1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
God calls us in the body of Christ to be in unity with one another and teaches us the concept of being part of a body, in which Jesus is the head and we function according to the gifts with which He has entrusted us. We are called together in community with commonness of purpose, to think clearly about the ways of God so that we might fulfill His call in our lives. We are called to be unified, not uniform, as it's been said, and we can appreciate our differences, recognizing that each of us has a role to play in God's wonderful plan.
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In Ephesians 4, after being instructed to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," Paul writes:
4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling;
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
It really is too bad - a night of nostalgia that was scheduled for this Friday in Montgomery, featuring legendary game show host Bob Eubanks, has been cancelled, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. The production of Hollywood's Greatest Game Shows didn't generate an acceptable level of ticket sales, even though there would have been a million-dollar pyramid at the end.
Meanwhile, the Montgomery Biscuits, who snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Chattanooga Lookouts last night with a 6-5 victory, are gearing up for Game Show Night, paying tribute to classic game shows on Thursday.
And, prime-time television has had a pretty good share of game show revivals, as well.
Not only are those TV game shows experiencing a revival, but a host of board games are also seemingly gaining in popularity, according to a piece on the USA Today website. The article reports that: "Sales of hobby games — a complex and strategic variety of board games — in the U.S. and Canada grew 21% in 2016, says Milton Griepp, president of industry news outlet ICv2, topping $1.4 billion." The story reports that "Big-name retailers" are "building on the trend." Plus, places to play are "popping up."
The article states that:
BoardGameGeek, an online forum dedicated to board games of all types, recorded 9.5 million unique visitors in the fourth quarter of 2016, a 10.7% increase over the same period in 2015, says W. Eric Martin, a news editor for the site.
The board games section at Gen Con, a national gaming convention taking place each August in Indiana, currently makes up more than 5,000 of the convention’s 19,000 events, says Gen Con spokesman Jake Theis. Hundreds of new games are introduced at Gen Con each year.Theis said, "Board games are becoming more mainstream,” adding, “They’re part of our pop culture, part of our families’ DNA.”
Paul Booth of DePaul University stated, "There is something very human about sitting around with other people for an extended period of time and all working together on something,” adding, “You could be competing or cooperating, but you’re all focused on the same thing.”
Another USA Today piece highlighted some newer games and their similarities to classic games, such as Ticket to Ride, which is similar to Monopoly, except you are dealing in trains rather that property. There's Codenames, which is likened to Clue, in which two teams work together to try to make contact with spies, known by their code names. And Kingdomino has some similarity to Sorry! and uses, yes, dominoes, with a "kingdom-building twist," according to a caption for a picture in the article.
Speaking of dominoes, congratulations to the winners in the recent World Championship Domino Tournament, which was held again this year in Andalusia! It's the second weekend of July, so you have a year to develop your domino skills and get in the game.
This article about board games can help us to think about several aspects of activities that are consistent with how we operate in the body of Christ.
For one thing, participating in this or other activities together can build a sense of community. Family game nights can bring a time of bonding. There was a church small group I am aware of that had a game night, which also featured a time of Bible study. The operative word here is togetherness. Like Dr. Booth said, it is "human" to be together and be "focused on the same thing." We can look for opportunities for believers to come together and foster our sense of community.
So we move from the realm of games to the realm of real life and how the body of Christ is supposed to function. In community, we can develop commonness of purpose. We have to really cement the concept of teamwork and pull together for the same goals - the ultimate goal being to glorify God and further the work of His Kingdom. And, we can accomplish more collectively than individually.
Board games can help produce clarity of thinking, certainly. In a spiritual sense, we need to develop that clarity as believers. He wants us, according to Philippians 4, to train our minds to think consistently with truth. Isaiah 26 reminds us that His peace comes as our minds are fixed on Him. And, 2nd Corinthians 10 deals with pulling down strongholds. Now is the time for sober- and clear-mindedness as believers, not distracted by the philosophy of this world or deceived by the devil.
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