As most of my friends know, one of my hobbies is playing MMORPGs like World of Warcraft (WoW) and Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO). I’ve also dabbled in The Elder Scrolls Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and a few others, but I tend to keep coming back to WoW and LOTRO. As I was playing on WoW the other day, some thoughts about the structure of these games and their mechanics struck me about the Church and the roles we play within it.
There are a number of game mechanics within these games, but one of the most basic is the idea of the “party.” or, in LOTRO, the “fellowship.” This is a mechanic where a certain number of players group up and agree to share rewards and experience points in order to take on challenges more difficult than any one player could defeat on their own. These groups are usually five (dungeons and difficult surface bosses), ten, twenty five, or in some cases forty players all at once (extremely difficult raids) depending on the size of the challenge, but what I really want to talk about is most easily illustrated with the basic five person party and that’s the idea of the role each member of the party plays.
No matter the size of the party, there are only three roles filled by the players, Damage or DPS, Tank, and Healer. A standard five person party has three DPS, one Tank, and one Healer. Larger raiding parties tend to double and triple this, but the ratios are almost always kept similar. The Damage player’s role is to inflict as much damage on the boss objective as possible. The Tank player’s role is to draw the fire of the boss objective away from the other party members and onto himself or herself so they can do their jobs. The Healer player’s role is to use spells and even bandages to keep everyone alive under the boss objective’s intense onslaught of damage trying to kill everyone.
In addition there are the different classes of player characters which specialize in each role. Hunters, for example are exclusively damage dealers as are Mages. Priests are the most efficient healers in WoW. Warriors tend to be born tanks. And then there are some classes which can fill two or more roles as needed, though not nearly as effectively. Druids, for example can do everything, but are not the best at anything. Paladins can be used in every role, but they really shine best as tanks or healers. Death Knights can do either tank or DPS well, and at the same time. Each of these classes then also makes use of different kinds of weapons and armor which compliments the roles for which they are intended. Those intended to fight or heal from a distance wear light protection and those intended to fight up close and personal wear heavy protection. Priests and Mages wear cloth armor which does little to protect them from harm. Druids wear leather armor which is a little better, but not by much, but can be augmented when fighting as a tank. Hunters tend to wear either leather or mail. Paladins, Death Knights, and Warriors wear plate armor which offers the best protection as they are intended to be melee combatants and fight exclusively right next to their targets.
There is no one role or class in this system which is unimportant. Without the tank, the really big bad guy will head straight for the lightly armored damage dealers and healers and everyone dies. Without the healer (arguably the most important role in the party), the bad guys will overwhelm the tanks and damage dealers early on and everyone dies. Without the damage dealers, the tanks and healers won’t be able to take down the really big bad guy’s health quickly enough to defeat him before he kills them. Every role is important, and that every person understands their role and is able to do it effectively is vital.
If a player whose class is intended for healing, for example, tries to focus on damage dealing instead, the tanks won’t have the healing support they need and the party will fail. If the tank doesn’t know how to draw the bad guy’s attention away from everyone else, or tries to be a healer the bad guy will shift its focus and go after what it thinks are the bigger threats, i.e. those that are causing it the most damage. I remember the first time I was in a raid party I played as a tank because my main character at the time was a Paladin. The problem was, I didn’t know what I was doing. This was a twenty five person raid, and so there were two or three tanks that were supposed to be switching off. One drawing the bad guy’s attention while the other two were being healed from the effort. My Paladin was, at the time, ridiculously powerful (I could defeat certain maximum level dungeons and surface bosses on my own) and I thought the mechanics didn’t matter as much. I was wrong. I didn’t know how to keep his attention at first and was just trying to do as much damage as I could up close like I normally would when playing on my own. The raid failed the first time attempted because I didn’t understand the mechanics of how it worked, and every last player died. My not knowing my role and thinking I could handle it solo not only got me killed, it got everyone else killed too. The second time around, after we all respawned and healed to go at it again, the more experienced tanks showed me how to do it, and how to keep the bad guy’s attention, and as we got into the rhythm of taunting him, drawing his wrath, and then switching off, and everyone did their jobs, we took him down and succeeded. For those WoW players reading this, that was the Kil’jaedan fight in Legion.
So, how does any of this relate to the Church? Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12,
There are various kinds of service, and the same Lord. There are various kinds of workings, but the same God, who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the profit of all. For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit; to another faith, by the same Spirit; and to another gifts of healings, by the same Spirit; and to another workings of miracles; and to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; to another different kinds of languages; and to another the interpretation of languages. But the one and the same Spirit works all of these, distributing to each one separately as he desires. (WEB)
In Ephesians 4 he also writes,
He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ; (WEB)
Each of us within the body of Christ, and within each local church, is also built and empowered for specific roles just like in a dungeon or raiding party. Some of us are built for shepherding the church, others are built for evangelizing, still others are built for prophecy, healing, discernment, and so on. We are each of us equipped by God for our role in the group. Pastors aren’t meant to be evangelists, and healers aren’t meant to be teachers. Some people, like Druids, are built to fill any role needed, though are not the best in any one. Some are, like Priests, the best at healing, but not really anything else and putting them in other roles will only cause them pain and suffering. Can Pastors evangelize? Yes, but they’re not really built for it. They’re built for shepherding and guiding Christians, not converting unbelievers. In the same way, evangelists are built for spreading the gospel, not discipling Christians. There is no one role within the church which is unimportant, and no one person who is going to be able to fill all of them. As Paul also observes, if the body were all eyes, where would the sense of hearing be? If the church was only one role and one “class” as it were, how could it succeed in its quest?
As I was reflecting on this, I was thinking about all the churches I have heard of which are total messes. You can probably think of a few yourself. Many times, it boils down to one or more people within the church not understanding their role, what they were built for, and that they can’t solo everything on their own. To use MMORPG terms, the healer thinks she needs to be a tank, the tank thinks he needs to do everything on his own, and one ranged damage dealer is fighting up close like a melee combatant while the other five are at a distance cheering them on and occasionally lobbing an arrow or two just to say they did. And then there’s the odd rogue frequently stabbing the wrong person in the back…
Churches don’t work right unless everyone knows the role they’re supposed to play, how to play it, and how that role supports their fellow members. This last part is key, because the roles we play, we don’t play for ourselves. When you’re soloing something, it really doesn’t matter what your party role is because you’ve got to do it on your own against challenges meant for one person. But when you’re in a group, your role is to support everyone else in some way and keep them alive while their role is to support you and keep you alive. If you’re concentrated on yourself in a party, you’ll get yourself and everyone else killed. In the same way, if you’re only looking out for yourself within the church, you’ll make the entire church unhealthy.
Don’t try and fill a role you’re not suited for, but focus on the role for which God made you. It’s the only way you and the rest of the church will be able to conquer the most difficult challenges.
