This is the text copy of the devotion I presented in my Souls Week stream of Dark Souls III on Saturday, November 2, 2024. You can watch/listen to the highlight on Twitch by clicking here.
My original plan for the Extra Life marathon this week was a joke. Not in the sense that it was going to be terrible, but that I found it amusing and felt others would, too. That plan? Make myself suffer through a Dark Souls game, dying repeatedly for the entertainment of viewers, letting them take joy in my frustrations and potentially donate pity dollars to Extra Life. People have always enjoyed the Souls games simply because they’re difficult, and it took me a long time to understand why that was good in their mind.
Welcome to Souls Week: my week-long marathon for Extra Life, but also a series of discussions about why starting again and persistently struggling isn’t as bad as it sounds. This is Day 7, Part 1: The Way of the Wicked.
And so we finally reach a Dark Souls game, specifically Dark Souls III. Without going into the deep and expansive lore of the Souls games, the basic premise of this one is that the First Flame is going out and the ones tasked with rekindling it are all shirking their duty… leaving the Unkindled or Ashen One (that’s us as the player) to knock some heads together to prevent an age of Darkness. There are probably some Souls nerds out there who want to argue or add to that, but that’s as deep as we need to go for this devotion.
The world of Dark Souls is what I imagine I would see if I could tangibly see sin as a physical or elemental presence in our world. Dead, dying, or undead beings trapped in an endless or futile cycle of existence. Beings with a little bit of power using it for themselves or the absolutely worst purposes. The miserable being manipulated for the use of others. I could go on, but I don’t have to. It paints a very vivid and dark picture of just how wicked a person can be, either in selfishness or in punishing others–and yet they wonder, in anguish, why they can’t get what they want, find happiness, or enjoy a greater purpose in their life. As Proverbs 4:19 says, “But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.”
We talked earlier this week about how there are many kinds of idolatry–including acts of selfishness, as this feeds the idolatry of Self. When people choose to be selfish they then often twist the reality of it to make themselves out to be good. Sometimes it’s easy to say we are doing something for “the greater good” and try to justify our words and actions accordingly, casting aside our integrity because it’s easier. The passage of scripture that encapsulates this best, to me, is found in Isaiah 5:20-24:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent. Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel.”
In this book of the Bible, the prophet Isaiah is delivering the word of God to the people of Israel. He is telling them that because of the nation’s sin, they will be given into the hands of the Babylonians–captives because they had strayed from God and His purposes for them. This does, in fact, happen, but Isaiah also tells of their redemption and restoration! Remember how I keep talking about God allowing us to endure trials so that we can become better versions of ourselves? He has done the same with his chosen people, the Israelites, and the Bible is full of prophets who warned them and offered spiritual guidance–both heeded and not.
Just as we have to teach ourselves to obey God’s Word and do what’s right, the Unkindled has to gather the defiant Lords of Cinder (willing or not). And if we choose not to follow God and His Word? Well, I think the decline in the world will happen all the more rapidly. That’s not to say it’s futile to do the right thing, though! This is very important: So long as we have faith in God, hope in his assurances, and love for our fellow man… everything will turn out alright. To love others as yourself is to want them to have salvation as well. Luke 11:35 says, “See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” And 1 Corinthians 13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
We must pay attention that we do not deceive ourselves by following the way of the wicked while claiming to be good–and we must consciously counter it with faith, hope, and love.
God, thank you so much for every listener hearing my words today, whether they’re watching the stream or checking out the video at a later time. Guide us with your Word, your wisdom, your grace. Show us how to walk in faith, be filled with hope, and share your love. I pray that your Words will make all the difference in someone’s life today, and that by sharing I might be a blessing to them. In your holy name I pray. Amen.
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