How to Share Your Faith Using Halo 2
There seriously were people who stayed up all night waiting in line to get it, and most stores sold out of it in minutes. Now four months later it is still flying off the shelves and could easily end up one of the most popular games of all time.
Halo 2
With the smashing success of Halo, gamers impatiently awaited the happy day when Halo 2 finally hit the shelves, and from what I have read (and heard) the majority of them have not been too disappointed (except for the folks behind www.halo2sucks.com of course). It has plenty of action (obviously), great graphics, and multiplayer functions that truly set it apart from other games. Pretty much everyone on the planet who has an X-Box has probably played Halo or Halo 2 at some point in time.
Halo 2 is also an extremely violent game with plenty of cussing, so PLEASE understand that as a ministry we are not saying “everyone run out and start playing this game as soon as possible!” The point is that almost everyone already has run out and played it, so we think this is an awesome opportunity to take something hugely popular in our culture and turn it into a way to share the most important message in the universe with your friends who don’t have a relationship with God. So let’s talk about a few ways to do this.
First, let’s consider the storyline. Basically you play the hero by protecting civilization from aliens who are out to wipe out the human race. Don’t you just hate it when a bunch of outer space freaks get together and decide it’s their mission to torch humanity? I know I do! The interesting thing is that God hates it too. In fact, the Halo storyline is remarkably like a major theme of the Bible. God created people in a perfect world in a perfect relationship with Him, which made Satan and his angels very jealous. So since the beginning of time, they have been on a mission to destroy all humans. Here’s what Jesus said:
A thief (Satan) is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. (John 10:10)
Jesus came to this planet to save the planet from a group much worse than the Covenant (the aliens) and from a fate much worse than physical death. Satan’s goal is to make sure people have a miserable and short life that stays as far away from the gospel as possible so he can have company in hell. Jesus died on the Cross and came back from the dead to give us the life God intended us to have. Remember this: for the Christian, this life is the only hell we will ever experience. For the non-Christian, this life is the only heaven they will ever experience. So the next time you are hanging out with friends who know Halo but don’t know God, try bringing up a conversation about the storyline behind planet earth.
A second way to witness using Halo 2 is to bring up the whole topic of what happens when we die. It’s pretty difficult to play Halo 2 and not see something get killed, right? So what a great opportunity to say something like this to your friends: “Hey, have you ever wondered what happens when people die? I mean, in this game you can start over after you “die,” but I don’t think that’s the way real life works. What do you think?” Then after they share their beliefs, ask them if you can share yours. Be sure and mention that of all people on earth, Christians don’t need to be afraid of death because our ultimate destination is in heaven. This might also be a good chance to share that all other religions except Christianity give people a second chance after you die, which is what makes trusting in Christ now so important.
A third way to witness while playing Halo is through the online multi-player option. If you’re blasting aliens with some guy in England and you both have the headsets on, share the gospel with him. You’ll be doing overseas missions work while sitting in your boxers on the sofa. How cool is that?
If you need to brush up on sharing the Gospel, check out the GOSPEL Journey on our website.
Halo 2 is definitely going to be around for a while, but there is no guarantee when it comes to your friends. What we need are people who approach their Christianity with the same passion and concentration as they do with video games. Will you plug in and take action today?
