On Wednesday Night, August 10^th, we will try to answer the question: Should Christians play Pokémon Go?  This question has been asked several times since the flagpole at Northlake Baptist Church has become a “PokeStop.” Pokemon Go did not ask for permission from the church to make it a Pokestop – they just did it. Now we have lots of people in our parking lot receiving Pokemon resources. Maybe some will actually come in the church and receive a message or two from God’s Word.

Pokemon, a game involving “pocket monsters”, originated in Japan and was introduced to the USA in the late 1990’s. Pokemon cartoon characters were marketed to children in the form of movies, trading cards, and video games. While the games were a huge success in the general population, there was “push back” from the Christian community. Articles were written warning Christian parents to beware of undertones of magic, fantasy, evolution, and occult practices in the games. There was also concern that allowing children to play with Pokemon could be a gateway to more dangerous games like “Magic, the Gathering” and “Dungeons and Dragons.”  1998 was 18 years ago and there have not been too many reports of people being demon-possessed by Pokemon.

NOW, we have a new version of Pokemon called Pokemon Go. It is an “augmented reality” game which means that you are chasing Pokemon Cartoon Characters in real world environments. You are using your smartphone camera in the real world and a phone app to be able to see Pokemons in the “real” world. Pokemon Go is very popular. In the first week, the game was downloaded 15 million times and the market value of the company soared to over $12 billion. While the negatives about the game can be debated, one of the positives is that it requires players to get off the sofa and move. This new version requires you to get out of the house, interact with the real world, and actually meet people.

What do you think?

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