World of Warcraft and my hope

[grimsauce]

So I have been a "gamer" since I was 8 years old, and I am 18 now... I accepted Christ in 7th grade and have grown tremendously the past 4 years of my life. I thoroughly enjoy video games, although I almost always will prefer to do things in real life as apposed to in game. The problem with WoW is that it can really become consuming. Unlike L4D2 or dota or w/e, it requires very large chunks of time, and has addicting characteristics unlike any other game I've played.

Anyways, I reactivated WoW to play with some of my internet friends this week, and I realized that I've been feeling a separation from God. Especially since it's winter break, I've been spending WAY more time worrying about the game that I have been praying or even trying to have my actions reflect God.

I'm a strong believer that God wants us to be able to do the stuff we love, and I want to be able to do the things I love, if and ONLY if I can be glorifying God through them..

So what does that look like with WoW? Well thats the question that had me searching on the internet for. If I am not ministering in SOME way to people while I play video games, I honestly believe that it is wasting my time/life. Especially if I am spending huge chunks of my time doing so.

So.. Yeah.. I'm trying to figure out what ministry in World of Warcraft looks like... and if I am unable to figure out a way besides just being "nice", then I'm convinced that I need to limit my time playing it.

I mean, I used to gank all the time... I had no remorse for anyone because "it's a video game". Eventually, I began to realize that ganking is no different than picking on someone in real life. It isn't representing Christ in any way, so I stopped. But I want something more straight forward... I want to be able to open up to people about Christ in WoW, without being pushy and making them all too uncomfortable. Maybe you look at ministry/sharing Christ a little different from me, but I think it's a process and that it needs to be done extremely delicately.

At the very least, I've committed to praying before I play, every time I play- praying that I am able to show Christ to people, even through a video game.

I guess I came here for a few different reasons
A. I wanted to see what other Christian gamers thought about this.. and maybe convict some?
B. Maybe figure out if I need to be finding or create a Christian guild myself? and
C. get it off of my chest with people who can relate
(I'm in a guys small group, but I honestly get funny looks when I talk about ministry through a video game...)

feel free to send me an email if you'd like : duckstaped[at]aol[dot]com

Thanks!

 

[Wend]

I think Jr even wrote a paper on this. Ministry in game looks very different to different people, in my opinion you bring the gifts that God has given you into the game..are you and encourager? than encourage...are you a teacher? than teach? are you a discerner? than discern....I find it trite to jump into a bunch of people I don't know and start telling them about Jesus (however, some people are gifted in doing just that) however, I've been able to talk with non-believers about Christ in game by forming relationships with them and talking with them about how Jesus can be in the middle of their real life situations..I often ask people (either in whisper or in party/raid chat) if I can pray for them/their situations. That is how the ministry aspect of WoW has worked out for me.