Gaming for God

Considering the controversy surrounding RPGs, it’s easy to ask if it’s possible to game for God. I grew up mostly in the 1990s, graduated high school in 2002, and vaguely remember the fall of the Berlin Wall. My family faithfully went to church, learned from well-educated pastors (including my grandfather, who still inspires my pursuit of a deeper relationship with God), and my parents did their best to make sure I was instilled with solid moral values. Looking back, there are probably things I wouldn’t repeat, but I do genuinely think my parents were trying their best.

One of the byproducts of their attempts to raise us right was that we were sheltered from a lot of ideas and media that wasn’t necessarily bad all on its own. This was normal for parents in the ‘80s and ‘90s who didn’t have access to the same study resources we have now (such as the evidence showing that Tabletop RPGs [TTRPGs] are socially healthy1). At various points in my life, I was told that rock and roll is evil (and there’s no such thing as “Christian” rock), video games are bad, Harry Potter is bad, Pokémon is bad, and even C. S. Lewis is bad because he had a character that was a witch. It’s worth pointing out that my parents did let me listen to Christian rock (dismissing the “all rock is evil” claim as nonsense), play video games, including (eventually) Pokémon; read Harry Potter (again, eventually), and they actually encouraged us to read C. S. Lewis as well as J. R. R. Tolkien. But we all heard a lot of the extreme claims that either resulted from or fed into moral panics of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

In my lifetime, I’ve seen dozens of moral panics from the American church, and in my experience, most of them have done more harm than good. I will state emphatically that any time sin and moral depravity is endorsed as “good,” the Church has the moral responsibility to stand up and say something and to endorse only what is God-honoring. However, the anti-Rock movements of the ‘60s and ’70s2, the “satanic panic” against TTRPGs in the ‘80s and ‘90s1, and the ongoing concern around the so-called evils of video games3, don’t seem to have improved anyone’s relationship with God or redirected people’s interests. In fact, in my experience, those moral panics pushed people away from God and biblical truth and into communities that openly reject and hate God.

The fact is, the people pushing the moral panics I’ve mentioned never show evidence to support their claims (though some evidence has been manufactured and later disproved1), and even the panics I’ve witnessed that I believe were fully justified ended up doing more harm than good (a topic I’m not tackling today). I’m bringing this up because one of my goals at Disciple Gaming Ministry is to teach people how to game for God. Following the “satanic panic” (and yes, I’m going to use ironic quotes every time I mention this term), it would be easy to ask if it’s even possible for someone to game for God.

The answer is a qualified yes. Why qualified? Because, like rock and roll and video games, content, intent, focus, and methodology all matter. In his letter to the church in Colossae, Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:16-17)4. In the verses preceding these two, Paul reminded his readers that Christ changed them, so they should put their effort into living like new creations, transformed by the Holy Spirit.

With that in mind, when I’m at the gaming table as a player, I try to play my character as if God is at the table with me (because he is). My choices reflect what I believe God commands about loving him and loving my neighbor. When I’m running a game (even when it’s not an RP2 game session), I encourage my players to do what’s right. This extends to the non-Christians in my groups because I want them to see God through my words and actions.

From a player perspective, this may sound extreme. After all, this is a game and the player choices don’t have real world consequences (for example, playing a murderer in the game isn’t a real-world crime, and I’m not killing an actual person in the game so who would I be hurting if I took that path as a player?). Aside from a discussion (for another post) surrounding how other players are affected by how their companions behave, it’s true that the real-world consequences are almost nonexistent. I’ll also point out that my choices aren’t a dogmatic, “Well, I’m a Christian, and I know God would want me to act in such-and-such a manner, so my character is going to…” I try to keep it subtle so I’m not preaching at the table while keeping my actions consistent with the faith my friends know I hold dear.

As a GM, if players want to commit a crime, I remind them of in-game consequences I know they’ll want to avoid. And if it’s particularly heinous, I’ll tell them their moral alignment will change, which is something most of them hate. The in-game consequences aren’t as severe as real-world consequences, but players want to keep their characters out of trouble and usually adjust to make sure the “optimal path” to character success is taken.

Back to the question, “How can someone game for God?” The answer is to remain consistent in all things. Live according to your character when you’re gaming, working, spending time with your family, doing chores, and anything else you might do. It doesn’t have to be preachy; it doesn’t have to come with an explanation to everyone, but it absolutely should not contradict your claimed faith. This will take practice and is, ultimately, the result of daily surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit.

Sources and Notes

1 Many studies performed in response to the “Pulling Report” are summarized in David Waldron, “Role-playing games and the Christian right: Community formation in response to a moral panic.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture Vol. 9 (2005). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20130104131941/http://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/art9-roleplaying-print.html. Most notably, contradicting claims made by the “Pulling Report,” TTRPG players showed a significantly decreased risk of suicide as compared to individuals who did not belong to a gaming group.

2 A great example come from the teachings of Bill Gothard, which are summarized well by John Cornish, Dr., “The phony ‘consequences’ of rock music.” Recovering Grace (2011, November 14). Retrieved from https://www.recoveringgrace.org/2011/11/the-phony-consequences-of-rock-music/.

3 The debate surrounding whether or not video games are evil still rages on, which is evident in articles like David Cloud, “Beware of video games.” Way of Life (2023, October 25). Retrieved from https://www.wayoflife.org/reports/beware_of_video_games.php.

4 At Disciple Gaming Ministry, we encourage people to read the Bible using an accurate translation that is also easy to understand. With that being said, the translation we use is the ESV® Bible. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.