Pastoral Letter 11 Jul 2021

My dear readers,


From Gaming to Gambling

The CNA (20 Jun 2021) article that caught my eye was “‘I spent $20,000 of my parents’money on mystery boxes’: When lines between gaming and gambling are blurred.” Have any of God’s children been caught in this same web? The appearance of harmless gaming snared many into the den of gambling like the proverbial cooking of a frog starting with comfortable room temperature water and gradually ending with boiling hot water. The god of this world has “cooked” many believers by his deceptive snare. To make it even more attractive, he gives it the appearance of acceptability but with greater potency to deceive. He enables many gamers to make a living through mastering these games and winning loads of money in international competitions. It is now called Esport. In the Esport of 2019 Fortnite World Cup Finals, the solo and duo champion prize money was US$3 million each.

Even if it does not lead to gambling, the fact that these games are designed to be very addictive has caused many of God's children to sleep and pray less which is great cause for concern. This cannot be good for our spiritual well-being and walk in Christ. What ought to be the believer’s approach to these games? 

There was a time when children mostly played outdoors. They were exciting games that brought sweat and victory. This was also how friends were made. They met face to face. Nowadays, most games are played in air-conditioned comfort at odd hours. Victories are in the virtual realm. Friends are made but faces could easily be falsified. Games are competed strenuously with faceless strangers in different time zones, hence the odd hours. Within this virtual world of gaming lie the many faces of the deadly pit of addiction to gaming and gambling. Lives are destroyed. The holy witness of believers is decimated.

A quote from CNA (20 Jun 2021): “He estimates he must have opened over 250 crates, each time finding items inside that were worth around US$3 to US$5 — meagre by gamers’ standards. ‘I kept thinking the next one would be ‘the one’, since I did not get anything (valuable) in the previous 50 crates, 100 crates, 150 crates,’ he said. But it never happened. Then he chanced upon a third-party website — one that let him bet his in-game items on games like roulette, with a chance to “double or triple” the items’ value. ‘I started off with (putting in) a S$5 item, then after about 30 minutes it became S$200. . . I kept winning, winning, winning.’ . . . What made it easier to throw caution to the wind was that these games didn’t involve actual cash, “just pixels on the screen”. GONE IN 30 SECONDS . . . But then came the time he lost real-world money. He had moved on to playing Dota 2 by then, and had just bought a S$200 “skin” (the term for a cosmetic item like a character’s costume) from a friend. ‘The first thing I thought of was the third-party website,’ he said. ‘All I remembered was how easy it was to double whatever I put in.’”

This gamer lost his father’s money. His gaming transited from gaming to gambling. The transition was so subtle that by the time he realized it, he had lost a large sum of money. Though it was painful, money could be earned back by hard work. Perhaps the price paid to learn from this painful experience might even be worth it. But when it comes to lives and time lost, there is no “top-up”. There is no earning or buying back the precious lost time and lives.

Some digital games are like the games we used to play outdoors or are designed to improve our memories like word or board games. They are convenient in that we do not need to carry a book on word puzzle that cost money compared to downloading a digital one that is free of charge. They might appear harmless and the addiction might not be as powerful as other games but the danger is still present. 1 Corinthians 6:12: “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.”

There are other games that are violent that involve killing or shooting which we need to be wary of. They are designed to be extremely addictive. They may not transit from gaming to gambling but they are leeches of time. They compete for our priorities too. These games can also numb our souls to violence in real life because the line between reality and virtual reality is blurred. This is because after many hours of playing these games, the psyche of the gamer is slowly altered without him being consciously aware of it. When he sees real violence or even does violence, he might think that there is a reset button. This may sound far-fetched but the taking of lives with impunity by angry students in some schools has demonstrated the violence in their heart. When the sinful nature is fed with many hours of virtual reality violence, it is not surprising that it has a devastating impact on the mind and overall well-being. All it needs is something traumatic to trigger it, like a public humiliation or sabotage or a grievous hurt. The loss of control will result in harming the ones who caused the hurt.

In Singapore, the evidence of this dangerous impact is seen in children’s rude behaviour toward their parents, lack of focus in their studies due to lack of sleep and violent memories, resulting in mood swings, vices and rebellious behaviour. Even for believers their walk with God becomes cold and superficial. They go through the motion where the reality of an actual human relationship is shunned and virtual reality has metamorphosized into their new reality. Their life is wasted. They live in the virtual world of make-belief with glazed eyes. They have no desire to interact with real people and deal with real issues.

The devil has laid all types of snares in all the systems of this evil world to ruin the believer’s holy witness for Christ. He does so by using both real and virtual worlds. The more innocent his snares look, the more deadly they are. They are all designed to addict. But God is faithful, for He will not allow us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear. Jesus Christ saved us and called us to witness for Him in the 21st century because He knew our faith is strong enough.

We need to repent of any sinful behaviour. Pray for discernment. Time wasted is a high price already paid. Do not pay any more of your time and life to serve this golden calf gaming world designed by the god of this world and his minions to lure and snare our heart and soul. Cast aside this bondage to gaming. Christ will give us the strength, if we are willing. May our heartfelt confession on the day of our salvation be brought to remembrance and convict our heart. Let us stop our waywardness. Let us return to our Lord who loved us and died for us. Romans 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” 



Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,

Rev Dr Quek Suan Yew
Advisory Pastor


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