The Guitar Hero Effect

Is your faith a victim of the Guitar Hero Effect?

Guitar Hero is one of the hottest video games to hit stores in a long time. Kids want it, teens want it and even adults want it. It’s THE party game that’s taken the country by storm.

What is it? It’s a music video game that makes you feel like you’re on stage at a rock concert.

Playing the game with the guitar-shaped controller simulates playing an actual guitar. Players watch a color-coded moving music track on their TV. Then they use five colored “fret buttons” and a “strum bar” instead of frets and strings to make music.

Most players are content to just play the game. Some have been inspired to learn to play a real guitar. But, for the majority, that requires more discipline than they want to practice.

For many people, playing Guitar Hero is just like the way they practice their faith.

Now hold on just a minute! How does a playing a video game compare to being a Christian?

The answer is in the word “simulate.” Guitar Hero isn’t really the same as playing a guitar. It imitates the motions and creates the impression one is really playing. But it’s all a fake. A show.

And that’s the way many people approach Christianity.

Through their family and friends they are impressed with the need to “be a Christian.” So they check it out. They discover that Christians meet on Sunday and pray to an unseen God. They also give money to help missionaries build orphanages, drill wells and build hospitals.

So people figure, “I can do that!” and join up. And they become like my friend, Doug, who told me that for a long time he was “almost a Christian.”

For many years Doug played the Christian “game.” He got quite good at it. He sang in the choir, attended church regularly, gave money and even prayed. But he was just “going through the motions.” There was no passion, no reality in his heart. It was all a show and he knew it.

One day while I talked with Doug, it was as if the lights came on for him. He understood that God loved him. That Jesus died on the cross for his sin. That if he would trust and follow Jesus Christ, his sin would be forgiven and he would become part of God’s family.

When Doug bowed his head, humbled his heart and prayed, he became a new man.

No longer did he pray just to be heard by others. He prayed to talk to his Father in Heaven. And when he read his Bible, it wasn’t to get “points” with God in the Christian “game.” It was to hear God speak to him.

Doug decided he no longer wanted to simulate being a Christian. He wanted the real thing.

What about you? Has your “faith” been more like playing a game of Guitar Hero? You think, “I look pretty good. I’ve gotten to be an expert at playing this game. I’m good enough.”

That’s the Guitar Hero Effect. But playing a Christian game is not the same as the real thing.

For you to become a true Christian takes a leap of faith and a commitment to something greater than serving yourself. It’s realizing you’re not good enough for a holy God. It’s turning from your sinful attitudes, trusting in Jesus Christ to save you and serving him with your life.

And like my friend, Doug, you will never regret it.

If you’re interested in “being” a Christian and not just “doing Christianity” then faith in Jesus Christ is the place to begin. The Bible says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.”

Next, find a good Bible-teaching, Christ-serving church and start attending. You will find answers to the questions of life, a purpose in living for God and a joy that you can only imagine.

Listen to the Bible; it’s great for your soul!