Interests....do they work against or for my calling?

      Some of you know my big interests, others don't. I'll fill you in. I've been a haunted house fan/actor/designer/anything else since I was 14, I love them and have a blast doing them. Role Playing Games, by this I mean Dungeons and Dragons, Deadlands, and other table top games, but loosely include Larps and Miniature gaming. I am also starting to play Necromunda. And lastly, Steampunk. The music and the fashion/cosplay DIY attitude.

       Let me break down my thoughts here. First thing, the Haunted Houses. I enjoy working on them, building them, acting in them, and making people jump. I have in the past played almost any type of character you can think of, but this year I turned down a lead role in a haunt at Richard Garriot's property because they were using a Demon Summoning theme. The industry as a whole has moved away from demons, they are nothing but trouble. They give religious activists something to strike at and cost too much time and money to do. The industry has recognized that insane people, gore, zombies, and vampires are more scary anyways. Themes tend more toward the living dead than the demon, more the asylum than the satanist lair. I never do anything that I feel is against my faith..period, but some people look at simply being involved in a Halloween industry as bad.

     Role Playing Games, Dungeons and Dragons got a bad rap in the '80s as a Satan worship game. While the game does not use a Judea-Christian God, it does not use Satan either. The rulebooks clearly state that the information of evil alignments are only included for use by the Dungeon Master(the guy telling the story). Basically D&D is a story telling game where the DM tells the over arching story and the players tell their characters actions in that story. There is no worshiping, not rituals, and no wearing of outfits or use of real weapons, but that's not what everyone gets told by the extremists. Other types of RPGs do include acting, Amtgard, a national live action medieval combat game uses padded pvc as swords and the players wear homemade costumes simulating fantasy characters. No one thinks they are really casting a spell when they throw a bean bag to represent a fireball. No one thinks their leather armor will stop a real sword or arrow, and no one calls on demons to carry out their bidding. Warhammer, Warhammer 40K , Necromunda and other miniature games, they use 28mm metal figures to wage a fantasy battle either on the large unit level or on the squad level around a map of miniature buildings and terrain. There are a lot of dice rolling around a table and rulers used for movement, but nothing seems ungodly there.

     Steampunk, it is a sub-culture of the world shown to us by Jules Verne and HG Wells. This is a world where we have the technology of the modern world, with the clothing, the aesthetics and the culture had a more genteel feel. Sure the culture back then had it's dregs, but the way it is seen by modern man is much more chivalrous. In the steampunk culture, we wear top hats and have goggles around our necks. We travel in airships and power our creations with steam. Brass and copper bring color to the drab and instead of small and plain, computers are beautiful visual displays before you even turn them on. Our music includes groups like Vernian Process and Abney Park. Some take a different view of steampunk, it is the post apocalyptic view. After a world wide disaster, how could we survive? By building the things we know and love by hand. Things would be bulky and look different, but we as the ingenious children of God, would survive.

   The reason I am thinking about this is that many of my hobbies are not ones that most members of ministry would be involved in. And though I am not a member of ministry now, I am being called in that direction. I keep thinking back to pastors I have known throughout my life. I remember a Chaplain in Iraq who had served for 8 years as an Infantryman before going to seminary. He told me he lived just as every other infantryman before finding Christ and going to Seminary...and then he became a minister to those very guys who he once was one of. One of the pastors at my parents church had a solid shelf in his office dedicated to Stephen King books, which he loved. I have seen pastors who focus on sports and those who focus on music. So, does the fact that my interests are more obscure and that there are more visible fans of these hobbies that are non-christian mean that I shouldn't be involved in them? Or does it mean that I should be more involved in these groups and make it known that I am a Christian and that God is great? I never want to be "that guy", you know the one that shoves his beliefs down your throat and makes you want to go the other way when you see him, but I also refuse to hide my beliefs behind a mask.

    So, I am asking you, and praying, and just plain contemplating. Where are the lines? Some of my interests have been pointed at as evil things, even though I know them not to be. Do I give up my interests because some televangelist begging for your money says they are evil? Or do I continue to participate and share my faith with those around me in those settings? I do not want to be the white glove that comes out dirty, but I do want to reach those others may be afraid to reach.