Gaming With Purpose: Finding God In The World Of Video Games

This post is from a blogger I just discovered recently. They were kind enough to submit a post for my series on discovering others who are sharing hope, faith, and gaming with a purpose online.

If you are interested in contributing to this series, contact me and let’s talk about it 🙂

Finding God in the World of Video Games has been our labor of love for the last three and a half years, blending our personal appreciation for the medium of video games with our heartfelt desire to reach this generation with the Gospel of Christ. The mission of our weekly articles and videos is to encourage both Christians and non-believers alike of the relevance and necessity of a daily, personal walk with Jesus Christ while challenging some of our preconceived notions along the way. (Also, in full disclosure, your enjoyment level will be slightly predicated on your ability to tolerate Taco Bell jokes and breakfast cereal references. A shared and mutual appreciation of the national treasure that is Keanu Reeves will go a LONG way as well.)

The world of gaming is an incredible way to experience an emotional journey, spend time with your family, or simply stay connected with friends around the world. It gives us a rich, common language that is shared across all ages, nationalities, and backgrounds.

The reality of God is so much more than what we often give Him credit for because our mortal minds struggle to comprehend Him. When walking the Earth, Jesus often used allegories and parables to help us understand the complex concepts of God, faith, and living in His Kingdom. Through our gaming anecdotes, favorite video game narratives, and passion for all things nerdy we aim to uncover the deep truths of God in our day to day adventures while gaming.

I have been working in the video game industry for the last fifteen years and have been an avid gamer since the fateful day my Dad came home with an Asteroids arcade cabinet many moons ago (He also brought a Star Trek pinball machine that never, EVER worked, but that is a frustrating story for another time).

I grew up studying and appreciating the Bible but, like many of us, struggled with living a life consistent with my beliefs. To be honest, I always believed in God and never doubted His existence, but I refused to loosen my stubborn grip on the controller of my own life. I was playing through this “Game of Life” without bothering to follow the strategy guide that comes with it.

My misguided belief that I could make it through this journey believing in God without actually following or serving Him got me into more predicaments than I can list here. Thankfully, God never gave up on me, and despite my countless flaws and inexcusable failings over the years He has remained faithful to me. He’s blessed me with my beautiful family but also granted me the gift of this project, to show people how to seek and find Him in, of all places, the world of video games.

One day I was trying to encourage a friend to keep strong through a challenging period in their life. I shared a Bible story that the Lord had placed on my heart that I believed would strengthen them. Unfortunately, they were not a believer and had no point of reference to understand the context or principle from the verses.

We DID share a passion for gaming, and God reminded me of an example to frame the Biblical concept through a gaming narrative that we both knew. After we had talked through their situation and prayed together, they told me that they had never really thought about the bible like that. This conversation became one of my first blog posts, “When God Needed a Hitman – Living Up to the Assassin’s Creed”, and from that humble beginning we have been writing and sharing since.

By posting anonymously under the name “Finding God in the World of Video Games”, we attempt to keep the focus purely on combining our personal adventures in the world of gaming with the messages that the Lord places on our hearts. Earlier this year, my wife began utilizing social media to share what God has placed on our hearts, and we’ve started recording our blogs in a video format. We hope to grow this as another critical part of our mission to reach gamers with the gospel.

It is our prayer that these articles inspire our readers and viewers to see the eternal wisdom of God in a modern light and provide hope and encouragement in a world that is overflowing with negativity, darkness, and suffering. Along the way, we hope we can make others laugh, think, and reflect while exploring the mysteries of Christ from a different point of view than they may have considered before.

We hope you will join us as we all share this journey together in the wild world of gaming and this open-world adventure we call life!