Lessons from Starcraft

If there’s something other than girls that teenage guys can’t say no to, it’s playing Starcraft.  Some of my youth kids recently started getting into this Starcraft funk (or maybe they’ve been playing this whole time?).  I like to stay connected with my boys, and also use them as an excuse to play video games (it’s only fair… how many times have you guys used my name to go and “hang out”???).  But as we’ve been playing, I’ve found that there’s a lot of strategy to the game (DUH!!!) that I’m not so good at.

There’s this one strategy that I would like to call “bum rushing”, where you basically build as fast as you can and get enough units to cross into enemy territory and kill off all their supply units.  Basically, you defeat your enemy by eliminating their resource supply–kind of like what the Russians did against Napoleon (draw him in, cut him off from his supply depots).

One time, while playing, I tried to click on some other items on the map, like trees and rocks, but the only thing you could mine were minerals and gas.  I also heard if you click on animals long enough in the map that they’ll blow up.  I wasted so much time I fell behind and some computer trampled all over me.

It isn’t anything profound, but if you don’t have your basics down (Loving God, loving each other as you love yourself) whatever we do seems to be, pretty much, a waste of time.

In this game you have to also be good at multi-tasking.  I’ve seen some of these guys play, and the screen is constantly in motion, their fingers in a state of disarray, but an ordered and well-calculated chaos.  I don’t know if they are aware of all the details or what’s going on, but in the end each move pretty much helps the end result.

Pastor James (the other pastor I work with) was writing an email to a student who had some questions that some friends had raised with him, one being the all-too-familiar inquiry of why God would allow bad things to happen to good people?  Or, if you could ask the question the other way around, why do good things happen to bad people?

A lot of people are turned off by God precisely because of this matter, because if God is in control, why are things going awry?  But what if the chaos was part of His order?  You or I may not see the purpose to it, but what if it’s all for the end result?  What’s the end result…?  I think that’s what people are really turned off about.  Who really wants to live for God?  For someone who does honor and love God, and who tries to live for Him, shouldn’t this question trouble me more so than anyone else?

It’s not that the injustice in the world should be ignored, but to know that God has empowered each one of us to be part of the solution and not the problem.  If people are starving, stop complaining and take action.  If people are hurting, stop hurting people and help those who might need a shoulder to cry on.  If it’s a human problem, it must be a human problem.  The Church has not responded very well to human crisis, that’s given.

Lastly, why is Starcraft so popular, and why do people still play it after all this time?  I think this game came out when I was in high school… over 10 years ago???  I think it’s because you’re always playing with friends or people who share the same love for the game that you do.  Love might be too strong of a word, let’s just say obsession???

You always need people around you.  I think I’ve told myself that I could always manage on my own, I can take care of myself, I don’t need the help of others.  There is such a wealth of knowledge and experience out there, and all you need to do is to tap into and connect with another human being to access it.  But more than what you can get, it feels nice to be a part of a whole.

Now my brain is fried.  An hour or two of Starcraft is enough to kill a few brain cells.

I also realize, don’t waste time on things you suck at.  Starcraft is one of those things.