Bibleopoly

Tonight I had the honor of being in the presence of 3 wonderful women who humored my desire to play two garage-sale-purchase-bible-games. One of those games was Bibleopoly, which I had played once before.

Although it is played in a way similar to Monopoly, the whole concept (and disposition of a successful player) is different.  While Monopoly encourages greed and the worldly pursuit of monetary gain, Bibleopoly encourages charity and the building of God's church on earth.

All of the cities are Biblical towns. There are "faith/contingency" spots, which tell the player to draw a "faith" card.  On that card is some kind of uplifting task or sacrificial movement with a positive twist.  There are also "abyss" cards, which are not pleasant.  Some send you to "meditate" without possibility of leaving the space for 3 turns. Another particularly devastating one recalls the Great Flood.  A player is forced to make a trip around the board, rolling only one die, knocking bricks off churches and costing property "caretakers" to loose offerings.

Each player becomes the "caretaker" of the different churches in the towns. In order to build the church, the players must earn the cornerstone and three bricks by giving charitably to the other players.  When a player is unable to make the required offering at a certain place, that player is not out of the game.  Rather, he gives what he is able.

Throughout the game, there are many opportunities to be greedy.  Sometimes the "faith" cards allow you to move yourself to any square you want. In that case, a player could easily move himself to the "community celebration" space and collect all the offerings there.  Additionally, there are some cards that allow you to move any player of your choice.  This would allow a player to move an opponent to his own town, thus collecting an offering.  However, both times I have played this game, those types of moves haven't happened.

There is something about the game that really does seem to bring out charity. I find myself genuinely wanting the other players to succeed so that the church can grow.  Even though it is fake money and a fake church, in some way it is touching, even inspiring, to see someone visit a church and make an offering out of their poverty.

I've also found that I really encounter my own selfishness in the game. I find myself hoping for selfish things to happen. I judgmentally (and pridefully) wonder if another player will be as generous as I have been.  Then when the flood card comes, I can almost feel the true weight of my real-life sin. Looking at the game board, I can almost see the real-life destruction my sinfulness causes.

In life, (and in Bibleoply too!) the road is not always easy. The reward is not always immediate. Sometimes, even when we are striving in virtuous community to build the Church, it doesn't happen. The tendency as the game goes on is to think more and more about yourself.  The pace of spontaneous generosity slows down. This danger exists in our own lives as well.  When the road seems impossibly long, and I grow tired and begin to feel alone, I tend to turn inward, to retreat into myself, to pity me. Sometimes, the lessons learned in the beginning seem lost on me in the long middle.

Thankfully, God will teach them to me again (and again and again) until it is finally drilled into my thick skull and embedded deeply in my cold and wayward heart I have learned them well.

And when Sarah drew the card that allowed her to choose any place she wanted to go, and she didn't choose the community celebration and the offerings that came with it, I smiled at her decision to instead go to a "faith" spot and draw a card. Then when that card sent her to the community celebration and she did receive the offerings, I grew, if only slightly, in my conviction that God really does take care of us.  Her selflessness was rewarded with a gift, and in the end, she was the first to build her church. When deny ourselves in selflessness, God rewards that as well.

Though it is only a game, the lessons packed away in that box, nestled and hidden amongst the game pieces and props are real. God does reward us. In Bibleopoly, the reward is nothing more than a trivial game night victory.  In real life, the stakes are higher and the rewards sweeter. When we work together to build His Church, giving from everything we have - no matter how small, helping each other in Christian charity,we bring glory to His name.


We play a small role in the building of His kingdom.