When Halo 3 was released last September, a couple of churches in town began having Halo tournaments. There was quite a debate in the blog world about if we should use a game to draw students that they could not legally purchase because of the rating.
I have never been comfortable with the idea of playing Halo (or any game like it) at a church sponsored event. Away from church, fine-I actually play it with them-but I'll never have a Halo night. I guess I want church to be different. They shoot each other in Halo all the time at home, why come to church and do the same thing?
I am having a junior high game night Friday to kick off Spring Break. I have ordered a couple of boxes of Finger Rockets and rubber chickens. We are also playing Rock Band.
So why play Rock Band at church and not Halo? I know it may sound inconsistent, but I just see a huge difference between having Rock Band as a part of an event and having a Halo tournament.
- Rock Band is about team work and community building. 4 people working together for a common goal.
- Girls play Rock Band. Halo is a guys game. I can't think of one girl who plays Halo at home without guys around.
- Rock band is easy to learn. Someone who has never played before can pick it up in a few minutes.
- No guns, violence, or blood to worry about.
- I don't have to get permission from every parent because of a "M" rating.
- Any member of the church could walk in at anytime and look at the big screen and see 4 students working together, not killing each other.
I know there are many youth ministries who use Halo all the time. The parachurch organization here in town plays with junior high guys once a week. They do this because they frankly have to draw a crowd or risk losing their funding. It is true- Halo gets kids through the door. But following that logic, free beer would also get kids through the door.
If Halo works for your ministry and good things are happening because of it, keep it up. As for me, I'll stick with Finger Rockets and Rock Band.
This will be my first time using Rock Band (I just finally found it in the store today) so this weekend I'll post about how it goes.
Good call on Rock Band over Halo. I was just introduced to Rock Band by a group of high school students, and it's a much better video game/tool for fellowship. Another great video game option is just about anything on the Nintendo Wii. It's interactive, actually requires movement, and is fun to just watch people play. The hard part is finding a Wii for purchasing.
And thanks for the link!
Posted by: Joel | March 26, 2008 at 06:56 AM
Good stuff - good clear thinking... I think violence and its harmful implications warrant such a stand.
Posted by: Doug Jones | March 26, 2008 at 07:56 AM
Just thought I'd point out that Halo can also have the same team building affect when playing teams, especially via system link. In fact, it might have more team building affect due to the tactical nature and required communication.
Oh, and my wife plays Halo 3 on her own Xbox Live account without me even around. :-) Cool wife, huh?
Posted by: Tim | March 27, 2008 at 07:23 PM
i haven't played video games since i owned a PS1. I do think we use things of the church and God to attract kids and not things of the world. Church should be different. We have video games at our church, but all E for everyone and won't allow the others, even if they are more popular. Getting kids to experience something other than video games can't hurt either. Justin Ross is a great guy!
Posted by: stephen harrison | March 28, 2008 at 06:17 AM
gday there,
i like your thinking, i certainly think the Wii has a lot of stuff to offer in the way of team and interactive games, rockband and buzz etc on the playstations are also very good...
i recently wrote a piece (on my website in the article sections under "holy play") on using violent games in youth ministry after being asked to do so by a mate of mine, i was very critical of violent games in our ministries for a few of the reasons you've pointed out but also went a bit deeper than that, check it out if ye are keen...
Posted by: darren wright | March 30, 2008 at 04:35 AM
This sounds like a pretty blatant double standard. I play Halo with my guys and turn off the blood, turning into little more than a virtual version of when we play paintball. And as far as teamwork, well, I would get spanked if I didn't have some of my 10th graders covering my butt.
The point is well taken, but the message of the songs on Rock Band (or Guitar Hero, etc.) are pretty dangerous from a spiritual perspective. Can you imagine if the Senior Pastor walked into the youth room to ask what was playing on the stereo and your answer was, "Oh, it's Black Sabbath, but don't worry 'cause next is The New Pornographers and Hole."
I'm not against the music or the game, I just think we often view music and lyrics as somehow less harmful than violence when we have far more students struggling with the messages of pop culture than we have students who are at risk of becoming violent criminals.
Posted by: LT | March 31, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Hey man, thanks for stopping by. You have really given me a lot to respond to here.
Ok, I accept the double standard comment, I wrote that I know this sounds inconsistent. I don't get the "blatant" double standard though. I am struggling with these issues along with everyone else.
This is Spring Break week for us and I was out until 10pm last night playing Halo (and Wii) with a group of guys. Like I wrote, I don't have a problem with the game, I struggle with making it apart of church activities for the same reason I got permission slips from parents a few years ago when I showed a group of guys "Braveheart." Me and you may not care about ratings, but you better believe that parents do.
And they should. Those are family decisions, not church decisions. I don't want any kids telling their mom that Halo becomes a good game when we "turn the blood off." Sure, the music in Rock Band is not Christian, but I don't have to get the ok from parents because of a "M" rating.
By the way, the whole pastoral staff played with me for a few minutes Friday afternoon and loved the game. So, I really would not be too scared about any of them walking in on us.
Finally, I think in an attempt to "nail me" (as Stephen Colbert would say) you made a huge error. To try to separate Halo from pop culture is quite the stretch. Halo IS pop culture. The release date saw more money spent on entertainment than anything ever. More than the last Harry Potter book. I am in total agreement that students struggle with messages from pop culture and one of those icons is Halo.
I really was not trying to start a debate. I gave up on blog debates a couple of years ago. Nothing good comes from them and no one changes their opinion. The truth is that if we lived in the same town, we'd be getting coffee, praying for each others ministry, and playing Halo. (With the blood turned on.)
Posted by: -Justin- | March 31, 2008 at 01:15 PM
LT makes an interesting point though, but not in the way that they possibly meant... what would our youth ministry look like without a ps3 or a wii or an xbox? or for that matter digital projectors, big band music, free ipods...
what would happen if we removed attraction youth ministry altogether...
its a question i often ask myself, what would happen if i got rid of my tv, my ps2, my *sob* computer and just did the other stuff more often, work in places i should be working, live in places i should probably be.. and what if youth ministry looked like that...
ahh well, time to get rid of the ps2 i guess...
Posted by: darren wright | April 03, 2008 at 08:15 AM