Of DotA, Beads and Rock and Roll
Last Thursday during our discipleship group we came across the topic of DotA, I didn't know how our discussion drifted to it (our topic was "Controlling the Tongue"). But it garnered a lot of talk-time and different views about the game. From what I see it's the one of the more popular PC games among the youth. And there are boys in our youth group that do play the game, some play moderately while others are "addicted" to it. It's been a popular discussion amongst our youth leadership, some saying good, others not good. I've also discussed it with other youth leaders and they also have varying views. Here's what I think about it:
Well, before we start judging the game (and other computer games), it's good to have all the facts in. Wikipedia has a good information about it. Also check the entry about Warcraft III. And by the way, I don't play. I'm stuck with Family Computer and never caught up as early as Sega and rollerblades.
Why some Christians have problem with DotA:
Well, before we start judging the game (and other computer games), it's good to have all the facts in. Wikipedia has a good information about it. Also check the entry about Warcraft III. And by the way, I don't play. I'm stuck with Family Computer and never caught up as early as Sega and rollerblades.
Why some Christians have problem with DotA:
- It's prone to be addictive, the cause of becoming a bulakbol.
- The more Christian reason: The game and its characters looked like it rose from the bowels of hell.
Why some Christians doesn't have any problem with DotA:
- It stimulates the brain through strategical thinking.
- The more Christian reason: An avenue for fellowship and bonding among the brethren.
Non-living things are neutral. If asked, would you say a knife is good or evil? A knife is neither good nor evil, it's just an object. A knife can chop those lamang-loob for a delectable sisig and it can also be used to stab some person. Put man into the picture, the object becomes an instrument for good or for evil. Therefore, it's not the knife that's good or evil, but it's man who uses it for good or for evil. Same is true with money, knowledge and computers. It's the person who makes it bad or good. Could the game alone be neither good nor bad, or is it the user's motive that makes it good/bad?
Associations. Humans survive by association, we know that red means "stop" and green means "go." We know that it's not good to touch fire because some time before we have learned that it's not really okay to touch the flame of a burning candle. Failing to learn from the past is dangerous. But one must not dwell in it. It is by association that Christians limit their territories, instead of enlarging them. Some decades before noncompliance with the King James Version and the hymnal was as good as losing your salvation. Common-speak and repetitive upbeat choruses are for pagans and drunkards. The same has become the struggle of the electric guitar, the synthesizers, dancing, computers and the Internet to get past church doors.
Last semester, I had a UP-grad classmate who thought forbidding card games within school grounds was discriminatory. Just because cards were associated with gambling, some observant people readily shoot those who play even when there's no money involved. That's how our association skills get the best of us; that even I and some of my classmates are not so sold out about his view because playing cards in a seminary looks "un-Christian." We have a billiard table in school that went through the same beating a few decades before.
Rock music is another unsettled debate among Christian circles. We associate rock music with the unkempt, drug addicts and the rebellious; even as Hillsong and United among other contemporaries have become mainstream among the emerging church. We once had a discussion in our Worship and Music subject at school. How does music influence a person? Lyrics do, that's what makes Christian music Christian. But remove the lyrics and be left with music alone, could it still influence a person? Some say yes, some say no. I think it does. Just as a movie score can aid the person to react in a certain way, so does music. Another question was, "Can an artist influence the listener through his music?"
myChristianity syndrome. Back during the 90s, and this is a true story, wearing beads was forbidden by our older folks at church. Back then beads started to become a really huge hit and I started wearing one. The pastor's wife warned me about the evil associations of beads; that perhaps it came from some tribe which involved some rituals. But being a rebellious, zitty youth that I was, I still wore them.
Today, beads are as common as any fashion accessory. Sometimes the older we get the more we try resist CHANGE. First, let's set it straight, not all change is good, but not all change is bad either. But one thing is for sure, change is unstoppable. Often we fall into the mistake of setting up our little rules that we don't notice we are fleeting away from the real Christianity. We set up our rules for our own safety, and force others to do the same. I remember a radio sermon by Ptr. Jurem Ramos on DZAS. He said that when we force our own rules, which neither contradict nor accentuate Biblical commands, to other people, we are in danger of falling into legalism, which Paul fiercely condemned among the Galatian church. The thing with issues like these, fall into the grey areas because the Bible doesn't directly address it. But it doesn't mean that when the object doesn't appear letra por letra we can do it, because God's Word is always relevant. We should measure everything by the standard of Biblical principles.
Perhaps you are ready to just turn my blog off your browser and make your life less complicated. But let me share what God's Word says about DotA, rock music and beads. Paul had a similar problem. In one of his correspondence, someone asked him if it was ok to eat food that were sacrificed to idols, here's what he has to say about these grey areas or "disputable matters." I learned this from my music teacher. I've paraphrased the passage with "rock music" on brackets.
Paul's foundation was not on rules - the Law, but his foundation was love. Too often we push and fight for our rights. It's our right to be pleased, get the best service, me first. Our rights have given us grounds to breed selfish motives. But contrary to the post-modern philosophy, the Bible tells us "to die to ourselves," "deny ourselves," and "consider others more important than ourselves." Here are 11 points I got from this passage:
Associations. Humans survive by association, we know that red means "stop" and green means "go." We know that it's not good to touch fire because some time before we have learned that it's not really okay to touch the flame of a burning candle. Failing to learn from the past is dangerous. But one must not dwell in it. It is by association that Christians limit their territories, instead of enlarging them. Some decades before noncompliance with the King James Version and the hymnal was as good as losing your salvation. Common-speak and repetitive upbeat choruses are for pagans and drunkards. The same has become the struggle of the electric guitar, the synthesizers, dancing, computers and the Internet to get past church doors.
Last semester, I had a UP-grad classmate who thought forbidding card games within school grounds was discriminatory. Just because cards were associated with gambling, some observant people readily shoot those who play even when there's no money involved. That's how our association skills get the best of us; that even I and some of my classmates are not so sold out about his view because playing cards in a seminary looks "un-Christian." We have a billiard table in school that went through the same beating a few decades before.
Rock music is another unsettled debate among Christian circles. We associate rock music with the unkempt, drug addicts and the rebellious; even as Hillsong and United among other contemporaries have become mainstream among the emerging church. We once had a discussion in our Worship and Music subject at school. How does music influence a person? Lyrics do, that's what makes Christian music Christian. But remove the lyrics and be left with music alone, could it still influence a person? Some say yes, some say no. I think it does. Just as a movie score can aid the person to react in a certain way, so does music. Another question was, "Can an artist influence the listener through his music?"
myChristianity syndrome. Back during the 90s, and this is a true story, wearing beads was forbidden by our older folks at church. Back then beads started to become a really huge hit and I started wearing one. The pastor's wife warned me about the evil associations of beads; that perhaps it came from some tribe which involved some rituals. But being a rebellious, zitty youth that I was, I still wore them.
Today, beads are as common as any fashion accessory. Sometimes the older we get the more we try resist CHANGE. First, let's set it straight, not all change is good, but not all change is bad either. But one thing is for sure, change is unstoppable. Often we fall into the mistake of setting up our little rules that we don't notice we are fleeting away from the real Christianity. We set up our rules for our own safety, and force others to do the same. I remember a radio sermon by Ptr. Jurem Ramos on DZAS. He said that when we force our own rules, which neither contradict nor accentuate Biblical commands, to other people, we are in danger of falling into legalism, which Paul fiercely condemned among the Galatian church. The thing with issues like these, fall into the grey areas because the Bible doesn't directly address it. But it doesn't mean that when the object doesn't appear letra por letra we can do it, because God's Word is always relevant. We should measure everything by the standard of Biblical principles.
Perhaps you are ready to just turn my blog off your browser and make your life less complicated. But let me share what God's Word says about DotA, rock music and beads. Paul had a similar problem. In one of his correspondence, someone asked him if it was ok to eat food that were sacrificed to idols, here's what he has to say about these grey areas or "disputable matters." I learned this from my music teacher. I've paraphrased the passage with "rock music" on brackets.
"Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to [play rock], but another man, whose faith is weak, [only sings hymnals]. The man who [plays rock] everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not [play rock music] must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
"One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who [plays rock], [plays] to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who [does not play rock], does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
"For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:
" 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord,
'every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.' "So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
"Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no [music] is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. If your brother is distressed because of what [play], you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your [music] destroy your brother for whom Christ died. Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking [or playing], but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.
"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of [music]. All [music] is clean, but it is wrong for a man to [play rock] that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine [or play rock] or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.
"So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he [plays], because his [playing] is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
"We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."- Romans 14:1-15:7, NIV
Paul's foundation was not on rules - the Law, but his foundation was love. Too often we push and fight for our rights. It's our right to be pleased, get the best service, me first. Our rights have given us grounds to breed selfish motives. But contrary to the post-modern philosophy, the Bible tells us "to die to ourselves," "deny ourselves," and "consider others more important than ourselves." Here are 11 points I got from this passage:
- Refrain from readily judging other people. Before readily laying down judgment in words and thought, always ask "why?" Know the context of reason. In fact, the more we know the person, the more we become hasty in judgment because of fraternal bond. Don't take God's place. God has the proper Person, time and place for that.
- Accept that not everyone is like you. We are created differently, so we think and appreciate things differently.
- Do everything for the glory of God. Before you do something, ask yourself, "Does this bring glory to God?" The more it brings glory to God, the more you do it.
- We are accountable. We will all give account to God all that we have done, however irrelevant/neutral we think it is.
- Consider the weak. Do not, by what you're doing, offend/stumble other people, especially the weak.
- Be merciful. Always act on love, not technicalities and rules. Let us be merciful just as God has been merciful to us.
- Enlarge your vision. Always get the big picture. Don't major on minor things. Don't fight over a small morsel of bread. God is in the business of righteousness, peace and joy in the Spirit.
- Be an inspiration. Let everything you do be a source of inspiration and encouragement for other people.
- Be true to yourself. Magpakatotoo ka! Always check your motives. Do not be a great pretender.
- Be a servant. Jesus didn't put himself first, and no servant/disciple is greater that his Master.
- Protect the unity in the body. Disunity pleases the other, our unity glorifies God.
So in the end, it's not about who's right and who's wrong. It's about how much we love our brothers and our friends. It's the very foundation of our Faith - Love. And it is by love that the world will know that we are not phonies.
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity may one day be restored
And they'll know that we are Christians by our love
- Old hymn
We are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity may one day be restored
And they'll know that we are Christians by our love
- Old hymn
