ALL HAIL HALO 3!

It's 2007 and there is Halo 3. For those not in the know, Halo doesn't refer to a shining circle above someone's head in a Michelangelo painting in the Sistine Chapel. If that's what you think, you're a relic of the past and, as they say, "out of it, uncool."

Halo 3 is a video game, and a violent one at that; it can only be sold to those 17 and above. Halo 3 puts the gamer into the world of sniper fire and the thrill of the kill. It's so popular that in 2007, sales surpassed $300,000,000 in less than two weeks. (That would be $349,210,000.87 today.) That's some serious happy cabbage.

Like I said, it's 2007, and we're watching Tim Foster, 12, and Chris Graham, 14, as they sit in front of three TVs, locked in violent virtual combat as they navigate on-screen characters through lethal gun bursts. Tim likes the game: “It’s just fun blowing people up.”

"But wait a minute" you might be thinking, "I thought you said that Halo 3 was rated "M," 17 and up."

Yes, it is, but so what, that doesn't stop an adult or any 17 year-old from buying it for Tim and Chris to play it. As Tim and Chris are playing Halo 3, they're immersed in controlling Master Chief, a tough marine armed to the teeth who battles opponents with missiles, lasers, guns that fire spikes, energy blasters and other fantastical, mythological weapons.

WAIT A MINUTE

Wait a minute. Where are these youths, what parent is allowing this in their hearth and home? Or, are they sneaking an adventure with the "M" rated game of their big brother while Mom and Dad are away?

No. Tim and Chris are with a lot of other boys at their church with their youth minister. As a matter of fact, they're at the Colorado Community Church in Denver, Colorado.

Wait. What? Why?

Let's let the youth minister, Gregg Barbour, tell us what's going on: "They will stay for the Christian message. We want to make it hard for teenagers to go to hell," he says.

These kids aren't alone in 2007; churches all over the place started using Halo 3. In fact, hundreds of churches use Halo games to connect with young people. Again, let's let the churches speak for themselves: the Southern Baptist denomination sent e-mail messages to 50,000 young people about how to share their faith using Halo 3. Among the tips: use the game’s themes as the basis for a discussion about good and evil.

At Sweetwater Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., Austin Brown, 16, said, “We play Halo, take a break and have something to eat, and have a lesson,” explaining that the pastor tried to draw parallels “between God and the devil.”

In another defense of Halo 3, as more than one youth minister points out, "They can also play in teams, and that allows communication and fellowship opportunities." Wait. What? Christian fellowship as you're blowing people up and enjoying the thrill of the kill? What is Christian fellowship, anyway?

Let's hear from a parent, this time from the year 2013:

"We have gone to 3 different churches now that have offered these types of things. The first church had kids playing video games while waiting for Sunday school to begin. The second church we tried was a friend's Church. They said the kids love it and they are growing in their faith. Not only was the service very uncomfortable, the children's area had video games, along with 'money' or a rewards system so you could purchase things from the 'store' they had there. 

"After the service, we asked our 6 year-old what he learned about God, and he couldn't remember a thing, but insisted he couldn't wait to return to 'buy' more from the 'store.'

"This past weekend we went to another church. They insisted their children were also growing in their faith at their new church, and invited us to join them. This place topped [the others] with the children's entertainment. They had a blow-up slide, and bounce house, video games, board games, etc! 

"After the service, we asked our son, what he learned. And again he couldn't remember; he remembered bits of a puppet show, but nothing about God. He said he wanted to go back because it was 'so fun.' 

"I explained to him that church is for learning about Jesus, and while that can include fun and games, if he is leaving and can't remember anything, then it's likely not a place we should return to. I asked him if he wanted to return because of God or because of the 'fun' and he said it was because it was 'fun.' 

"He then said, 'Mom, I think they just have that stuff there to get people to come to Church!'"

LET'S DISCUSS THIS

There are many things that people discuss concerning Halo 3, things such as the violence, blowing people up, the thrill of the kill. But what's neglected is the fact that the kids aren't really blowing people up and they aren't killing people. It's a fantasy; a game that puts them in a world of virtual reality, that is, "an artificial environment created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment."

And that presents a huge problem for the church. The church is immersing the kids into a fantasy world, a world that doesn't exist and then, the youth minister stops Halo 3, turns off the computer or the TV set and delivers the Christian message which is based in history, reality. 

Are they getting the impression that Christ's death, burial, and resurrection are fantasy, just like Halo 3? And how much time are they immersed in fantasy anyway? How much time are they immersed in Christ and Him crucified? And, in their minds, is the entire evening a fun adventure in fantasy worlds?