Online Gaming

The growth of the internet has undoubtedly led many people to focus more of their time on computers. One of these internet time consumers is online games. In fact, according to this article, "Tens of millions of players are active worldwide, with new players joining every month." For a church that operates on the voluntary contributions of time and resources from its members, this can be bad news. The article sites three examples of people who have allowed the gaming world to become more important than the 'real' world. However, taking a step back, its hard for me to agree that this is in general a bad thing. As the article does point out, "They [online games] fill social needs that may be unmet in the real world. For instance, a teenage boy may not feel popular or successful at high school, but in the online world, he gets a fresh start and a new set of friends. His problem-solving skills and intelligence make him socially important in his virtual community." Is this so bad? For the record, I have never played in an online game world. My belief, however, is that we should pursue what makes us happy, and the person that knows best of what makes them happy is him/herself. So, if you enjoy online gaming, I say go for it.