On Being a Christian and a Historical Wargamer

Many years ago as a preteen I had a wargame set up on a table when my older brother, Chris, and his friend, Tim, came by. Tim looked at my game and was interested. He said to Chris "Hey, this looks cool. Lets play!" I was quite happy to hear him say this and was hoping I could get a game going. However, Chris just said to him. "No, I don't take pleasure in human suffering."

I had a lot of guilt feelings over this comment. I don't take pleasure in human suffering either. That's not why I play. Furthermore, I'm a Christian. I'm not what you call a "cultural Christian" who is a person that follows certain Christian customs out of tradition. No, I believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God who came to earth to sacrifice His life to pay for my sins as many others do, too. I also believe that He is going to return someday (likely very soon by the looks of the world). 

So, why the interest in wargaming? Why does it appeal so much to me? How can I enjoy this type of activity that reflects so much on violence and mayhem of the past?

I'm going to try to address these questions in this post.

• Wargaming, like most games, is social and exciting. It is fun to have a friendly opponent and play a challenging game with him or her. It builds relationship and friendship. I had good friends in my childhood that shared my interest and played these games me as well. We loved the strategy and pageantry of the battles we fought.
• I know of no one in the hobby enjoys human suffering in real life. I don't like to see other people in pain in life. I have empathy for people in places that are going through difficult times and I support charities or donate my time to help alleviate that in the world. I work in an environment where I come upon human pain quite often and I'm blessed that my position allows me to do something to ease it for others.
• Wargames are dramatic. Do you like a good action adventure story, movie, or book? Do you enjoy "human suffering" when you engage in these activities? I now find that accusation of my brother to be hypocritical (but I still love you, Chris)
• Wargames are masculine. Not to say that ladies can't enjoy them, too. However, I do find that it appeals to masculine traits I was taught to strive for in myself: courage, bravery, self-sacrifice, loyalty, standing up for what one holds true, and that there are things worth giving up one's life for above oneself.
• Wargames teach history and geography. I learn much about the past and how the world today has come to be as it is by learning about the conflicts of the past. I learn of places and locations I would otherwise never know anything about.
• Wargames help me see the affects of sin beyond just a personal level. I can see that a spirit of evil can possess beyond an individual but entire groups of people as well. I once heard "The absence of war does not mean peace". This is so true and sadly, It is evident to me that sometimes a war has to be fought to stop an evil (slavery, genocide, etc.). Often I find it was all the acquiescence and not speaking out that could have stopped it earlier before a war even had to be fought.
• Wargaming helps me see God's hand in history and how mankind is approaching a time when Christ will come again. How so you may ask? Let me give you a few scenarios from history:
• We know from scripture that the Lord used Israel to stop the Canaanites that practiced child sacrifice and later the Assyrian's to judge Israel for turning from Him. 
• I know that if the Spaniards didn't conquer the Aztecs and Incas then a whole culture of death would have continued in the Americas. Seriously, these cultures would sacrifice people wholesale. The other tribes were often just as violent. America wasn't a paradise of the innocents.
• I know that if it weren't for the Grand Alliance of Britain, Holland and Austria that Louis the XIV would have created an empire over Western Europe that would have been under an absolute monarch. 
• I know that if the Union army did not invade the Southern Confederacy that slavery would have continued on the continent. 
• I know that if the Allies did not stop the Axis powers in World War II a great genocide of millions would have taken place as well as the world going into a very dark age.
• The British Empire did to a lot of wicked things to their colonials. However, they also brought them some good institutions and put to stop a lot of evil practices as well.
• These sub-bullets that I just mentioned I'm pretty sure will bring a lot of contention, argument and debate. You may completely and vehemently disagree with my position or conclusions. Yet I still stand by it. Note I don't believe in cultural supremacy, I believe God takes sinners to stop worse sinners so to speak. The Spaniards did a lot of awful things themselves in creating their colonies. The monarchs of the Grand Alliance were probably jealous that they were not as powerful as Louis the XIV and if in his shoes would try to do the same as he had attempted to do. WWII may well have been prevented if the Western powers stood up to Hitler earlier. History is full of woulda, coulda, shouldas. Sometimes, and it is probably true, that the "good guys don't always win and perhaps many times the bad guys do". My take away is God is in control and that he may use people and nations to serve His purposes.

Can wargaming be sinful? Of course and I'm sure I'm guilty of it. Here are the ways it can be sinful but not because one enjoys human suffering.

• Spending too much time on it. 
• Spending too much money on it. 
• Solitaire Play: This one is contentious, too. I believe games are made to be enjoyed with other people. That was my first point above. Playing by oneself is rather self-serving. May not always be wrong and who am I to judge. That's just how I see it. I'm plenty guilty of this myself.
• One thing I keep in my mind: I never want to be known as the guy who wasted his life collecting a bunch of ...(toy soldiers, dolls, seashells, baseball cards, etc). My pastor gave us a book about this topic and it left an impression. Do I enjoy and like my hobby. Yes. However, there are more important things in life and in my love for God to do. I hope that I will be known more for doing those activities than what I do to just keep busy on an evening after work.

I hope you enjoy this post. I plan in the future to write a prayer for before I play a game.