The Game of Life

Jesus has called us into one Church, united by His Spirit, and His desire is for His people to put aside the things that bring division so that we can demonstrate to the world His love for each other, and by so doing, to communicate His love to a world that needs hope.  Colossians 1 says:
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

If we are submitted to Jesus, the head of the body, we recognize that we are to look to Him to determine how we are to act toward one another.  I believe you can say that Jesus taught that we are to love God with all that we are so that we can love others with that same love.  That love will propel us to reach out to others to demonstrate His compassion, so that people will be drawn to Him because of their experiences with us, with His people.  And, those encounters, directed by the Spirit, may sometimes even be considered unusual or highly creative - His aim is to bring people to know Him.

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We have been brought into the body of Christ by virtue of our acceptance of Christ as Savior, and He
works by a variety of means to bring His people together. 1st Corinthians 12 states:
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free--and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The church is called GodSquad and its target audience is people who play video games - seriously.  Matt Souza is in his late twenties and launched the outreach which, according to The Christian Post, "utilizes video games and a live-streaming platform called Twitch. His church is called GodSquad, and he started it in 2016 to reach a community of individuals who tend to be atheists and dislike religion."

The story, which integrates information from a Washington Post piece, describes the concept:

Viewers watch the livestream of him playing games while Souza fields questions about God and the Christian faith. He also weaves in moral and ethical principles into the gaming world, urging gamers not to cuss and advises them that they not play Grand Theft Auto because of the particular kind of killing and sexual content that game promotes.

As of July, according to the Christian Post article, the church has some 1800 "members" and around 4000 views a month.

Christopher Benek, a pastor and writer for the Christian Post, specializing in technology, states:

Matt Souza is part of the body of Christ that articulates that he is trying to use tech for good. As a tech pastor, I think we should encourage more Christians to learn to use tech for good. I don't see where ministering to people in a digital environment is any less important than a pastor making phone calls or television evangelism.

In order to reach people, Souza is embracing one of the notable aspects of the life of Jesus...he says that Jesus, "..."[Jesus] always went to where the people were at...One of the huge [mediums] of how to meet people today is through video games..."

Benek states, "Anywhere people gather, even digitally, with a common interest — there one finds community. Many members of Souza's community seek to follow the teachings of Jesus and thus by definition they are Christian Community..."

The story also says:

Souza told the Washington Post that he does not believe church should be reduced to attending services but that it is fundamentally about doing life together. And real relationships have been forged from his efforts.

This fall he will travel to North Carolina where he will officiate the wedding of two of his gamer congregants and later this month he will water-baptize a Houston woman whom he led to the Lord when she comes to Virginia for a gamer conference.

This story about a unique form of ministry can cause us to think about certain aspects of how the Church operates. What is the Church?  I believe that in its simplest form it is a body of believers who have claimed the name of Jesus as Savior, and who will come together for fellowship and teaching. We can invite unbelievers to church but they are not considered part of the Church.  So, Souza's gathering meets the requirement, and can challenge us to think about ways that believers can engage culture in out-of-the-box ways.

We can also consider aspects of authentic Christian community.  But, we have to be careful to address questions of whether or not virtual relationships replace face-to-face ones.  We see numerous church bodies and Christian organizations who routinely and creatively utilize technology to communicate truth.  Perhaps tech can be a more effective tool for unbelievers, but we can also rejoice in how technological advances can unite believers essentially around the globe.

We can also think about the importance of discipleship in the life of a believer.  There are personal tools that can be used to facilitate growth, but there are also the technological means as well.  What is important to consider is how God will use a variety of tools in our lives so that we might know Him better.