Christian Recruiting Efforts

First the percussive sounds of sniper fire and the thrill of the kill.

Then the gospel of peace.

Such hypocrites!

Across the country, hundreds of ministers and pastors desperate to reach young congregants have drawn concern and criticism through their use of an unusual recruiting tool: the immersive and violent video game Halo.

Those buying it must be 17 years old, given it is rated M for mature audiences. But that has not prevented leaders at churches and youth centers across Protestant denominations, including evangelical churches that have cautioned against violent entertainment, from holding heavily attended Halo nights and stocking their centers with multiple game consoles so dozens of teenagers can flock around big-screen televisions and shoot it out.

The alliance of popular culture and evangelism is challenging churches much as bingo games did in the 1960s. And the question fits into a rich debate about how far churches should go to reach young people.

Far from being defensive, church leaders who support Halo - despite its “thou shalt kill” credo - celebrate it as a modern and sometimes singularly effective tool. It is crucial, they say, to reach the elusive audience of boys and young men, to satisfy their pedophile needs perhaps.

Oh, I don’t know….one would think the line has been crossed when one is encouraging kids to kill (even if only virtually) to bring them to Jesus.