Welcome to the Christian Fellowship Group thread! Whether you seek Jesus as a follower or as somebody who wishes to become a follower, please know that you are welcome here. :)

WIP

Tagging all users who expressed potential interest (from previous thread): @Alex_The_Hedgehog, @123tbones, @Angelv577, @zero129, @BasilZero, @dark_gh0st_b0y, @OneTime, @Hardstuck-Platinum, @TheTitaniumNub, @JackHandy, @Deburgerack, @caz604.

Note: If you are tagged here, this does not mean you have “joined a Christian group” with any duties nor responsibilities. I am only tagging people who might find interest in engaging with this thread based on professed interested in the previous thread.

That said, this thread will be very informal— I’ll get things going with either a question or a poll or maybe sharing a small little thing. But know that there is no responsibility for anybody to respond or contribute to this thread; however, the more engaged you are, then the more resonant this thread has the potential to be. Not just in encouraging us as followers of Jesus, but also those who may stumble across this thread with curiosity in their hearts.

Please remember that as a follower of Christ in this thread, you represent His name. This is a public profession of faith. So, act as you would want others to perceive the agapē of God.

Actually… I’ve got a question. Have any of you struggle with feelings of guilt associated with video games? For instance: I cannot play any M-rated video games nor do I feel comfortable engaging too often with video games without feeling a deep rooted sense of guilt. As though I worship an idol of this world.

I have a hard time logically explaining how video games could bring guilt. It is art. No different than movies or books. It only becomes an issue when it draws you away from your duties. For example, if you choose to play video games instead of praying, then there is a problem. But if you did all your prayers, video game playing has no issues. If anything, you deserve it! 

So I would classify excessive video game playing as under the Deadly Sin of Sloth. 

As for mature games, I don't feel anything with extreme violence. I don't think it is considered a sin anywhere. Sexual stuff makes sense, but unless you are playing the game specifically for that stuff, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. 

There’s a passage from the Bible that I think is important to remember when it comes to playing video games:

“There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.“

-Mark 7:15

I know when Jesus said this, he was talking about how all food is clean, but one can make the argument that he can refer to all forms of consumption, including consumption of media (especially video games). So in a way playing video games by themselves do not defile a person. But the actions and words that comes from those games.

no need for guilt bro, as long as you can consiously handle your thoughts and acknowledge that some things are nothing more than forms of human made art/entertainment

we live in a modern world where video games, art and media in general can be means by which bad people can manipulate our thoughts and actions leading to depression, hate, envy, greediness and lack of faith, in a way that goes against the teaching of Jesus

it is perfectly fine only as long as our perception of what matters and what is important is preserved

I've mentioned video games to my pastor/spitirual advisor and this was his response more or less, also that taking some time to rest and enjoy is something very healthy and important, and a true blessing from God, He alllows us to enjoy the fruits of our work and effort, always under His blessing 🙏


love that you use the original Greek agapē for the love of God, ᾰ̓γᾰ́πη in ancient Greek and more or less in modern Greek too

I hope that people in this forum can read the thread title, of course we love to hear opinions from non-believers too - as long as they can find at least some philosophical and psychological meaning in Jesus teaching

if you read the Bible and the only thing you have to say is that it is fiction and fairytale, you can just skip this thread and save us from a bit of toxicitiy

a bit of spirituality is always better than recycling the same old debates

Funny you mention guilt, and I shouldn’t even wade into this thread:

In junior high I was very active in my church. I went every Sunday and to youth group on Wednesday nights. I had also learned a passion for reading, particularly in the fantasy genre. I was reading 4-500 page books and enjoying the world building, the dialogue, the scope.

So there’s this sermon one day and the pastor is saying, if it isn’t exalting god, you shouldn’t be taking it in. That means movies, tv, books, etc. So I asked him about it after the sermon. I really enjoyed the books I was reading (they were very tame and taught great lessons about how to be a good person) and I asked him if reading them was sinful. He told me it was and that I should read authors that exalted Christ…like CS Lewis.

So I went and read The Chronicles of Narnia and made it about 4 books in and put them down and I never looked back. I decided then that if to be without sin was to have to read terribly boring books for the rest of my life then…I’m out. Haha. Yeah, that was definitely a turning point.


Moral of my story: if you know your own heart and you know your love for Christ is strong, don’t let someone else tell you what you can’t read, watch, play, etc. it’s your life and your relationship with him. By the way, that pastor was kicked out of the church a few years later after cheating on his wife with a fellow member of the church.

I don't think playing games ever made me feel guilt. But I agree that some games can teach us a lot of wrong things. Just like any kind of media.

I already played some games and watched movies with bad lessons, but I never took any of them to real life. If some piece of media teachs me that God is something you should avoid, for example, I will not accept this and move on.

I bet you have heard this before, but atheism is not a belief system, but rather the lack of one. It does not take any effort or practise to not believe in something. It just does not exist, in our eyes. Simple as that. Is not believing in unicorns a belief system, for example? Of course not.

Many religious people seemingly cannot fathom not having a belief of some form, so in their mind, they have a need to twist even unbelief into a belief. It's weird.

Sorry, didn't mean to crash this place but as an atheist I just felt i needed to address this.

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