EXCERPTS FROM VIDEO GAME ADDICTION “KIT” CLASSES
Of October 28, 2007
M. Rose
Since I am speaking to Christians, and Christian families, all of my advice must be looked at in the light of what Christ stands for in our lives. If you are not a believer then what I have to say will probably seem like foolishness to you. As Christians, God has shown us a better and more orderly way than the way of our modern chaotic world; but it’s not necessarily an easier way. Since we are all sons of Adam we have all inherited man’s selfish sin nature, but the truth of Christ now resides in our hearts to guide us in recognizing those spiritual forces of wickedness that are seeking to destroy us. We must not try to justify our long hours of wasted time spent on ourselves but rather, we should choose to use our allotted time here on earth to serve the greater cause of Christ by sharing our gift of time to edify others. Our very acts of selfless giving will help make us complete. People will see something greater and more desirable in us, something we can never have by taking or demanding our way. This is the love of Christ – a type of peer pressure in reverse – Giving unselfishly for the benefit of others; this type of unselfish giving returns to us bringing with it the peaceful fruit of righteousness, not our righteousness but God’s perfect love that benefits all.
Man’s selfish ways are bringing us increased strife and they are being aided by technology. As Christians, we must recognize that technology is allowing us to become extremely selfish users of our time in new and potentially deceptive ways. Again, Let’s minimize our selfishness by giving more of our time to others instead of hoarding it in Cyberspace. We will certainly fail if we selfishly feed only ourselves. And if the diet we are consuming is being served up to us from man’s hope for our future we are doomed from the start.
Video games attract the interest of very young children. Parents often see them as useful tools for keeping their children under control in a seemingly innocent way. Many parents also believe that, unlike television, video games encourage some positive interaction. Parents are often quick to praise their children’s gaming proficiency, this only encourages their increased participation and sets the stage for possible future addiction, and so the battle is on, whether we realize it or not; but we must realize that children left “to their own devices” cannot properly raise themselves.
As children become chronic players of higher-level games we often witness a loss of composure in them. They become unsettled, impatience, irritable and their very demeanor changes. These are the warning signs of addiction and include such behavioral traits as: isolating themselves, shirking their responsibilities, becoming angry and confrontational, and lying. They become extremely selfish, wanting to use all their time to escape reality and hide out online; not only in games but especially in chat rooms. Now we are beginning to have a real problem.
Technology is not bringing peace and stability to our families; rather it seems to be bringing chaos and division. A thirty-year-old father recently told me, concerning his eleven-year-old son, that he would like to trash all their digital devices including cell phones and take his son on an extended father and son retreat away from the grief of gaming. He reasoned that they would build their shelter, catch their food, make their fire and generally bond as father and son. Each would work hard to contribute what was needed to sustain them both. He knew it was now or never to take back control of what was being stolen away from him – his son.
SELFISHNESS IS THE CAUSE
All this seems to be the normal consequence of excessive game play and we must realize that something more than play is at work here. This is no longer just a game; it has become a way of life, a very destructive and dangerous way of life that says “all my time is mine and I will share it with no one,” that’s the very definition of selfishness. What I’m saying here, is this: Selfishness is the root cause of most of man’s problems and it is certainly the main driving force behind most of our addictions, video games and otherwise. I will attempt to deal with this subject as simply as possible to show you why we must recognize and treat the cause of video game addiction instead of focusing so heavily on treating the symptoms with band aid controls. Because our time is limited, and I will not be able to cover it all, I will give you some additional written material to take home.
In James 3: 13-18 & 4: 1 we read: “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. What is the source of the quarrels and conflicts among you? Isn’t it the source of your pleasures that wage war in your members?”
The only way to overcome our worst enemy “self” and selfishness is through our best friend JESUS CHRIST for He represents the very antithesis of self. Christ came giving, out of love and perfect unselfishness. In Jesus Christ, faith works through love. We must lay aside our deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light, our Lord Jesus Christ. We should make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lust. (Referencing Romans 13: vs 12-14)
Gaming – From a different viewpoint. (Like that of some kids)
Video games by nature reward selfishness and steal your time. Obviously your increased participation, by definition, makes you more selfish. So what’s the harm, you’re not bothering anyone else? So who cares if you are only bothering yourself? And what’s with this word bother anyway? Video games are no bother to the player because they’re exciting, rewarding, fulfilling, and a blast to play. Let me tell you, being bothered is doing homework and the other things people want you to do like mowing the grass. It’s more fun to escape reality where you can kill and maim to your hearts desire, not to mention the foul language you get to use there, you won’t hear any of that in church. No sir, this is no Sunday school picnic. You should try out some of those games yourself; you might really get into them, or maybe it’s the other way round? ……..Do you think it’s not like that?… It’s like that and a whole lot more, and where it’s going from here is only limited by the minds of men.
Video games reward power and dominance and incite your passion. They also demand that your time be given, in allegiance to them. Just what is it that makes video games so compelling? Many games court you and seduce you. They offer you control over others as you earn your way up to new levels of authority. Some of the most exciting games are, in this way, downright worldly. When their seduction is complete, and you are possible addicted, they will “own” you because you will be hooked on a selfish power trip. And you won’t have anything of lasting accomplishment to show for your time. Do the games leave you feeling satisfied and comforted when you’re finished playing them? Or rather, do they call to you incessantly because there really is no end to them? Maybe it’s the games that are really playing you! Excessive play will cause others to lose out when they need you the most. Others might start receiving sharp quips from you like: “not now, leave me alone,” and – “can’t you see I’m really busy?” – And also, “yes mom I know it’s two in the morning, but just one more level and I’ll go to bed.”
As Christians, we must take a strong stand against those who are attacking our young from within our very homes. They are using a new kind of warfare, but a very real kind of warfare nonetheless. In some ways it can be likened to global terrorism: it’s there but it doesn’t always come out in the open to attack. It would rather try to blend in and come as a friend to destroy us from within. We should be enjoying the safety and comfort of quality home life with our families. Instead we are letting our homes become secret hiding places where some of our children can escape into evil virtual worlds. Why are we allowing so many of them to have unrestrained access to the World Wide Web? (Which is truly world wide and not under the control of any one government) Big problem. Let’s stop the grief before the world steals our children away from us from right under our noses. As parents, we must apply Godly discipline to our children’s lives to guide and tutor them in how to be reconciled to God. In our own past we cried out to God by faith and He granted us salvation because of the word we heard and believed. We must therefore be the strong influences in our children’s lives to make sure God’s word gets heard and understood by them, over the Siren-song lure of the Internet.
Being a great parent is a demanding job and it must be done with purposeful diligence. As Christian parents, we are under the authority of Christ and our children under our authority. Specifically; the most loving and unselfish thing we can do for them is to discipline them, just as GOD also disciplines us. So let’s go forth boldly as family leaders to look out for those that God has placed under our charge. God’s natural order calls for one man and one woman to be the spiritual leaders, as parents, over their families. Our children actually look to us for guidance and direction. We can make a difference in the way our children’s futures turn out. Our yes must be yes, and our no must be no, and our promises must be kept. Our steadfast Godly authority will give their lives meaning and direction. Even a five year old senses and wants this kind of order. The apostle Paul tells us in First Timothy to provide for those in our own households and to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness in our present life and also for our future lives to come. This especially applies to our children. Training up a child in the way he should go with discipline may not always seem to be joyful, but it is a necessary step in directing them toward having God’s peaceful fruit of righteousness in their futures.
So again, I must say: many times we have been treating the symptoms and not the cause of our problems, the cause being that of casting aside and not applying Godly wisdom in our family’s lives. We should have been casting aside and removing PCs and game boxes out of our children’s bedrooms. It’s not too late, so you decide. But I say, “Don’t let them open the doors into the evil cyberspace worlds where immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outburst of anger, disputes, dissentions, factions, and things like these reside. Become educated and know what web sites your children are visiting or risk losing them to this world. Thank you Milt Rose
Additional --- Ponder this
There is no end to what man can do when he comes together of one accord and speaking a common language. Today the language of computers qualifies as a common language being used and understood by the entire world. A modern tower of Babel is being built (in Cyberspace) using the complex creative genius of millions of individuals who are contributing the building blocks that cause exponential growth. Their collective creative genius is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy of knowledge begetting knowledge thus creating a hierarchy of knowledge. Some are climbing the steps (of precept built upon precept) to become all knowing, all seeing, demigods in their own right. Ultimately we may all come under the control of the power brokers and dictators of how this technology is being utilized. We are fast becoming enslaved by what we once thought would free us. Has the tower become the unstoppable force? No, and give God thanks, for He is the quintessential immovable Object. Christ brings order and transparency to our lives – technology brings chaos, disorder and obscurity and a complexity no one man can understand. The individual builders are fast becoming inescapably enslaved and addicted to the megaliths of their own creations. “Second Life” is one such creation. (Second Life is a massive on-line community and is no longer considered a game.)
TOWER OF BABEL (Biblical Account)
Milton Rose