Christianity and Dungeons and Dragons

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“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” – G. K. Chesterton

“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” – St. Augustine

Conviction and Conscience

How to disagree and yet not divide within the Christian context of convictions and opinions.

I believe this is the most apropos place to start the discussion on Christians playing Dungeons and Dragons, as it seems to me that the game falls into the category of an opinionable matter like Paul discusses (though, others may disagree as I discuss more within this article).

Romans 14 serves as the prime scriptural outline for how to disagree regarding opinionable matters within the church. Doctrinal things are not doubtful things, they are not open for opinion, yet there are numerous things Scripture is either reticent on, or simply open for a variety of interpretations on. Paul gives the church a process for dialoguing through opinionable matters. The “weak in the faith” Paul refers to within Romans 14:1 is identifying someone who is strict within their faith to ensure they do not stumble. This is not to say that “weak in the faith” is wrong by any means, but is it to say they need, or want, extra precautions and partnership from the Body. The idea is akin to the Jews who put a “hedge against the law” so as to ensure they never get to the point where they could possibly break any of the laws. Such things might appear as “I think all alcohol is sinful” because they do not trust themselves, or they know themselves too well maybe, to allow room for alcohol within their consumption. As such, it is partnership to help that brother by not drinking in front of him or offering him alcohol. Paul presents three specific examples within Romans 14 regarding those “weak in the faith:” days, meat, and drinking. Regardless of the content itself, Paul is clear, do not argue against these things. Enjoy one another’s fellowship, and do not make a big deal, and especially do not divide, over these things that are opinions. Paul uses the word dialogismōn in the Greek for opinion, because that is exactly what they are, opinions: ideas that can go back-and-forth on reasoning, reason that is based on the self and not on absolutes outside the self (i.e., ordained good or bad by God). There is room for others to have a different opinion than one’s own perspective, as it is written in Romans 14:4-5, the one who acts on his conscience in opinionable matters (and this applies to both parties) will stand before Christ, let it be between them and God based on his own judgement and conscience. Paul writes Romans 14 to ensure that these optional matters do not cause divisions within the Body of Christ.

Romans 14:6 presents that the one who eats the meat (most likely the meat sacrificed to idols), who is here the “stronger” brother, does so in that he might honor the Lord in his eating. And still, the “weaker” brother honors the Lord as well as he abstains from the meat. Both give thanks to God and praise him for his ability, liberation, and sanctification to do what his conscience allows. The essential element within Romans 14 is that as both parties honor Christ in their actions, they do not pass judgement and despise the other. “Each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12), and as such, the one who eats the meat is free to do so, and the one who abstains is also free to do so, yet what they are not free to do is to hate or despise or slander or divide from one another based on these opinionable matters. Paul has strong words for the “weaker” brother as well, as they are the one passing judgement upon the brother because of their own convictions. The exhortation and responsibility for the “weaker” brother is to not pass judgement and be divisive of the Body of Christ, for which Christ is building up and died for. In verse 10, Paul says, “why do you pass judgement on your brother, do you despise him?” The “stronger” brother would have no need to pass judgement, so the words here from Paul are to the “weaker” that they are not to condemn the “stronger” brother for living into their opinion and doing what they believe they are free in their conscience to do under Christ. The word to the “weaker” is to no judge and not despise. Again, what is being expressed is this divisive nature of dispute on opinionable matters, which is not beneficial for building up the Body of Christ and therefore has no place within the church.

Romans 14 progresses into another essential element, and that is to not cause a brother or sister to stumble. Paul is confident that “nothing is unclean in itself” yet if he were to eat meat sacrificed to idols and that grieves a brother, he is not loving his brother. There is a way to go about what we believe to be fully right and within the realm of our conscience that is unloving to our brother or sister, and Paul uses such strong language to say that doing so is “destroying the one for whom Christ died.” We must pursue peace and mutual upbuilding with love. So, in that, no matter what one’s convictions or opinions be, we must not “destroy the work of God,” which is the fellowship of the Body of Christ. We must not cause one another to stumble due to our freedoms. This is more the responsibility of the “stronger” brother, as the nature of their freedom can cause the “weaker” brother to stumble. Paul continues this in Romans 15:1, where the strong have an obligation to bear with the weak and not please themselves, but rather to build one another up at the cost of our self and our opinionable matters. There is an onus on both parties, with an equal weight, though different roles. Yet, it unequivocally culminates into the command to not destroy the Body of Christ over your disagreements on opinionable matters. Ultimately, the Body of Christ is about unity in relationships founded in love for building one another up, not about content of which we can disagree to tear one another down, because “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 14:17)

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Three Realms of Regulation

On how to regulate our freedoms and convictions within Christ and in an honoring way to Christ.

There are three ideologies Christians can fall into with the perception of video games, role-playing games, table-top games, and even the media and books they consume:

1.       Those who are super-strict with their convictions, where they simply see most content (that which involves magic, violence, and paganism, even in a fantastical sense) as not beneficial and harmful for Christians to be a part of. This would mostly be akin to the “weak in the faith” believer mentioned above in Romans 14.

2.       Those who exercise no discernment and operate with no rules, where there is no filter, and no holds barred. That Christians are free to consume any media or play any game and assume that they are not affected by such material. I will clearly say this is a foolish stance, and not one I advocate anyone take.

3.       Those who take a healthy stance in guarding themselves and others with discernment, put specific rules in place, and hole one another accountable to the media, games, and material that we consume. This would be akin to the “stronger” brother mentioned above in Romans 14. They recognize there are allowances and freedoms under Christ that permit him or her to enjoy certain things that God has created and allowed to exist and does not outright condemn. And it is this camp that has the higher noble command in 1st Corinthians 8:9 to “not become a stumbling block for the weak,” which requires maturity, discernment, and above all, love.

People who fall into the first camp of being super-strict, are not doing anything wrong. However, they can be so right as to be divisive and unloving and judge others in the Body. It is imperative that the process to dialogue about such topics and to call one another out is handled in a Scriptural, Christ-like manner. As seen above in Romans 14:10, the essential call on this super-strict individual is to not pass judgement and despise the brother for their freedom, thus ultimately dividing the Body of Christ over opinionable matters.

People who fall into the second camp of no rules, are equally, not doing anything right. This is a blatant neglect of our responsibility as Christians to be discerning, to make healthy distinctions between the clean and unclean, the holy and the profane (Lev. 10:10). They refuse to be transformed from the world and to show discernment in spiritual matters (Romans 12:2). They fail to show that they are in fact regenerate in Christ and as such follow His heart and what would please Him and honor Him. They are flippant and frivolous in their regard for discernment, brotherhood, and the sanctity Christ calls us to have in our lives.

People who fall into the third camp, who take a healthy stance to guard themselves and others against the things God hates are not doing anything wrong. Though, they must follow the convictions revealed to them through the Spirit, the Body, and Scripture to discern what is right and honoring of God. They exercise mature discernment to be able to distinguish good from evil (Heb. 5:14), are not conformed to the habits of the world but instead are transformed (Rom. 12:2) and that transformation is evident in both how they play, as well as the manner of what they play. They are able to not fall in love with the world (1st John 2:15) because they are not simply natural persons but are regenerate spiritual persons who are able to discern folly and understand what spiritual things are of God and which are of evil (1st Corin. 2:10-16). This absolutely takes a strong, faithful Christian, not an immature worldly one, and as such, it is of the utmost importance that the mature Christian lead and guide those who participate in the play or media of the group to what is honoring of God and to set rules and boundaries against those things God would not approve of. This is the essential nature of discernment and moderation that the spiritually mature Christian ought to exercise in all areas of their life, not simply in their play or media consumption. He is the one who can not only discern what is and is not honoring to God, but also teach and help guide those less mature onto the noble path of Christ-like righteousness so that they do not fall into folly and dishonor of God. His essential role, given the Romans 14 outline above, is to not cause his brother to stumble in their faith.

Intention and Expression

Are we just trying to live out deep nefarious desires, or are we trying to love and honor Jesus together?

Paul admonishes the Body of Christ in Colossae to put to death the old self, the ways of the flesh and all that is “earthly in you.” We are commanded as Christians to put away anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk, lying, slander, and more. Contained within the relational context of this decree to build one another up as brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to bear with one another in love, to admonish one another, sing hymns to one another, and in so doing build up the Body of Christ (again, think through Romans 14). Before going into the family dynamics, Paul then reminds his brothers that” whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). What Paul is ultimately getting at here is our intentions. There are right ways and wrong ways about doing anything. Ultimately, all of our actions ought to be surrendered to doing them with the goal and purpose of building up the Body of Christ in love and bringing glory to Christ and honoring him.

We can even apply this to our play, especially within the context of role-playing games. If anyone does any action for selfish gain, or to experience and live out some dark desires that are rooted in evil, maliciousness, or the ways of the flesh, that is not bringing honor to Christ. Yet, we can fellowship around the gaming table and build one another up and honor Christ, giving him thanks for the liberty to do so and enjoying the company of the committed saints beside us. Jesus himself reminds us totality of the Law and the Prophets in Matthew 7:12 – “whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” So if people game for the purpose of living out evil intentions or insidious plans, in their heart they are not seeking to enact the golden rule. Instead, they are still living the corrupt ways of their flesh. Even in the fantastical imaginative play, we live out what our heart nature deep inside us desires. Some want to slaughter the villagers and hoard the wealth. Those would be signs of an unregenerate, immature, negligent spirituality.

However, when one desires to save said villagers and ensure the needs of the common good are met, that player, even in the imaginative play, reveals an intentional heart that genuinely seeks out the command of Jesus to love others, and in so doing reveal their heart nature. My players have noble goals, struggle with moral quandaries, and make brave sacrifices. The player has the capacity to live out and embody the ideals they believe themselves to have. In that, they do honor and glorify Jesus because that is their intentional heart.

Perhaps this is most easily summed up through Jesus’s words to the Pharisees who try to trap him regarding cleanliness and traditions of hand washing while eating a meal in Matthew 15. Jesus explains to his disciples that “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person… [because] what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart… for out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:11-19). Our actions expose the intentions of our hearts, and our hearts are “deceitful above all things and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9), and yet we have been “set free from sin, [and] have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:18). Galatians 5 reminds us to bear the fruit of the Spirit, as we “belong to Christ Jesus [and] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” so that we can be transformed from our sinful fleshly desires and live out the renewed heart Jesus Christ lives within us through his Spirit. Before we game (or do anything, for that matter), we must do the due diligence of asking why we are doing what we do – do we seek to fulfill our sinful nature, or seek to glorify Christ and build up his Body?

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Content, Consumption, and Living for Christ

To Live for Christ and not be consumed by our content or the world around us.

Within the game system of Dungeons and Dragons, as with many games, fiction novels, music, movies, television shows, and any media one can consume, there is always content. And all content has some moral implications within it, be that for good or for evil. As Christians, we are called to be discerning in regard to such moral and spiritual matters, and thus, all our consumption of said content ought to be surrendered to our living for Christ. There are primarily four types of content within Dungeons and Dragons (and most media for that matter, especially of the fantastical nature) that seem most prevalent to the discussion at hand: Sexual content, Violence (just and unjust, or moral and immoral), Magic, and Polytheism.

Sexual content

Sexual content should always be off limits. Christians should not expose themselves to sexual content outside the context of marriage. Even the appropriate sexual content contained within Scripture is euphemistic (Adam “knew” his wife”) and is concealed, not open for public consumption and voyeurism. Although Dungeons and Dragons, as simply a set of rules, technically allows for sexual content, it is always subject to the discretion of the Game Master and the group. Any healthy group of players with any role-playing game will cater to anyone who feels sexual content may cross the line and make others uncomfortable. As such, our group has hard rules and limits around sexual content within the game as we develop the story and players progress, as all such things are off limits (and besides, it is really just awkward to roleplay and no one wants to experience that).

Violence

Violence – in Scripture is talked about much more openly than sexual content, even praised and specifically endorsed by God at times. The visceral nature and specific violence presented throughout the course of Scripture presents violence as less condemned and not the private affair that sexual content is. As such, there seems to be room for violence to be openly discussed and expressed, especially within the context of righteous judgement and righteous violence against oppressive, evil, tyrannical, and diabolic forces. For example, the scene of Jael driving a tent spike through Sisera’s temple is visceral and approved by God for the purpose of releasing the oppression of Sisera (Judges 4:17-22).

This then leads to the difference between moral and immoral violence. There absolutely is violence that does not honor God, such as immoral violence: that is evil. However, Scripture does distinguish between moral and immoral violence, and it does not always condemn moral violence, in fact it often endorses it. This is a righteous judgement of violence that is portrayed in the protection of what God has deemed good, and the destruction of what God has deemed evil. Often it is portrayed as God commanding the slaughter of priests and worshippers of evil, idolators, and those who worship false gods and practice evil in the sight of God. There seems to be room within media to portray a rightful violence that serves the righteous, protects the weak, and fights back the oppression. Such is seen in war movies or novels, fantasy novels where evil kings must be overthrown, or even in Scripture where Jesus will triumph over all evil by destroying said evil.

In Dungeons and Dragons, the violence is most often the liberation of slaves, the restoration of towns destroyed by evil, and the moral violence of fighting against oppressive evil forces. Especially in our game group, I have specific rules against immoral violence like torture, slavery, and the like. They simply will not happen within our group, because we have established those rules. Just as the game itself as a system of rules is open enough for anyone to do evil acts, or to play evil characters, our group has rules around not playing evil characters, but rather to be good, righteous, upstanding, compassion, and noble characters who seek justice and correcting wrongs. Yet, just as God gives freedom for Elijah to slaughter 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah because they are doing evil against Yahweh and His people, there is moral precedence for the righteous destruction of evil fictional characters imposing their tyrannical will over fictional helpless villagers. In fact, this is much less visceral, and probably much less celebratory, than anyone would be witness to of any modern television show or movie.

There are games where evil is the goal. Where the point of the game is to kill as many people as possible, or characters that take on lewd characteristics that give the player freedom to do something in-game that would never be allowed or condoned in real life. These are not to be tolerated within the Christian, as 1st Thessalonians 5:21-22 states, "But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” However, this is a wide divide between evil and good, just as there is between a Christian who can play Dungeons and Dragons or even just read fantasy and seeks an honorable, noble, righteous path, and one who relishes in the violence and obscenities of the world and reveals himself to be unregenerate.

Magic

The presence of magic within fantasy settings such as Dungeons and Dragons is one of the primary reasons people generally shun and demonize this media. Scripture is clear on God’s perspective of witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy, such as the command in Leviticus 19:31 and 20:6, where God commands to “not turn to mediums or seek out necromancers, for you will be defiled by them,” and “I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and necromancers to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.” Witchcraft, along with hatred, sexual immorality, discord, jealousy, and more are acts of the flesh and lead to death (Gal. 5:19-20). The question then is not whether witchcraft, necromancy, and the like are offensive to God and therefore not permissible for Christians to participate in, but the question is does the presence of that content within any media mean it is participating in actually doing the magic, or is there a distinction between presence, practice, and imaginative play?

If the mere presence of witchcraft and its ilk is to be abstained from Christians, then to an absurd extent, the Bible itself must be regarded with concern, as there is a clear presence of the occult within the Scriptures. It is obvious, however, then that the presence is not the issue, but the use of, participation in, and condonation of such occult practices is the issue, which is clearly condemned within the pages of Scripture.

Therefore, we must ask if the magic within fantasy settings is purely fantasy and therefore played out only in the imagination of the reader or consumer, or is it actually witchcraft, involving demonic, paganistic, and evil practices? Is it practicing the real secret arts of magic deemed evil and unholy within scripture such as the summoning of spirits (1st Chronicles 10:13), the turning of water into blood (Exodus 7:22), or practicing divination, seeking omens, and consulting the dead (2nd Chronicles 33:6)?

To best answer this, let us look at the example of Saul’s downfall in his pursuing and using a medium as explained in 1st Samuel 28. In verses five and six, we see Saul fearful of the army of the Philistines, and as such he inquires of Yahweh, yet Yahweh withdraws from him and does not answer him either by dreams or prophets. So, Saul seeks out the medium of En-Dor to raise the spirit of Samuel so that Saul might have some consolation and direction about the battle ahead. This is an actual event, based in a definitive time involving real people practicing the real art of necromancy and seeking the counsel of spirits dead in the flesh and passed on to the next life. This practice was commanded against because the powers and secret arts that channeled the spirit of Samuel for Saul was not of Yahweh, yet there was an actual power involved, just as is the same case as the Egyptian priests mimicking the plagues of Yahweh prior to the Exodus (Exodus 7-8). These powers are evil and demonic, resulting in actual effects that are contrary to the nature of Yahweh. There could be much more said on the specific understanding of what exactly is magic within the context of Scripture, much more than I can go into here, but an in depth analysis of understanding the roots and context of magic within Scripture would be beneficial to better understand. Such examples that could prove fruitful for analysis are: Moses’s staff and the Egyptian staffs becoming serpents, the Egyptians doing the same as Yahweh’s plagues before the exodus from Egypt (Exodus 7 and 8), Elisha causing an axe head to raise and float in water with a stick (2nd Kings 6:1-7), not to mention numerous accounts of raising the dead (which is definitionally necromancy) by Elijah, Elisha, Peter, and Paul. Perhaps one could even further look at the Scriptural understanding of sorcery, divination, mediums, and the various words used to ultimately make a distinction between “holy magic” and “demonic magic.”

Yet to get back to the main point of magic within the realm of imaginative fantastical play: when one reads of a spell being cast in a fantasy novel, it involves fictional characters, in a fictional non-definitive time and space, with no real demonic power involved to actualize the magic or summoning or divination. To play in Dungeons and Dragons on the realm of imagination and say, “my wizard casts fireball” and then I roll some dice and see if my fictional spell does fictional damage to fictional entities that reside in a non-definitive fictional time and space does not summon forth or rely on actual secret arts or demonic powers to actualize the events, as they in reality do not happen. Unlike Saul and the witch of En-Dor, which was a real historical event, relied of real powers, and caused real effects within the real world. The imagination and fantasy therein does not result in actual powers that affect the real world, hence it is play. That is why play is foundationally a safe way for children to learn and experience life and consequences free from real world implications (which I will discuss in further detail in my section on Imaginative Play). A perfect example is children playing with squirt guns or cap guns: it enables them to practice imagination free from the consequences of actual death by bullet wounds. In short, fantastical imaginative effects reside only in the players imagination, and do not carry over into the spiritual or earthly realm to cause actual effects. Real demonic powers do not get used to summon the spirit of my dead ancestor in the game any more than me thinking I am an airplane and spreading my arms out and zooming around the house allows me to actually cause catastrophic damage to the house and neighborhood when I “crash” (though I might break something in the process, most likely myself).

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Now, one note of caution that must be mentioned in this discussion of magic is: is this fantasy, or are we beginning to touch onto things that God has demanded we have no part of, something God hates? Does the exposure to even imaginative spells and false gods in the realm of creative fictional fantasy muddy one’s understanding on how God views the occult in reality? There is no question that witchcraft, necromancy, and the like are sinful practices, but what we must wrestle with is if there is a difference between fiction and reality. Does this apply to all content, or only some? Is there a distinction between fictionally playing a wizard who rolls dice and a living real practice of trying to divine or commune with the dead? Some Christians do not have a problem with these sorts of themes and would not believe the imaginative existence of them corrupts their view of what God does clearly demand of us to not practice the actual art of summoning spirits or divination or occultism. To this, it takes a mature Christian and a solid understanding of faith and discernment and a renewed mind to discern what is good and pleasing and acceptable to the Lord (Romans 12:2). Someone still discovering the groundwork of their faith might have a harder time distinguishing the truth around these matters, and to that it is imperative to remember the roles and exhortations to the “weak” and “strong” brothers mentioned in Romans 14 as above. If one does believe the existence of occultism within imagination touches on the realm of participating with those demonic forces, then let him hold to his convictions and stand true with Christ, but not to hate or divide from his brother. And to the “stronger,” again, if his actions and beliefs that imagination is not actual practicing the real-world occultism, let him not place a stumbling block for his brother in his actions.

Polytheism

One argument against Dungeons and Dragons is that there is a host of various gods and goddesses, and as such it presents a polytheistic worldview. In fact, nearly all fantasy has a polytheistic, and at the very least a non-Yahweh perspective of their structure of deities. Does the presence of false gods in any given fantasy universe prohibit or hinder Yahweh from operating within the real world? Not at all. Does the existence of such polytheistic entities mean they are actually gods at war with Yahweh? Not at all. Just as I could easily write a new character into a book that is a god within that said universe does not mean he exists any more than Aslan is a real talking lion in this world, or that Pinocchio comes to life from the page as he was written into existence. J. R. R. Tolkien creating Ilúvatar (even though Ilúvatar is a transposition of Yahweh in Tolkien’s created fantasy world), does not hinder or falsify Yahweh in the real world, nor does it really factor as an idol to be worshipped as Ilúvatar is a fictional character just as much as Mickey Mouse. Dungeons and Dragons does have a host of gods and goddesses, but they are fictional creations of a writer’s mind and have no bearing on one’s actual worship of Yahweh or Christ. In fact, Yahweh Himself accounts that there are other divine beings, other elohim, (Exodus 20:3, as one example of many) of which Yahweh says we are not to worship. The presence of other divine beings is not the issue, it is the place of worship of one’s heart. As such, I genuinely am convinced that the mere presence of fictional deities in a game or a movie or novel does not hinder my authentic worship of Yahweh and Christ, though again, each person must practice their own discernment in whether that would violate his or her convictions and give propensity to sin for themselves.

To Live for Christ

Ultimately, when it comes to our conscience and the content of the media we engage with, we must remember Paul’s words in 1st Corinthians 10:31, “whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Again, Paul is referencing the consumption of meat he already addressed in Romans 14 here to his Corinthian brothers, and he offers the same counsel to the Corinthians as the Romans, for the sake of the conscience of your brother, do not divide or tear one another down, but build one another up. There is a way to play games, enjoy fantasy, and watch war movies that honors God and a way to do it that does not bring honor or glory to Him. So long as they remain opinionable matters and we do not cause others to struggle or sin and we do not divide the church over disagreements. We can glorify Christ by enjoying the meat because we know that the idol it was sacrificed to means nothing compared to the all-surpassing power of Christ. We can enjoy the work of fiction because we discerned it does not contain any real power and is still subject to the authority and divinity of Christ. We must be both discerning of our own convictions as well as knowledgeable about our own individual struggles and temptations, so that we do not let small temptations lead us into sinful behavior (James 1:14-15). And equally, we ought to be aware of our brother’s and sister’s struggles and convictions so that we do not trounce upon their conscience (1st Corin. 10:29) and therefore cause them to stumble (1st Corin. 8:13). In all things, “be sober of spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour,” and we must be on guard for both ourselves and our brethren with whatever media and content we engage with (1st Peter 5:8).

Fortunately for us, God has made us free moral agents with the capacity to choose, and so when we encounter any of the above (or any other, for that matter) content that we become unsettled with and that we believe might be exposing ourselves or our brethren to content which God has explicitly forbidden, we can put the book down. We can stop the movie or television show and cease partaking of that content. However, unlike the media that we imbibe and cannot control the content of, that is one of the greatest freedoms Dungeons and Dragons (and various other role-playing game systems) offers: we can prevent that content from the outset. The group can refuse to play with magic, or occult spells, or demons. They can even build their own world where there are no polytheistic pantheons and demons do not exist. The rules of the game are only limited by the players and allow for a complete reworking and removal of all the content most people have a concern with at the whim of the players. When it comes to the structure and rules and play of something like Dungeons and Dragons, the only rules, fundamentally, are what the players come up with. As free agents, we can choose the content that is contained within the game itself, unlike any other media we consume. For that reason alone, I would argue Dungeons and Dragons (and role-playing games as a whole) are actually freer and have a higher level of moral liberty for the Christian than all other forms of media, be it books, TV, movies, art, etc. Within those, we are subject to the author’s perspectives and intents and their ingrained content; within role-playing games, the players are free from those constraints and create their own content free from any expectations of vile content creeping in unfiltered. This all takes discernment and wisdom from the players, as well as integrity, but the possibility to be free from that content is there, where it is not within any other form of media to be consumed.

Imaginative Play and Storytelling

The creative imagination given to us by God and our responsibility to the gift of creating.

We cannot claim that imagination itself is an unbiblical and heretical faculty. God Himself created everything out of His imagination, and with His blessing has called us to do the same in a variety of methods. Be that art, music, dance, woodworking, metalsmithing, or writing; these creative imaginative endeavors are never inherently sinful, evil, or unholy. One creative force we all have, regardless of our skill, is the capacity to tell stories. The majority of Israelite (and other cultural) history was passed down through storytelling. Jesus told stories and used his imagination to do so; he supposes fictional characters in a real world doing realistic things that allows people to relate to them and learn from their examples contained within the story. Jesus did not lie (since he was sinless), and yet weaved fictional stories. So, creating stories are not sinful, even creating fictional characters in which people can relate to is not sinful, yet Jesus uses them to portray the purpose of moral actions that either line up with God’s will or not. Stories allow us to relate to any human at any time across history because we all share the human experience. Israelites were commanded in Deuteronomy 11:18 to fix God’s words “in their hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.” This is not literal language, but figurative to sear into their minds and hearts to regularly be reminded of them. To bind on their hands tied the words to their daily actions as they worked. They told generation after generation of the words of Yahweh, just as we do now with our testimonies, through story. Stories allow both God and humans to retell a truth (not erroneously) with new language that will allow a wider audience to hear the truth for a greater purpose. Stories are one of the greatest ways we can share life and create. Not everyone responds the same way to any given medium. Some may read the Psalms and feel nothing, but when those same words are put to actual music, their heart and soul leaps and flies with adoration for God.

At their core, games like Dungeons and Dragons are nothing but collaborative storytelling between friends where they create their own fictional world (just like C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, J. R. R. Tolkien, and countless others), and share experiences through story. Play, world-building, and storytelling is a serious thing. They create situations in which real-world elements may be removed from their established order, reassessed, repurposed, and experienced in a safe environment. A child at play can take a banana and imagine it is a phone, a pistol, a yellow rocket ship or a million other things (some not even invented yet). In play, we have the power to reimagine the world. Yet play can become distorted. It can create consumptive fictional dramas that actualizes “escapism” and fleeing from the real world to escape problems. People can, just like drugs, become addicted to the escapism of fantasy and false worlds where they can live a life different than the one God has purposed them for. This would be the distortion of God has deemed good; that is corruption and decay of beauty and the modus operandi of the enemy. Of that, we must stay clear away.

Yet, it is through this creativeness of world-building, storytelling, and play where we imagine fictional characters doing fictional actions in a fictional setting. And therein lies the crux of our issue: is there a cognitive and spiritual difference between fantasy and reality, between creativity and truth? Is there a difference between imaginative fictional play and practicing real world actions? Do we shun and expunge all fictional stories because they portray falsehoods? Even Jesus’s parables? Is there a difference between Saul using a real medium to call forth Samuel from the grave and someone imagining they shoot fire out of their hands to stop a tyrant for slaughtering a village? What realm of influence does imagination and fiction have in our partnership with the spiritual realm? These, I believe, are predominately questions of personal conscience and conviction that Paul addressed in Romans 14, and as such ought to be opinionable matters. If my friend imagines his fictional character can talk to a fictional rabbit in a game, I will treat that very differently than if he actually whispers, makes engravings on a piece of wood and then is actually able to talk to a rabbit in the real world (honestly, I’d be more than concerned and would start praying immediately for Jesus’s protection!)

Lewis and Tolkien are perhaps some of the greatest of giants in theological and fictional realm and as such, they used their love, gift for creation, and passion for Jesus to “smuggle any amount of theology” into unsuspecting peoples with their use of story. In fact, it was the very result of myth and our capacity to create that had a major influence from Tolkien on Lewis coming to be a disciple of Jesus. Lewis wrote powerful apologetic, theological, and transformative works for Christ. He also created fantasy that could portray the reality of Jesus and his love which has surely resulted as a fruitful endeavor for the furthering of the Gospel and mission of Jesus: all of which contained magic, witches, fantasy, talking animals, violence, and more. Lewis sums it up best in On Three Ways of Writing for Children when he writes:

There is something ludicrous in the idea of so educating a generation which is born to…the atomic bomb. Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage. Otherwise you are making their destiny not brighter but darker. Nor do most of us find that violence and bloodshed, in a story, produce any haunting dread in the minds of children. As far as that goes, I side impenitently with the human race against the modern reformer. Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let villains be soundly killed at the end the book.

In effect, it is through our fictional imaginative play, creativity, and fellowship that we can not only “escape” life and culture, but in fact to redeem it in partnership with Jesus. The world is a flawed and broken place, but the prescription is not the cessation of Christians fleeing from the darkness but walking into it with Jesus to overcome and bring his light to those dark places. Andy Crouch has more to say on our need to create a new, better, redeemed culture out of the flawed culture, not to just settle for the one the world already experiences. Creating together as the Church in all media affords us the opportunity to witness Jesus and redeem culture, and our imagination is the root of our capacity to partner and create with God.

Time, Fellowship, and Fruit

How is the time spent? Does it edify the Body of Christ through fellowship, and does it bear fruit?

Some may find this as an arbitrary argument, but there are practical implications that would put the fellowship and use of time of a group of friends telling a story together and engaging in play on a higher plane than other forms of media. To address this point, we must look at how the time is spent (or squandered), the fellowship of the time, and the fruit it bears within the believer, the group, and ultimately for the Kingdom of God.

A quite common area that often goes unquestioned, even within the church, is men gathering to watch sports. Now, I am not bashing sports (though personally, I do not see much appeal), but I do question the benefit, or the fruit, of the time spent. There can be comradery that takes place, there is even room for meaningful, purposeful conversation, yet when it boils down to it what takes place is often a group of men who support an industry catered to entertainment where rich people compete with athleticism. Those who watch the display often have frivolous or flippant conversation interjected with shouts and yells of griping or dissatisfaction about the results of “their” team. There can absolutely be deep spiritual conversations happening within those moments, I am not neglecting that, but I think that can be a rare case. It really begs the question, is that a fruitful use of time for the Kingdom of God? I do not mention this to belittle the time some people use to genuinely enjoy sports and the company of others, but more as a reference point of how the time is realistically spent and what goes on in a sporting event that is rarely ever questioned in Christian circles and to compare that to the time that is spent when friends gather to play a role-playing game like Dungeons and Dragons.

As just demonstrated in an extreme (although, realistically all-too-common) expression of watching sports, role-playing games offer a completely different event of comradery. The fellowship around the game table involves actual teamwork where players must cooperate to solve puzzles, exercise discernment, face consequences for their actions, practice imaginative moral cause and effect, exercise creative thinking, and where players get to witness and experience the consequence of their character’s actions for good or for bad. And that is just the start of what goes on in nearly every gaming session. And yet, just like watching a sporting event, a group playing a game together can still dialogue about spiritual, meaningful matters and in fact it often happens, especially since breaks are regularly needed.

Now, both sporting events and games can be used as a ministry opportunity to reach out to non-Christians to win them over to Christ in an evangelical manner. So, the question is begged, what is the actual fruit outside of comradery, practicing moral convictions, and creatively thinking? Can one come to Christ while playing Dungeons and Dragons or any other game? Can they through watching a sporting event? I genuinely believe the Holy Spirit can work through all interactions and all expressions to reveal himself to all people and for them to experience his divine glory and presence. Paul, yet again, reminds us of his purpose and pursuit of all people in order to win them over to Christ. In 1st Corinthians 9, Paul expresses that he will “become all things to all people, that by all means [he] might save some” (v. 19-23). He becomes a Jew to the Jews, he becomes weak to the weak, and we are called to follow suite. We are to be sports fans to win sports fans to Christ. We are to be gamers in order to win gamers to discover the glorious beauty and sacrificial relationship we have in Jesus Christ. I would even go so far as to say that by the very fact I have to write this article, gamers already experience extreme condemnation and criticism for their lives that rarely gets expressed by the love and grace that Jesus calls us to. As such, if I can become a role-player in order to win a disparaged and outcast group of people for whom Jesus also died for, than I have a responsibility, and a hope, to live that out to see some come to know the glorious riches of Jesus Christ.

Absurd (and Not so Absurd) Extrapolations

Where do we draw lines to not be hypocritical in our condemnations, convictions, and integrity?

Before I close, I want drive home one of the key elements to me when it comes to all media we engage with: to not be hypocritical. We cannot say we are opposed to Dungeons and Dragons and then read and geek out on Harry Potter. That would show lack of discernment and wisdom, and frankly be hypocritical in our view of what we deem angers God, and we would not be true to our own integrity on spiritual matters. In order to present this stance, I want to mention some absurd extrapolations that we must weigh when we seriously consider the content of the media we consume. If we urge that violence in any form is an unholy affront to God, then it should have no avenue in our life. We must then throw out many things we regularly ingest daily for the sake of integrity, witness, and conviction. The same is true for all content and all media, regardless of our perceptions on them. Perhaps this is “kitchen-sink theology,” but it seems counter-intuitive and unhelpful for our witness if we condemn one thing because it has magic or polytheism, and yet imbibe other sources that do the same. This will be partially satirical, but the point is to drive home the seriousness in which we ought to evaluate our personal and corporate convictions when it comes to the media we allow ourselves and allow others to engage with.

·         Chess – Chess as a game promotes and facilitates violence, caste systems the potentially involve slavery, and even an unbiblical view of gender hierarchy where women are above men. The queen is the strongest piece on the board (the king is close to the weakest) and the piece itself is physically taller than the king.

·         Monopoly – Monopoly is centered on consumeristic greed and forcing the poor out of “free” markets and homes they cannot afford through economical control and superiority, promoting a sort of gentrification of all classes.

·         Risk – A game centered around war where the goal is literal global domination. Dozens of plastic men who represent thousands of soldiers lose their lives in this endeavor.

·         Clue – Clue gathers people around a murder. People who are not cops, authorities, or in any position to obtain evidence or take witness statements who try to solve the murder on their own. A blatant disrespect for governmental authorities.

·         Sorry! - A game that promotes revenge, literally “The Game of Sweet Revenge.” Romans 12:19 and Matthew 5:39 are clearly neglected in this instance.

·         Candy Land - Magical fairies, a magical land of candy and powers to teleport across the realm. Clearly participating in the occult.

·         The Velveteen Rabbit – Again, the use of magic to transform from death to life without the power of Christ. Again occultism presented within a children’s book.

·         Chronicles of Narnia – Magic use, talking animals, evil witches, God portrayed as a lion, parallel universes and alternate dimensions, dragons. The quintessential Christian children’s story book series contains all content we have already disapproved of and even comes from a Christian nonetheless.

·         The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit – Similar to Chronicles of Narnia, this has it all, even more violent and demonic as there are actual demons fought. Again, from faithful brother.

·         “Fingers crossed” & “Knock-on-wood” – These are superstitions bordering on the Biblical understanding of divination, betting on luck and placing our hope in supernatural forces other than Jesus Christ.

·         Disney movies – Transmutation of rats into men and pumpkins into carriages, genies, mermaids, witches, necromancy, voodoo, talking animals, bestiality, magic, disrespect of parental authority, irresponsibility (“Hakuna Matata” anyone?), refusal to grow up; yeah, Disney is filled with everything we as Christians ought to steer well clear of.

Perhaps the absurdity is lost, but hopefully it accentuates the point: if we are to condemn Dungeons and Dragons and role-playing games within a Christian’s life, then we must seriously consider the other media we expose ourselves to and in so doing expunge Lewis’s, Tolkien’s, Chesterton’s, MacDonald’s, and numerous other’s fiction as they all contain the same content to varying degrees. Essentially, if the presence of magic and violent content is a catalyst for the expungement of media, then we must seriously consider all material we engage with lest we sunder our integrity and witness and present ourselves as hypocrites. Romans 2:1-3 gives us clear warning about condemning and judging others while we do the same thing we judge others for. Again, it is imperative that we put Romans 14 into practice within this regard where we hold to our convictions and do not waver in following any of them that might allow a small foothold for temptation that readily slips us into the mire of sin in our lives.

Conclusion

Where do we go from here?

Ultimately, the decision to play or not play boils down to one’s personal conscience and convictions. The difference between fictional fantasy and real life actions must be weighed against those convictions, and then the brethren must discern and decide together how to go forward following Paul’s commands in Romans 14. The most essential piece we must have as Christians is to not destroy the one for whom Christ died (our brothers and sisters) and to not destroy the Body of Christ (by being divisive). It is essential that we all practice integrity and discernment in all of our decisions and that those decisions line up with Jesus and our witness unless we present ourselves as hypocritical and diminish any credible witness of Jesus’s work in our lives that we have. We must be unified as a body and navigate through the tough decisions of how to live life and partner with one another by not hating our brother nor causing them to stumble in sin. In all of these decisions, remember Colossians 3:17: "whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father," and 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

To summarize, here are some rules that might help both people to whom role-playing games are against their convictions, as well as for the group playing to steer clear of the things God calls us to have no part of and to roleplay in a Christlike manner of fruitful fellowship.

First, for those who believe fantasy and role-playing does violate their conviction:

1. Exercise Biblical and spiritual discernment of what content you allow yourself to engage with.

2. Simply do not participate with any media that you have convictional reservations about.

3. Make sure you live a life of integrity and steer clear of all content that might cause you to compromise your convictions or appear as hypocritical in your witness to those around you. (I assure you this is harder in modern Western culture than you might possibly fathom).

4. Ensure you are not casting hate and judgement on your brethren and therefore divide and destroy the Body of Christ (Romans 14).

For those who believe fantasy and role-playing does not violate their convictions:

1. Exercise discernment in all things to discern what is good and what is evil (Heb. 5:14)

2. In your discernment, make sure you do not cause stumbling blocks to trip up your brother or sister as reference in Romans 14.

3. Steer clear of content that is questionable or could invalidate your integrity and witness as a Christian.

4. Establish clear hard rules with your gaming group about what is okay and not okay and hold one another accountable to those rules regarding content.

5. Role-play, create, and fellowship with fidelity and integrity.

6. Dwell on what is good, as Paul writes in Philippians 4:8: "finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything is worthy of praise, dwell on these things."

7. Use your fantasy, storytelling, and gaming to be missional and fruitful for the Kingdom of God by redeeming culture and engaging those often cast out by the church and society.