DarkZone Vs. ChristianLifeZone
On Monday night I got the chance to go to play DarkZone laser tag for the Birthday party of a friend of mine, Luke. I really did have a great time there, and had the laser tag experience on my mind for the next couple of days after it.
It got me thinking as to some of the similarities between DarkZone and the Christian Life. If we take some basic elements, like that there are different 'teams' and we do have 'weapons'. Beyond that, some deeper things I noticed were that if we just sat back at our base, we weren't likely to have as big an impact for the team, which means that we have to get out there, outside the Church, and not just stay bolted up inside.
Continuing on, I think that both in DarkZone and the Christian Life, it is important that if something bad does happen to us, and we do come under attack, that we don't sit out the rest of the battle. Rather we get back up (respawn) and try again.
On the other hand, one thing I noticed that was false about this metaphor was that, as of my theological knowledge, we don't go to the enemy's base as such and make any kind of raid or attack ourselves.
I'd be interested to hear any comments that you guys have about this.
It got me thinking as to some of the similarities between DarkZone and the Christian Life. If we take some basic elements, like that there are different 'teams' and we do have 'weapons'. Beyond that, some deeper things I noticed were that if we just sat back at our base, we weren't likely to have as big an impact for the team, which means that we have to get out there, outside the Church, and not just stay bolted up inside.
Continuing on, I think that both in DarkZone and the Christian Life, it is important that if something bad does happen to us, and we do come under attack, that we don't sit out the rest of the battle. Rather we get back up (respawn) and try again.
On the other hand, one thing I noticed that was false about this metaphor was that, as of my theological knowledge, we don't go to the enemy's base as such and make any kind of raid or attack ourselves.
I'd be interested to hear any comments that you guys have about this.
posted by Stoz at 9:08 PM
6 Comments:
some very insightful thoughts there Stoz.
Unfortuantely, I am too tired right now to respond with as much wisdom as you've got here!
Maybe next week :P
Yes, some really great stuff. I like your comparisons/metaphors; I think they are pretty much spot on, and a great way to drive some points home for people.
Yeah, I don't think we go 'to the enemies camp' but in some instances we do attack. We attack the problems in the world which are the work of evil or sin (eg. injustice, disease, poverty), or strongholds over our by the Spirit (eg. spiritual warfare, intercession, etc), don't we?
I think that we are supposed to attack the enemy's base.
Jesus, the 'stronger man' that John spoke of (Mark 1:7), said he was going to break into the strong man's house and tie him up (Mark 3:21-30). He told people that if they chose to they could throw the Temple Mount into the sea (Mark 11:23). He went and spoke in places where he knew people would oppose him, and eventually kill him.
But what is the enemy's base (strong man's house/Temple Mount) in our own time and place, and how do we throw it into the sea?
Just to clarify a bit, I was talking about going to the enemy's camp, hell, not whatever might be a stronghold in our time now. I was basing this on what someone told me about the song 'Enemy's Camp', which I was told we stopped singing some time ago because one of the main lines, 'I went to the enemy's camp, and I took back what he stole from me' was theologically incorrect.
I'd be happy to hear more about this though.
Hmmm. I wouldn't really see Hell as the Devil's camp. Isn't it generally understood to be more like the prison where he'll be put one day?
What makes it kind of confusing is that there are a number of different place names with different meanings that all get translated as Hell. Just off the top of my head, Hades, Gehenna and Tartarus all tend to get translated into English as 'Hell'.
Well what is the difference between those three places? I'm from an unchurched background, and all this is new to me! I always presumed the different words were names picked up from the different cultures the Israelites came into contact with which expressed the same idea of place where the dead were sent or tormented. Guess not?
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