"What if?" is an important question to ask so we can be prepared for eventualities. Science Fiction authors have been asking this question for over a century and they are often found correct in their view of where science will go. From Jules Verne to Arthur C. Clarke these thought leaders have given future scientists an objective to reach while having already probed some of the morality surrounding the use of the new technology. Maybe the greatest example of this currently is how Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are shaping thought on the topic of how Artificial Intelligence should be limited.
In my forthcoming book Fantasy Mainline I explore the concept of a fully immersive game world (like Meta or other upcoming services on steroids) where people can live full time where every sense tells you that you live in the 'verse'. The moral question I ask is this. If such a world existed, should Christian missionaries be sent into those games in the same way they are sent on foreign missions.
Some have objected saying that this is like sending missionaries into bars or other clubs of ill repute, but it is not at all the same. If people lived full time in bars and never came out it would be the same, but they do not. Also, if someone lives full time in a game and it becomes their home, should the gospel not follow them there?
Gaming, like social media is one of the great addictions of our day and while there has been much effort extended into making social media a platform for evangelism, there has been very little extended into the gaming communities. To be sure the gaming communities may be less open, but not entirely so. There are certainly gamers who are considering their lives and being drawn by the Holy Spirit right now.
