cooldowns, predicting behaviors, extremely precise teammate talking and signals... You can imagine how I looked

I don't know anyone who doesn't like to get better, improve and become good. No one likes to lose. The gamers in the community are very competitive, and VERY bitter and offending. The moment you are called a noob, this insult will not wash away, and you'll devote hours, days and months of your life to the game. And ironically, the game keeps changing. Heroes are added,abilities change, spells are made OP or nerfed, new maps added, which means totally new strategies, new ways to adapt and conquer... The game is endless...

But your life isn't. I'm afraid to see how many hours I played that game. The sum would probably equal more than a year of my life. How scary is that? A year of sleepless nights playing. If i was humming a song while playing I would probably be able to sing in an opera! But I don't sing. And I came to a conclusion to stop. Don't kid yourself, it's a sin.The spells, demons and stories are from witchcraft. They didn't invent anything, they just asked pagans to tell them what they do. And you are using them. and help them getting richer and more addicting to new comers.

I could go on but I won't, I hope this post helps someone. I'm not a member of this forum, just joined to say this

It shows remarkable discipline that you spend only an hour and half a day on it. If that's all and that's the only game your playing during the day I see no problem with it. At one time I was addicted to a game called Maple story in which I spent most of my time on. Wasted a lot of hours on it and only through a slow period of realisation did I come to see how damaging it was for my life.

Thematically Warcraft is a bit light when it comes to fantasy and quite simple, Horde vs Alliance, the big bad being the Demons, The Lich King and etc. I don't think it's a sin to play the game but if you become addicted to it, if you find yourself spending too much time on it a day, it's probably best to call it quits.

negaru said:

So I've been playing WoW for around 3 and a half years now, it has given me no problems and I have remained in the church RARELY missing it for 2 and a half years. Now recently I have began to be under fire by the church for playing WoW and games similar to it. I have fired romans 14 at them and a few other things but nothing seems to work. They seem gung-ho to make me quit my gaming hobby. (I spend about 1 1/2 hours a day playing on average) It has had no effect on grades, little to no effect on family. But is it really a sin to play? I've never thought so until my church started breathing down my neck about it, but I'd like to see what some of you have to say. Thanks!

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I don't think it is a sin. I think it is good to have a creative hobby like that.

negaru said:

So I've been playing WoW for around 3 and a half years now, it has given me no problems and I have remained in the church RARELY missing it for 2 and a half years. Now recently I have began to be under fire by the church for playing WoW and games similar to it. I have fired romans 14 at them and a few other things but nothing seems to work. They seem gung-ho to make me quit my gaming hobby. (I spend about 1 1/2 hours a day playing on average) It has had no effect on grades, little to no effect on family. But is it really a sin to play? I've never thought so until my church started breathing down my neck about it, but I'd like to see what some of you have to say. Thanks!

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It doesnt help one become like christ. But as time wasters go, there is far worse out there.

World of Warcraft - Here is a link about Wow.
Gaming -> and here another link about Wow and gaming.

Some interesting thoughts about Wow and what it does.
It can have a negative affect on you. The person shares about how God freed him of his addiction with wow and games.

I too, I'm not 100% sure and it is not very clear to me either whether it is exactly sin to play wow. 'Killing monsters, demons, 'humans', cast a spell, healing others'. I mean it is not real practice, it is fantasy and fiction. You 'pretend' it. It is not like you really practice to do that in the world. That is to me the confusing part.

I never really thought of those games as a sin to play. They are fictional, after all. Sure, they aren't Christian in nature, but it is fiction. After all, I'm a big Megami Tensei fan. I'm sure many people could see the contradiction between that and being a Christian.

I see this too often. Christians getting caught up in a set image. It's perfectly fine to play games and WOW. They were created by people using their imaginations. That's like condemning anyone who reads Narnia. Imagination has it's purpose. Don't let people tell you what God is saying because more often then not they have their own opinion in mind. God's words are written so always turn to that. I would say find a new church. In all seriousness it's no ones business if your playing a certain game. But I'm sure you figured out what you want to do already since the post is from 2011.

To the OP, asking for permission or validation from others' opinion vs making up your own mind is a problem in itself - the whole Balaam/ Nicolaitan thing Jesus spoke of in Revelation is relegating THE Shepherd's job to man - but that's another convo and topic I guess. I also joined this forum just to share some, and only some as this is inter-faith, for one, and secondly, online is always 'pseudo-fellowship' but it can be beneficial too sometimes. I've always gamed since I was a kid, growing up in arcade rooms. I'm a visual person and am easily captivated by good graphics. I've played WoW for ~12 years and I was hooked from the start for other avoidance reasons too, but that's also another topic. By and large, I've found the most harmful thing in mmo gaming has been mixing my soul (fellow-shipping) with people who have a hostile bend towards God and the gospel of Jesus Christ ie, recognizing the human predicament and the need for a Savior. I had no problems yielding to Christ especially once I 1st knew He was making His Presence known to me and the love and care of my Christian mentor at the time. Now....why do I say this? Many people out in the world have not had interchange with God on this most basic level (for Christians). Dare I say, even many 'Christians' don't really acknowledge the gospel insomuch as 1st works 1st, His atonement at the alter (reference the tabernacle model; John 10:9, Psalm 23, chapters 2 and 3 in Revelation all have to do with Jesus's feelings on what God was trying to teach in this model 1st through Moses and also the writer of Hebrews in the NT explains that there is a real tabernacle in heaven to simplify/explain what is important to God in approaching Him. Long winded I'm sorry but my purpose in providing this context is this: there are many 'familiar spirits' out in the world (including world of warcraft) which are not healthy to fellowship with and this, from my experience is why: reading Romans 8 and precursor thought in the end of Romans 7 shows that even the Jew of Jews, Paul made a conclusion about the law and that is that there is a law in his body and soul and it is his captivity of sin which he admitted and the way out of that is the atoning sacrifice which Jesus provided on the cross, which God is COMPLETELY satisfied with - scripture says. God Judged sin on the cross. Now, in this passage it expalins that identifying with the flesh, your sins and failures is a mindset - it is defeatist and you cannot please God in this frame of mind. However, we don;t have to be under domination of this mindset, even though we are still in fleshly bodies contending with sin. The solution is atonement, accepting His testimonies through HIS Word, and washing in His Word till we accept what He says -not what others govern according to their working out their own salvation, but working out our own salvation, as John the baptist said in John 3- WE accept what God says - this is our responsibility alone and cannot be relegated to someone else. So, back to the familiar spirits. Playing mmo's for years I have soooo often come across people in community who solicit and aggravate those pets issues, or familiar sins, misgivings or failures to EMPHASIZE those. This is demonic and spiritual in that according to this passage (Romans 8) the devil ensnares for the purpose of accusing then dominating you so that you feel unforgiven or hostile, at enmity with God. The issue I;ve had with WoW by and large has been fellow-shipping, sharing my time and opening up my soul to people who have God knows what hostile issues against God. I have heard countless 1000 times accusations to get me to identify with sin that just leaves you feeling crappy. Now, I love gaming, inherently gaming is 'permissible' but fellow shipping with those hostile to God is not good for your soul or focus. Trying to abide in Christ as Paul wrote in Romans 7, serving the law of God with my mind, is difficult when people take our their resentments on God on you - you become a target, and a target for....familiar spirits. This is by and large the biggest issue I have with WoW.
Having said that, Activision is run by global oligarchs who venerate mystery babylon. One simple perusal of it's board members will reveal that. And knowing Blizzard's history and it's content controlled by Activision even before acquiring Blizz in 2008, they seem to be 'culture-crafting'. Consider TBC's content: Tempest Keep being modern day CERN. Shattrath being a -neutral city ala Berlin and perhaps other cities they want to make like that (/rolls eyes). Or even earlier in Vanilla the whole Thunderfury quest line is reminiscent of stuff from the book of Jude which refers to the book of Enoch discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls). And WotLK's Ulduar raid is all about killing the tri-une God and the convo in Dalaran is also reminiscent of the same mystery mentioned above from Classic's TF line. Now this is definitely off topic except to basically mention mystery babylon, which we are to come out of according to Jesus in Revelation. Not to mention observing A.I. in chat - incendiary solicitations of politics etc. I've come across many toons that were named odd names that were insults to me - to specific and uncanny not to be directly targeted at me. The game, according to my conclusions is by far the best video game ever made, it is run by oligarchs who wish to bring on the tribulation and you will be surrounded mostly by atheists, agnostics, or outright pagans who defy the living God. The question is, how much of my (or your) soul am I willing to share with said familiar spirits who are malicious to humans on earth, who seek a 'house' to dwell in, who uncannily know just how to insult you to reopen old wounds to infest with things that the Atoning blood of Jesus Lamb of God covers completely and the Water of His Word washes and cleanses and the realization of His thoughts aligns us into fellowship with Him, dresses us in our right mind so we can hear from and see Him and be fit and ready for what He made us for on a day to day. I ask this question to myself as to anyone else really. It;s easy to justify farming WoW with a second monitor playing sermons but just how much of my life/soul do I want to open up to people who have zero clue of what is happening now in the world much less what is coming upon the earth?