This isn’t going to be one of those articles that condemns anyone. Clearly, if you have spent a few minutes on this website, you know we are Christian geeks here. This article is more geared toward awareness of the things we need to be careful of.
1. Idolization
As with anything that people get “into,” there is always the concern of becoming too engrossed with the culture we are a part of. Media is prevalent, and there is always something going on that we can geek out about. We must be careful that we don’t let our geekiness sidetrack us from God and His Word. We can’t allow gaming or cosplay or anything else take us away from time spent with God in prayer and worship.
2. Seclusion
In our culture it’s easy to remain secluded from interaction with real people. The Bible says it’s not good for man to be alone. We need people in our lives to disciple us, guide us, and keep us accountable. Do not allow your hobby to keep you away from others. Being alone is a dangerous thing because our own wills may not be strong enough to go it alone. Find other believers to encourage you, and you can, in turn, encourage others.
3. Conforming
Because the geek culture is mainly secular it can be easy for a Christian geek to allow themselves to slip into bad habits. When I am around non-Christians, I notice that I don’t keep my conversations as holy and pure as they should be. Knowing that the people we hang out with could care less if we use curse words or foul language, we have to be more aware to stand up for our convictions and always be an example of righteousness.
4. Impurity
This goes along with conforming but more in the sense of what content we allow into our lives. There certainly are things that we, as Christians, just should not partake in. Some of the more obvious ones are hyper-sexual situations or clearly occult, demonic things. There are also things that some of us have deep convictions about, and we could easily slip into sin by allowing only a little bit of it in at a time. We must guard our hearts and minds at all times so we don’t fall into these traps.
5. Inclusion
As humans, we typically surround ourselves with like-minded people because that is what we are comfortable with. However, there are millions of people who need to know Jesus, and if we are always with other Christians, who are we reaching out to? Who are we sharing the Gospel with? It’s good to have other Christians in our lives, but God did not call us to reach the saved; He wants us to reach the unsaved, broken, hurt, and downtrodden people. As Christian geeks, the fields are ripe for work! There are so many broken people out there that need Jesus, and you may be the person to plant or water that seed in someone’s life.
[jumbotron heading=”What do you think?”]I know I need a constant reminder to remain pure and focused on God. What about you?[/jumbotron]
Awesome Drew
Idolizing has always been a big issue for me. I tend to get obsessed with things easily.
Great post Drew, thanks for these reminders. I honestly tried to address #4 in my previous post on Christian gaming, so I understand what you mean. I’m sensitive spiritually to games that are hyper-sexualized/occult full so I steer clear of those. I’ve struggled in the past with seclusion but I thank God for my beautiful wife, friends, family, and even the people I’ve met through this site. Geeks can get very anti-social, I know, I’m one of them (just not very anti-social, I’m very social! lol).
Pray that many people will learn much from the above article.
Great post Drew and the reminder! I’ve been bad at keeping habits with the Lord, and although I love playing video games and anime. I also need time for the Lord. Hopefully, I’ll play less of video games and watch less anime because I tend to watch more and play more than I spend with the Lord.
3. and 4. are the hardest for me
I want people to like me, so I will accidentally say things that I look back on and go, wait that wasn’t very Christian like. But the worst is the fact I like True Blood, Game of Thrones, and a lot of books that have explicit sexual things. I try my best to skip through them, but not always. I stopped watching TB after the third episode into the final season. But I love GOT too much. It’s hard.
But I dont really idolize fan stuff. I used to do so with Skillet, my favorite band. But I’m not that big on actors/actresses. Though I would love to meet the Doctor Who cast, as well as Michael Fassbender and Richard Armitage. And I guess I need to get out there and not be so anti-social lol. Though I’m a lot better than I used to be.
Good post – and I noticed you kept it Steve Krug approved, 5 item list. Nice. I’ve struggled with all of these at one point or another. One thing that keeps be grounded is surrounding myself with good people, most of them Christians, some of them not, but they are by and large moralistic people who know I’m a Christian and chose to be around me for that influence, so that’s a mission field and a good thing.
Impurity is a tough one – particularly with online gaming. I played Team Fortress for a long time back in the last decade and trying to get a team together that was Christian was a challenge. I managed to get some older teens to buy into the idea of having and exhibiting good character online, but it was tough to maintain. I think the platforms we chose to engage on dictate a lot of the success we’ll have keeping things in the light or pressure to wander into the shadows. For that reason, I’ve just gotten completely out of online gaming. But that leads to the isolation problem as well… so I do my best to connect to Christians online and stay involved with my Church, and of course be the spiritual leader of my home. Gotta keep those minions on the right track!
Not long ago I just sold my 3DS because I had idolization in my life and it drifted me away from God and His Word. While I don’t have any consoles in my house anymore, the cultural of geeks won’t leave me. Its a mission field that I can relate others with. Although no more gaming for me more than likely, I will use Gods Word and gaming to further show His glory.
I greatly desire to do the same thing. Take care, my friend. I hope you are successful in your ministry.
I second Casey.
Great reminders, Drew. All of them. I think this is a much-needed article for all of us–not just the geeks among us.