Dear sir,<\/p>\n
I found\u00a0your article<\/a> on videos, TV, etc. a most interesting, excellent work. I am troubled by my own shortcomings in all these areas. My questions are: Do most video games and movies not draw on the same need of excitement or exhilaration that people get from sports, hunting, or chess? In this regard, is the intensity of the sport, the aggression, and tactics, not mirrored in many video games and TV shows? If so, what does the Holy Bible say about any form of competition, in sport, intellect, or strategy games? Is our desire based on the total depravity of man, or as a result of bad habits? How do we actually live this life, which seems so far from what our great Lord Jesus Christ intended?<\/p>\n Thank you for your brilliant forum.<\/p>\n\t If two things happen to share a common characteristic, that doesn’t make both things wrong. It would only do so if it is the character itself that is wrong.<\/p>\n Based on what verse would you conclude that competitiveness is always wrong?<\/p>\n “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified<\/em>” (I Corinthians 9:24-27).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Paul drew an analogy with the competitiveness of sports to make a point about the amount of effort a Christian is to place in serving God. It isn’t that we are competing with each other, but the emphasis is on the amount of effort. Yet, in making the comparison, there is no indication that all competitiveness is wrong. There are places where competitiveness doesn’t belong, but that doesn’t lead to the conclusion that all competitiveness is wrong.<\/p>\n The concept of man’s total depravity is not one taught by God. See Total Depravity or Total Inability<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Total Hereditary Depravity and Ezekiel 18:20<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Dear sir, I found\u00a0your article on videos, TV, etc. a most interesting, excellent work. I am troubled by my own shortcomings in all these areas. My questions are: Do most video games and movies not draw on the same need of excitement or exhilaration that people get from sports, hunting, or chess? In this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1211,759,1124],"class_list":["post-39447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-competition","tag-entertainment","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":69845,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-watch-or-play-sports\/","url_meta":{"origin":39447,"position":0},"title":"Is it wrong to watch or play sports?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello! I've read several of your articles on sports but needed more information. I love college sports and the friendly competition that's behind them. Is there any biblical principle that prohibits playing or watching sports? Answer: The Bible mentions several sports and uses sports to illustrate a few concepts.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27583,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-participation-in-a-fishing-tournament-gambling\/","url_meta":{"origin":39447,"position":1},"title":"Is participation in a fishing tournament gambling?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is participation in a fishing tournament gambling? Answer: Gambling is attempting to get something for nothing without rendering service or exchange of goods.\u00a0 Gambling is basically driven by covetousness, laziness, and recklessness. A gambler, desiring the possessions of another offers a risk that involves losing your possession on the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24351,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-violent-sports-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":39447,"position":2},"title":"Are violent sports sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I had always wondered if combat sports like boxing and MMA sinful? I know that MMA looks brutal on TV, but in reality, it is not as raw as it seems. No one in the UFC has gotten a bad injury that could of led to death. So is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32767,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-simply-loved-this-message-of-video-games-and-entertainment-leading-to-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":39447,"position":3},"title":"I simply loved this message of video games and entertainment leading to sins","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I simply loved\u00a0this message of video games and entertainment\u00a0leading to sins and the cause of sins. Simply superb. I recently gave my life over to Christ and wasn't sure if video games were wrong, even though I was being convicted in my spirit that it was. Also because I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13881,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-you-handle-an-overactive-child-without-drugs\/","url_meta":{"origin":39447,"position":4},"title":"How do you handle an overactive child without drugs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a tired mother with a very overactive 6-year-old, and though I do not want to rely on drugs to calm him, I'm forced to consider it, if this is indeed a problem that might be out of his hands and ours.\u00a0 It is a situation which I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Childhood"","block_context":{"text":"Childhood","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/childhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25388,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/will-parents-be-held-accountable-for-the-video-games-their-children-play\/","url_meta":{"origin":39447,"position":5},"title":"Will parents be held accountable for the video games their children play?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Will parents be held accountable for the video games their children play? What if one is a step-parent? Answer: Whether a child genetically comes from you or not, the fact that you have taken on the role of a parent means you are responsible for the raising of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39447\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n