My Question

[iac]

I've been a Christian for two years now but some things I don't have the courage to ask about. So I'll ask my questions here.

Are violent video games wrong to play? Something inside me tells me it's just a game and it's all fake, and something else makes me feel guilty. I'll buy a game where you have to shoot terrorists and I'll play it less than a week and I'll get rid of it because I have guilt. Then I end up getting another.


Same with movies.

 

[onajourney87]

If something makes you feel guilty, doesn't that tell you enough already?

Your conscience is there for a reason. Use it.

osm

 

[Irocc]

Something inside me tells me it's just a game and it's all fake, and something else makes me feel guilty. I'll buy a game where you have to shoot terrorists and I'll play it less than a week and I'll get rid of it because I have guilt.

This is what I think. That if you are doing somethg and there's no peace while you are doing it, then it's probably not ok for you to do it. It may not be wrong, but it may also not be helping you.
I believe that when you do somethg and you experience the peace of God, then it's ok for you to do it. Otherwise,don't.
Anyway, just pray and ask God for guidance.
Blessings.

 

[mamaneenie]

This is what I think. That if you are doing somethg and there's no peace while you are doing it, then it's probably not ok for you to do it. It may not be wrong, but it may also not be helping you.
I believe that when you do somethg and you experience the peace of God, then it's ok for you to do it. Otherwise,don't.
Anyway, just pray and ask God for guidance.
Blessings.

Very true. I agree.

I think there is a verse somewhere about the peace of God being a guide (I can't remember where, just remember hearing my pastor talking about it) If you feel wrong, just don't do it and ask God why you feel you need to stop. Just ask him what he is trying to tell you.

 

[zimmer]

I believe, garbage in garbage out. God doesn't want you to do these things in real life why do them in your mind with games. God says that when you lust in your mind you have committed adultry. So it is the same as doing it. You might think the same about graphic games. There is no specific verse on this topic, only simliar things to guide us. Games cause us to think about doing these things, even if it is only on the game. So why would you want to think about something God wants you to stay away from.
Titus 1:16 They claim to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.
Mat 5:21-22"You have heard that it was said to those who lived long ago, 'You must not murder,' and 'Whoever murders will be subject to punishment.'(22)But I say to you, anyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be subject to punishment. And whoever says to his brother 'Raka!' will be subject to the Council. And whoever says 'You fool!' will be subject to hell fire.

So even murder is held to just being angry. Be careful in what you put in your head.

1Co 5:6-8 Your boasting is not good. You know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough, don't you? (7) Get rid of the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, since you are to be free from yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (8) So let us keep celebrating the festival, not with the old yeast or with the yeast of vice and wickedness, but with the bread of purity and truth that has no yeast.
It only takes a little bit of sin or evil to work its way through our whole life.

 

[iac]

Okay, thanks. I'll stop. Never to do it again.

 

[endure]

well ya know paul said that whatever you do without faith is sin.

meaning that it doesnt matter if its drinking pepsi.
if you feel it is a sin to doit, and you doit, you are still saying your willing to sin agaisnt God no matter how unsinful it really was.
if you do not have absolute faith that what your doing isnt wrong, then leave it alone.

but as far as violence and all that goes.. i only have a theory.
things like horror movies, mutulation movies, violent movies, etc....
it think those things portray things that are not godly or not the way God wants us to be, and even though watching an event take place may not be directly sinful....
i beleive it can be dangerous though.
becuase i personally beleive that those things have spiritual forces behind them and in them.
and it influences the way you live and your life in general.
you watch a scary movie... and the next thing you know your driving home from the theater and your glancing in the back seat to see if someone is there.... not becuase you are afriad, but that mindset and thought pattern has been forced onto you becuase you watched all that, and while you were watching the devil was at work in your head.

see what im saying?
i think violence and all that, its the same way.
i think it influences us more than we know.
and if God is convicting you, you dont have to know why, but he has a reason.
i think it would be wise to take good care of our EYE GATES, and not let anything in.
what you put in your mind you become in time.
and i beleive it would be wise to also not watch or stare at anything that is not portraying what we desire to become, for the same reason.

 

[iac]

I see what you all mean. I won't do them again.


But what about games like Dino Crisis? It's violent but it's not toward people. I never had any guilt over games where you kill aliens or dinos. What do you think?
I don't ever want to go against God's will.

 

[endure]

well i think the violence that is common in them all makes a diffrence.

though really if you ask me, this isnt something to go overboard about.
i dont think its something like GODS WILL......NOT GODS WILL.
nah, its not that black and white and that serious.
you just have to use temporance and self control in everything you do.

i read and awesome scripture today.
that said a man who cant rule his own spirit, is like a city without walls.

whatever wants to come in, can walts right into your life.

 

[iac]

I don't let anything come in. I try to guard as good as I can, but I had a big problem with this before I got saved.

 

[wgjones3]

iac, let me assure you of two things. First, Jesus came not only to give you life, but to give you a more abundant life than you've ever known. Second, playing video games or watchig a movie does not condemn you in God's eyes.

If you feel it is wrong to play violent video games, then don't play them. When I first devoted myself whole-heartedly to Christ, I felt it was wrong for me to listen to secular music. For 3 years, I listened to nothing but Christian music, not because God told me to, but because I thought that's what God wanted me to do. Then I heard a song that I really liked by a secular artist. I prayed about it, and God spoke to my spirit that it was okay to listen to secular music that wasn't demeaning to Him or glorifying satan. Basically, I had listened to so much Christian music that it wasn't having a positive effect on me anymore, but a neutral effect, and God really spoke into my spirit that I had let my own notions of holiness create a stigma by which he never expected me to live.

I would suggest that you lay aside these things until you have peace in your spirit from God that it's okay to enjoy them. I do know that violent games and movies have a psychological tendancy to make us devalue human life, whether we realize it or not, and that is my greatest concern about these so-called "shooter" games. However, any arguments that school shootings or workplace violence is caused by such games is hogwash--evil people are going to do evil things and blame it on whatever is convenient. As for games affecting our behavior, I have been playing NASCAR Racing in some form or another almost daily for 9 years and have YET to ram a slow car off the road, spin an aggressive driver out, or cut through the grass to pass another vehicle--yet I've been doing those things almost every day for 9 years on the computer.

Bottom line, as zimmer said, your brain is like a computer--you put garbage in, you'll get garbage out. But, unlike the computer, you have the capacity to decide what's garbage and compare it to your knowledge of Biblical truth and decide which one to act upon. In this case, that's what you have to do--decide. And pray.

I hope somewhere in that rambling you can find a nugget of truth.

 

[iac]

Okay.

 

[endure]

iac
awesome.
you should be well on your way then.

 

[iac]

Yeah, I'll pray a lot and I should be okay. Thanks all.

 

[Follower of Christ]

I've been a Christian for two years now but some things I don't have the courage to ask about. So I'll ask my questions here.

Are violent video games wrong to play? Something inside me tells me it's just a game and it's all fake, and something else makes me feel guilty. I'll buy a game where you have to shoot terrorists and I'll play it less than a week and I'll get rid of it because I have guilt. Then I end up getting another.


Same with movies.

Ive noticed one thing, the closer I have grown to Him the less I like to even play those games.
Could be a coincedence.......

 

[iac]

Same with me, Follower. I try not to buy violent games but the urge gets me, but I won't buy anymore.

 

[carnation]

Dear IAC, I agree we must be careful with whatever we feed our eyes coz it is through the eyes that images and photographs are captured and placed in our subconscience and can have hazardous effects on us in our daily lives.
I do not know whether it is right for me to have this thought but guilt is also to me another conscience feeling which one feels if something was not carried out correctly and rightly, an uneasy feeling that eats within us, right? But one can also be "over-guilt" over many things. You know what I mean? A sister in Christ once cautioned me to be wary and alert to the fact that the devil can use our guilt against us as well. Therefore I urge you to pray and ask God for His wisdom to know His voice and His alone.
Well, like a sheep who knows its shepherd's voice of calling. I believe that everything has its balance. Too much of anything may not be too good too..;-)

 

[iac]

Yes, I don't want bad guilt, but in this case I believe it isn't bad.