Normally, I don’t share videos but someone shared this video opportunity from thinqmedia.com and it was quite affirming to a vision on video games are an uncharted mission field that I have felt for several years now. I wrote a six-part blog series on Faith and Video Games which you can check out here.
The reason why I want to share this video is because in just 13 minutes it shares where I believe a big portion of ministry will happen when ministering to the next generation. I know I might sound a little too out there at times, but every article or podcast I listen to that studies what young people are doing and spending their time video games is brought up as a bigger and bigger activity. I believe the Church will be talking about video games very differently within the next 3-5 years.
I won’t share everything about the video below but here are some of the highlights and quotes that stood out to me:
- “The same people who I struggle getting people into my church don’t miss a stream of mine.” – Grant Diamond who runs a streaming video game ministry
- “We living in a culture that is dominated by entertainment right now. And gaming runs the entertainment culture right now. It’s not sports or movies.”
- “We need to mine Christians in the space of gaming more. We as Christians should not be so scared of an industry but rather dominate it.” – Jon Rush Video Game ministry director for Elevation Church
- “I think the absence of Christians in the space of video games is the reason why we have the content we do (talking about inappropriate content). When more Christians are in this space we will see better content.”
But for me, the quote that stood out to me the most was from Jon Rush…
“Anything that we demonize or refuse to understand as a Church we’re instantly giving ground to the enemy.”
He shared how the Church is not just behind in any involvement with video games but even having the conversation about how video games impact our society, what the Church can do or should do about it, and more. I have personally seen the positive impact of video games as a mission field. Adults and students connecting over a hobby is nothing new, the Church has been providing activities for decades for people to gather around, but with video games, I am seeing a whole new group of people having a connection to the church that never would before.
What’s interesting about this quote is the fact that it doesn’t have to apply to video games it can be to anything and the more the church shuns topics or activities that dominate in the culture the more obsolete the church is perceived. And to be clear I am not saying the church is obsolete, only being perceived that way. I also don’t the this quote means the church needs to go into every activity or hobby there are some that are not redeemable (porn or drug industry, etc.) but video games are very much redeemable. It only takes willing believers in Jesus to go where very few people have gone before to make a difference.
Click the picture below to watch the video.
The Gaming Opportunity Video
