I am an unabashed Halo fan. I appreciate strategy and tactics simulations and defend them in the same way I defend my love of boxing – which is to say it reaches some teststerone-driven part of my psyche. There is something about people mutually agreeing upon a contest to test each other’s limits that drives us to compete. I don’t know why it’s there. I don’t believe it is a result of the fall. I think we are wired to compete as a way of training us to survive a harsh fallen world. Unfortunately it is easy to get carried away and the desire to hurt comes in which is not part of healthy competition – pain can be a byproduct of competition (and other things like relationships…) – it is not the goal.
There are wargames and there is war; there is a difference. I am currently reading William Gibbons’ The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire right now and he mentions one Roman historian’s observation that the only difference between the Roman army’s wargames and actual warfare was blood. One is a preparation the other is the real deal. A certain maturity is required however so that the difference between the two is apparent and the lines between the game and the reality do not get blurred.
In Ephesians 6:11-17 Paul instructs us to:
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
As followers of Christ there is a spiritual responsibility to constantly be in training for the spiritual battle. Paul’s warning that "our struggle is not against flesh and blood…" was not meant to suggest that spiritual warfare is somehow gentler and less aggressive than earthly warefare but rather the opposite – that spiritual warfare is where the real danger is. The stakes are eternal and we had better heed God’s command and put on the armor and weaponary and learn how to use them effectively against the "powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
All that to say the new trailer for Halo 3 is available at:
Harnessing Chaos 