I have a question about playing video games (for example, war games that involve killing people to win war battles).  I know that these are just games, and I do like to play them, and I do not take them seriously.  I asked someone that was part of a church before, and he told me that it was not the same thing as a sin and that it was okay to play war games.  I think I might be taking sin too far when I think that I should not even play a video game, but I would like to know your opinion on the subject.

Sincerely, Pixel Killer

Dear Pixel Killer,

Playing video games is like many other forms of recreation – they are not inherently wrong, but they certainly can become wrong if abused. War video games come in all shapes and sizes. Some are ridiculously bloody and violent, others only moderately so. It isn’t wrong for a christian to enjoy playing battle-type games any more than it is wrong for boys to play “cops and robbers” in the backyard. The key to the whole thing is wisdom. It takes wisdom to decide when a video game has “crossed the line” into dark and disturbing realms. Video games like Grand Theft Auto (which portrays prostitution, theft, domestic violence, etc.) certainly qualify to be labeled as sinful, but not all video games are of that character.

Being a soldier isn’t an inherently sinful thing. John the Baptist taught that soldiers can be godly and that military life can be led righteously (Lk 3:14). So pretending to be a soldier while playing a video game isn’t inherently wrong either. The key is to make sure that you aren’t filling your mind with evil or dwelling upon ungodliness. God wants us to contemplate pure things (Php 4:8) and set our minds on heavenly, godly things (Col 3:2). Examine yourself and your habits to see whether that is the case for you (1 Cor 11:29-31).

I have a friend who visits an astrologer or "psychic" and seems to put great stock in what this person says. I think it is a waste of time and money, but is it sinful? How about reading your horoscope?

Sincerely, Say It Ain’t Séance

Dear Say It Ain’t Séance,

Astrology, mysticism, séances, horoscopes, palm reading, etc. are all sinful. God condemned that behavior in the Old Testament (Isa 47:13-14). King Saul was put to death by God for seeking a woman that practices divining (1 Chr 10:13). Any Jew that was found visiting a ‘medium’ or ‘spiritist’ would be cut off from His people (Lev 20:6). In the New Testament, astrology is just as roundly condemned. Paul cast out an evil spirit that was fortune-telling (Acts 16:16-18). When someone became a christian, they confessed sorcery as evil, and many of them burned their books of the magical arts (Acts 19:18-20). If we want wisdom, we should seek it from God (Jas 1:5). All astrology, horoscopes, and the like are wrong.

Lucifer was created perfect by God.  What is perfect?  If Lucifer can fall from perfection in the standard that God sets, can God also fall?  Job, another being of perfection, was consumed by the workings of Lucifer, even when he didn’t know about him.

 

Do good and evil exist?  No man is free from sin.  Where do I find answers in the book of tainted writers?

 

Sincerely, A Lot On My Mind

Dear A Lot On My Mind,

Some questions are worded a bit like one giant tangent. We have to break this down into parts to give you a solid answer.

1. The Bible isn’t a book by tainted writers. The Bible is divinely inspired by God Himself (1 Cor 2:12-13). See this post for a detailed answer to that question.
2. Job wasn’t consumed by Satan (I’m assuming you mean Satan because ‘Lucifer’ isn’t a name used in the Bible). Job was tempted by Satan (Job 2:6-7). Job was a godly and righteous man, not sinless, but faithful and upright (Job 2:3).
3. We don’t know Satan’s origins, but it is fair to assume He was created by God because everything was created by God (Col 1:16). Since God only does good and calls christians to imitate Him (3 Jhn 1:11), Satan must have at some point stopped being the good creation that God had intended for him to be. This isn’t too far of a stretch because the Bible talks about how some angels that were created for good, fell away from God (2 Pet 2:4). Apparently the angels have, or had, at some point the ability to choose between being evil and good.
4. “What is perfect?” Perfect means complete or whole. When something is perfect, that means it is as it was intended to be. When God made man, He made us perfect (Gen 1:31), and part of that perfection was the ability to choose between right and wrong. The fact that we often choose to do the wrong thing doesn’t mean we weren’t created the way God intended.
5. God cannot fall or fail. He promises that He will never change from being good (Jas 1:17).
6. Yes, good and evil exist. As we learn from the Scriptures, we get better and better at discerning between good and evil (Heb 5:14).

Over the years, I have downloaded music off of the internet for my family and myself.  I know that within the past few years that the laws have gotten stricter on that subject.  I am not sure how many songs I have that would be consider "not legal" due to all of the rules.  Also, I know that years ago almost everyone would use tape recorders to record music off of the radio, and no one really ever said anything about that.  I was thinking of deleting everything that I have. I do not want to break God’s law, but the more I think about it, I know that it would be near impossible to figure out what would be "legal" and what would not be.  I hate to lose my songs that I grew up on.  I was thinking that I would just not download any more unless I was sure that it was legal and just keep what I have now.  Is that okay?  I am so confused because I also have a bad case of "OCD" that makes me think about things too much.  I want to do what God wants. Would God really want me to delete everything or just be careful from now on and keep what I have because I would not be able to separate the legal from the non-legal?  Also, with the way laws are, what is legal today will not be legal tomorrow, so it is like a never-ending battle keeping up with it.  I don't care about the law of this world; I only care about God's law.

Sincerely, Soundly Confused

Dear Soundly Confused,

Pirated music is definitely illegal, and you are right in being concerned about the morality of it. If you were stealing the CDs from a retail store, you would return them no matter how much work it took. We must keep in mind that just because it is more socially acceptable to steal music through online sites, that doesn’t make it any less of a moral issue.

The first and most important thing is that you steal no more (Eph 4:28). You have already committed to this, and it is commendable. After that, you must deal with the rest of your music collection in a way that allows you to feel comfortable legally and have a clear conscience. If you have any songs that you know are illegal – delete them. This also means that if someone makes you aware at a later date that some of your music is pirated, you should be ready to delete it then. Take the attitude of Zacchaeus who was ready to make restitution for his past wrongs whenever possible (Lk 19:8). It is true that government regulations are always changing, but we are still bound by them (Rom 13:1-2).

You also mentioned that you are “OCD” on this subject. That is probably a sign that your conscience is bothered by you having this music. If you can’t do something in faith, it is sin (Rom 14:23). It is very important that we keep a clear conscience in all that we do (Acts 23:1). If you are bothered by the music collection, it is better to delete it all and suffer a loss than to keep it (Matt 18:8-9). It may feel like a drastic choice, but it would be well worth the loss of both your legal and illegal music if it purified your conscience (1 Pet 2:19).

Know that the Bible HAS NOT been translated into every single language on the earth; there are still thousands of tribes out there that have not heard the gospel and do not have the Bible in their language.

Please be careful when making such assumptions. If you are going to disagree, again, you are simply wrong on this point. I know people right now who are out in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and the Philippines that are translating the Bible into languages that do not have it, RIGHT NOW.

Sincerely, The Linguist

Dear The Linguist,

The statement we made concerning translations can be found in this post. We said, “Now that the New Testament is complete and has spread to every nation and language, there is no need for miracles.” Though it is true that there are literally thousands of dialects that the Bible has not been translated into – the Bible is translated so that over 99% of mankind can read it in a language that they are fluent in. This doesn’t even account for people receiving the gospel message through someone preaching and speaking the Word. We often forget that many people depend on the gospel being spoken to them because they are illiterate. Many of these obscure settlements only have spoken languages – not written ones. The United Bible Society puts the total amount of languages and dialects that the Bible has been translated into at 2,479 as of Dec. 31, 2008.

Places like the Philippines do have pockets of aboriginal people with isolated dialects and cultures, but that notwithstanding, the process of translating the Bible into all the major languages of mankind is considered a resounding success. This fact is not intended to undermine the importance of bringing the Bible to as many of these aboriginal cultures as possible; it is simply to say that using the term ‘all’ is appropriate. When we say the Bible is translated into all languages, we are using the word ‘all’ in a non-technical sense. It is the same as saying, “I cleaned all of my house today” even though I’m sure dust could be found in some unseen corner. The Bible has indeed spread to all nations under heaven. We appreciate your zeal for the topic though.