Master Chief is a badass, but he’s no messiah

Posted by Jesus on October 5, 2007

Frequent worshiper Julie Casper pointed me toward an article this morning about Halo 3, which I have been playing virtually non-stop since last week. In the article, Jane Dratz (of Dare 2 Share Ministries) explains how to use Halo 3 as a vehicle to indoctrinate fellow gamers. Not even I had considered this, but now that I’ve seen it I am seriously considering making her recommendations mandatory for Christian gamers.

From the article:

Halo is all about saving the galaxy from an invading force of aliens. Heroes and villains are locked in an intense battle. In fact, the Master Chief John 117 (the main good-guy hero of the Halo series) has been described as the man who “gave the world faith, gave humanity a future, and made mankind believe again.”

Does that have echoes of someone else you know? Someone who is not a fictional character, but a real-world Savior who has given humanity faith and a future? The Bible tells us that real-world Someone is Jesus…

There are indeed a number of similarities between Master Chief and myself. We are both heroes of epic proportions, we are both in the business of saving the world, and we both have super cool combat suits. What, you don’t expect me to go into battle against Satan in nothing but a loincloth, do you?

This is the third and final Halo installment; I rose from the dead after the third day. Halo 3 is taking in more money than the previous two iterations; my church is reaping record profits today. Lots of people took time off work to play Halo 3 on the day it came out; every year most of you take days off to play with me. Master Chief battles aliens; I take on demons. He is the lead in a game called Halo, I actually wear a halo. The similarities are indeed endless.

Despite these and other obvious matchings, it is of paramount importance to remember that while Master Chief is a video game character, I was and am a real savior who really did walk the walk. Of course I didn’t have a Warthog. Or grenades. Or a dropship. But that’s all about to change, because as we all know there is a Second Coming scheduled for the near future, and it promises to be ultra-modern. I’ll be inserting with a group of top-notch Angel Commandos when the Rapture begins. We’ll fight our way through the unsaved hordes to secure safe passage for the handful of good Christians, after which the real war will begin. We’ve got some truly sick military technology prepared for the fight – stuff that easily rivals Master Chief’s limited arsenal.

More from the article:

What role are you being called to play in the battle for your friends’ souls? Are you actively engaged in efforts to ‘rescue them’ from the clutches of the evil one? If not, step up and use the buzz surrounding Halo 3 to introduce some God-talk into your conversations. Here are some suggestions that might help you bring God up:

• Ask your friends if they believe there is a real cosmic battle being waged between good and evil. Ask them how they explain the reality of evil in the world. How did it get here? Share what you believe about this battle. For help explaining this, check out the GOSPEL Journey.
• There’s lots of death and destruction in the realm of Halo. Use this as an opportunity to ask your friends about what they think happens when we die. After you hear their opinion, ask them if you can share what you believe based on what the Bible has to say on this topic.
• Everyone loves heroes who rescue others from destruction. Ask your friends who their real-life heroes are. Ask them if they’ve ever thought of Jesus as heroic. Perhaps you’ll be surprised at what they say. Explain why you think Jesus is heroic.

I really couldn’t put it any better myself. As wonderful and heroic as Master Chief is, you actually have a more important role to play in life than he does. He might provide some hours and weeks of entertainment, but you have the opportunity to provide eternal life to your gaming friends. You have every right, and indeed a responsibility, to talk as much as you can about me and Dad while you’re playing Halo 3. People might tell you they don’t care, but that’s just the voice of Satan coming through. You have to stick with it. Cut through the static, proclaim loudly that Satan has no permission to be on your game console, and strike him from the heart of your friends with scripture. Pound away at them, fellow gamers, because your friends will eventually find themselves free from the Devil’s shackles. When that happens you will truly be able to deliver the Word of God to their waiting souls.

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