Sin! Sin! Sin! Sin!

Calisto MT – Romans 1:28-32, ” 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”

I finally have a verdict on that video game I discovered many weeks ago. I have played it some, but because of the nature of the game I have decided to quit playing it. I’m not thrilled with the possibility that the game has no true conclusion. It promotes that which my Bible denies, including vampirism, witches, thievery, and certain relationships. If the game promotes these things, then I shudder to think what else can be unlocked.

Matthew 5:17-20, ” 17″Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

My issue is that it seems that this game approves what is clearly wrong and there is no option to pursue faith as I know it. This is the same society that plays the Grand Theft Auto series. Anti-heroes are not heroes at all. I don’t care if the graphics are amazing or the sound is breath-taking. The overall goals of these games is thinly veiled sin and the celebration thereof.

Mark 9:42-50, “42”And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48where
   ” ‘their worm does not die,
      and the fire is not quenched.’ 49Everyone will be salted with fire.
 50″Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.””

It’s not only in video games. The encouragement to sin is everywhere. It’s in books, movies, music, and even on our streets. I know that no Christian public school teacher is fond of Mark 9:42, but it applies to anyone. There are video I games that I play that aren’t perfect, but none of them are as blatant in sinfulness as GTA and the game to which I was refering, the Sims. Make your life better than your simulated character’s and you won’t need a simulated life. This is the time when we have to closely guard our hearts, it’s all too easy to trap us into sin. So when you are encouraged to sin, let me encourage you to fight it and run the other way.