Ok, perhaps the above verse is a little ironic considering that my last post was about Sgt. Slaughter and G.I. Joe, but bear with me. That verse has resonated with me for some time now because I feel that our culture encourages men to remain in adolescence and to shirk responsibility. One of the first things I did on my journey to peculiarity was to give up playing video games. You're probably thinking "big deal, nerd" but for me it was a big deal(and don't call me a nerd, dork). To help put it into perspective it's probably comparable to women giving up watching the Bachelor or rednecks ceasing to watch Nascar.
Playing video games had become my default response for spending free time, dealing with stress and/or spending time with friends. In my more honest moments though, I realized that I was neglecting meaningful things that I claimed I didn't have time for, I was no less stressed and I wasn't spending meaningful time with those friends that I was playing games with.
It's so easy to retreat into this fantasy land where you're the hero and you're capable of amazing feats. What I failed to see for so long was that I wasn't the hero in my own story. I was so busy earning "achievements" in these games that I wasn't achieving, or even aspiring to achieve, anything of significance in my own life. As always, I feel the need to warn against legalism. In no way am I saying that video games are wrong and that you need to jettison them or whatever your vice may be because they are not explicitly Christian. I just know that God is calling me to set aside this particular thing for this particular season because he is wanting to do something more in and through me.
I began wondering, "Have I confined the amazing and miraculous only to movies or video games?" In 2 Timothy 3:5, Paul talks about the last days and how people will have "a form of godliness but [deny] its power." More importantly, have I been living such a mundane and safe life that I have no need for God to show up. When you look at the great people in scripture, they were great because they took steps of faith where they needed God to show up or they were dead. I want to begin taking risks so that I will increasingly recognize my need for God.
