Every time I sat down in a classroom in the pursuit of learning how to do the work of ministry, there was a recurring theme the teacher would bring up. It was impossible to avoid. Regardless of context, no matter who was teaching – at some point in the semester we were given some version of the same speech.
“If you can do anything else [other than ministry] and be happy with your life, do that instead. If you are not confident that God has called you to this and empowering you to do the work, it WILL break you.”
When people who have dedicated decades of their lives to service tell you it is not to be entered lightly – it is a fool who refuses to listen. I decided to take that question with me. So when we started up with InnRoads, I asked myself again. The answer was a resounding no, but a follow-up question stirred up in that reflection. It gently asked, “Are you ready to really work on this? Because it’s going to be a lot harder than you think.”
What gaming ministry isn’t …
The show Big Bang Theory is a polarizing force in the geek world. However, I have to bring it up here for one particular episode. One day, when the guys are perusing the selection at their favorite comic book shop, they ponder openly about how great it would be to buy the comic book shop. They talk about how their days would involve hanging out in comfy chairs, reading comic books, and hanging out with the regulars. They keep chasing the idyllic dream despite the fact that Stewart – the character that actually owns the store – has made it clear that business was awful and the store was making him miserable.
I won’t lie – gaming ministry involves a lot of fun. You get to bring people together and facilitate memorable experiences on a regular basis. However, that is only part of it. As we so often say on this site, the games we play and the table we gather around are just launchpads. Ministry here is no different than anywhere else. It requires sacrifice and a willingness to roll up your sleeves and get dirty in the lives of other people.
What gaming ministry is…
I don’t want to spend time in this going through specific types of gaming ministry. I’ll be putting up other pieces about how to approach these specific angles of ministry at a later date. For now, there are simply too many different variables to try and lump them together in the same pass. What sort of games will you play? What is the purpose of your event(s)? How big should your group be? These are just some of the things that will affect the way you conduct your ministry. There are, however, a few overarching concepts here that apply regardless of these nuances.
Be intentional…
Before you ever open a game box, you need to know what you are trying to accomplish. While flexibility is a helpful trait, a basic framework will help guide everyone involved towards the group goals. In a way, I view this the same way I approach game mastering a role playing game. I want to have a world that is fully developed, filled with opportunities and challenges that the players can interact with and grow through. Players will certainly see things the game master never thought of, and come up with alternate solutions to the challenges posed – but a good game master plans ways to change with them to move forward.
Plan long-term…
You need to have a plan for how you want to see a person grow and develop through the work you’re doing. Having a great game night can lead to the person being a core member of your gaming group. Being a core member of the group leads to running the group on their own, which can lead to them even creating their own groups and connecting with more people. You need to walk with the person throughout each of these stages of growth. Even if they never lead a group themselves, you need to plan for ways you can connect and challenge people in every step of the way.
Play for them…
I own games I don’t like to play. Currently, my favorite game in my collection usually only sees the table once or twice a year. I bring these points up because you need to know this in order to do this sort of ministry. Individual goals may vary, but there is one that should be universal. The purpose of this sort of ministry is to build relationships where the love of God and the power of the gospel can be demonstrated. If you find yourself longing for an eight plus hour epic of Twilight Imperium III, and the people who show up to play are into Munchkin and Apples to Apples – then you need to be ready to keep your space adventure in the box. When the room is laughing about how someone played “bonbons” for the word distinguished – you can’t be in the corner pouting about how that game isn’t good.
Leave the Table…
Maybe you’re into opening your home to have people come by for dinner and a board game. Perhaps you carve out a portion of your Saturday to bring the heavy strategy games to play. You may even get your pencils and paper out to build epic worlds together. In any of these cases – you need to have a plan for how to connect when the games aren’t around. The same intentionality you need to bring to planning your groups and events needs to be directed at continuing that growth beyond it. This, in my opinion, is the most important part of doing the ministry. To reach people, you need to be willing to go that next level. Just like a pastor’s job is not relegated to what happens in the walls of their church, you don’t stop the work when everyone leaves for the week.
The 2am phone call…
I’ll close with a little story. I remember the first day I knew what ministry really looked like. I was in college at the time, but I was home with my parents. I’d spend five days in Pennsylvania at school and then commute home to New Jersey for the weekend to work at the church. It was two in the morning. After spending all day in class, an hour and a half slog through traffic, and setting up/running a youth group meeting, I was finally able to get some sleep. That is – until the phone rang. One of the kids needed to talk through some stuff he was going through, and it just couldn’t wait. I was on the phone for another two hours talking him through his circumstances. That’s what you’re signing up for. Ministry is a tremendous blessing, and reaching people through something you love is doubly so. But it also takes everything you have to give it, sometimes even more. It involves being there for people when it means getting dirty. When it’s inconvenient. Even when it hurts.
Games are fun, but that’s not where it stops. Ask yourself … could you do anything else with your life and be happy?