Elder Chew Chong Kiat

Battle for the Mind

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

The Bible declares that for unbelievers, "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them". (2Cor 4:4, emphasis added). And for believers, we are warned not to be conformed to this world: but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Rom 12:2, emphasis added).
It is clear that the minds of both the old and young are the target of the devil who seeks relentlessly to fill them with anything other than the knowledge of God (2Cor 10:5). Some of the ways he does it is through education, the media (film, songs, graphics, magazines, etc.), religions and even games and toys.

Is the devil successful? Sadly, the answer is a resounding YES! He is overwhelmingly successful. This is evidenced by the many hearts that are hardened against God and His free grace offered to them in Christ Jesus. Their minds are blinded by other philosophies and they choose to reject the knowledge of God. But thanks be to God for the irresistible grace of God to call His elect by causing His word to shine through their sin-darkened hearts. Nevertheless, the dulling and hardening effect of the false philosophies of the world cannot be understated, and as Christians we need to beware of what fills our minds lest the Word of God should become unfruitful in our lives. We are exhorted to cast down everything - the imaginations and the high things that exalt themselves against what God has revealed in His Word. We are to obey God according to His perfect Word by aligning every contradicting idea we have in our mind to the Word of God. "God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar." (Rom 3:4a) Anything that the world says or we believe in that contradicts what the Bible says is false and is to be rejected. This is the duty of every child of God - to obey God and to keep His commandments.

Today, the devil seeks to win our minds. Through studies and training, many minds have been won to the vain philosophies of godless minds and many have been taken in by the teachings of "big names". "They must be right!" says the simpleton, although their carnal philosophies clearly contradict the Bible. Beware young people! "Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where [is] the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." (Jer 6:16). Let no one rob you of the good way!

More subtly, the devil uses games. One notable example is the latest global craze called "Pokémon Go." It has taken the world by storm. A news report says that there are some 20 million players daily. Most countries promote it and others ban it. Hundreds of reports are available online. As Christians, we are duty bound to apply the search light of the Word of God to evaluate all that come out of the world to see if they are acceptable to our service and witness for Christ. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them." (Isa 8:20) Christians must not allow anything they do daily to turn them to the right or the left and away from the narrow path that they walk on.

I know that to critique this game is a very sensitive matter that will touch a raw nerve and many readers who have just started playing this game may be sceptical about what I am about to say. So are the matters on clubbing, drinking and contemporary Christian music. CPBPC has been labelled a strict church with many rules. I wonder why? God forbid that we should be pharisaical and guilty in limiting the glorious liberty that we have in Christ Jesus, being "subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men" (Col 2:20-22).

The liberty of our conscience must be guided only by the authority of the Scriptures and not the commandments of the leaders of the church, otherwise it is violated. All of us need rules to guide our lives. There are traffic rules for all on the road from the pedestrians to the drivers of cars and riders on bicycles and motorcycles. Dear readers, do you obey a rule for your life because the leaders say so? Or do you do so because you are enlightened by the teaching of the leaders on what the Word of God says and have carefully checked them like the faithful Bereans (Acts 17:11) before you obey? This makes a world of difference! Your faith must be Bible based and not man or church based. Otherwise, you have sinned against God and the liberty that you have in Christ Jesus is vitiated. I am afraid when I hear people say that they do or not do certain things because the church says so. On the contrary, I rejoice when they can give a reason from the Bible for their action.

So I appeal to all to search the Scriptures for all areas of their lives, be it the music they listen to, the movie they watch and even the games they play. If Christ is to be Lord at all, He must be Lord of all. Can He be anything less?

In particular, let's examine the games you play online or offline. Does it pass the following test?

a) Is it enslaving? i.e. does it make you addicted? "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." (1 Cor 6:12) Electronic games are very addictive. They are designed to be addictive. The more addictive they are the more money is made. Honestly ask yourself, are you addicted to them? If you can’t stop playing even though you should be sleeping or studying or doing your homework or working, then you are addicted. If at every available moment, you feel the compulsion to check or play, you have come under the power of it.

b) Is it edifying? i.e. does it build up? (1 Cor 6:12). Is it profitable for you? Does it feed your greed, anger or violent streak? Does it make you put your guard down as a soldier of Christ against spiritual wickedness in high places, the rulers of the darkness of this world (Eph 6:11-12) because you are no longer seeing them as a threat to you? The world is not a playground for Christians. We are in a spiritual warfare. We are exhorted to "be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8). Has the game dulled your soberness and vigilance and you have already been devoured because your testimony is already destroyed?

c) Is it lawful? i.e. does Scripture particularly say anything against it? It is a fact that many games are associated with occult practices. Pokémon Go is just one of many such games. "Pokemon" stands for "Pocket Monster." Why would a child of God want to have a Pocket Monster in his phone and blindly follow the call of this Pocket Monster to "catch it if you can?" Children of God, I beseech you to have nothing to do with the occult whether in the form of books or movies or a game! God’s Word is clear that Christians are not to have anything to do with them. (Ex 22:18; Lev 20:6; Deut 18:10-12, 1Tim 4:1) Pokémon Go takes you one step further than the card game or cartoon version, to virtual reality through "immersive play" or "augmented reality". The player now meddles with electronic spirits through the technology in the handphone. He hunts and collects Pokémon to power them up or evolve them using stardust and candies which a player is to collect. The player is motivated to locate and catch more Pokémons in order to do so. This avails the "catcher" the bragging rights to others that "he has gotten them all!" The motto of the game is "Gota catch ‘em all". But what does Scripture command? "Resist the devil" (Ja 4:7). Do not give place to the devil (Eph 4:27). Stand against them with the whole armor of God (Eph 6:11-12). The whole philosophy of the game is diametrically opposed to what is lawful in the Scriptures! Are the other electronic games you play lawful? Are they things that "are true, ...honest, …just, …pure, …lovely, …of good report" (Phi 4:8)?

d) Is it wise to spend so much of your precious time, which we are commanded to redeem (and not to kill) because we are children of light and we have a mission on earth from Christ our Lord and we must labour quickly for soon the night comes and we cannot serve Him anymore, on playing games? (Eph 5:16, 5:8, John 9:4). How much time do you spend on the games in comparison to the reading of your Bible and in fellowship with the saints and similar profitable spiritual activities? Some games are not free and players have to pay. Is that a wise use of resources?

e) Does it stumble? "[It is] good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [any thing] whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." (Rom 14:21, emphasis added). When one engages in such games, he usually engages his friends. If by your involvement you encourage others to be involved and become addicted and lose their testimony, you will not be guiltless.

Honestly answer these questions, and if you are guilty in any one of them, it is time to uninstall your game for Jesus' sake.

Conclusion
Let us ask ourselves whether our minds are conformed to the world or whether our minds are subject to God’s Word. If it is the former, then we are to cast down as commanded by Christ our Lord and Saviour, ". . . imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor 10:5). Obedience to God’s Word as written in the Bible is the hallmark of the salvation of the children of God. We demonstrate our love for Him by obeying Him. If any area in our lives goes against the Word of God, may our love for God exceed the desire for any high thing that exalts itself against Christ and His Word so that we will gladly cast them all away, i.e. throw them aside for the sake of our Lord and our God. Amen.