How I Shared the Gospel in Virtual Reality

I recently purchased the Quest 3 headset to explore the strange world of virtual reality (also known as the “Metaverse”). This isn’t new to me – I had a Quest 2 before this headset but have mainly used these headsets for exercise and some light gaming with friends. For those new to this technology, these headsets allow you to enter into virtual reality; you can speak, interact with, and play games with people all over the world as if you’re actually there with them – it’s quite remarkable.

Last night, I decided to venture into one of the social aspects of this strange technology – an application called “Bigscreen VR.” It advertises itself as a virtual movie theater and it’s quite neat – you can join up to 15 other people watching live events and movies. There are also rooms dedicated to conversations and socializing (even karaoke!).

During my recent foray into this strange universe, one of the rooms caught my attention – “Mormon Chat.” I had no plans to argue about religion as I have learned that simply leads to anger – especially on the internet! Instead, I was simply curious what the room was like. I used the menu option and “teleported” into this room.

When I arrived, there was a a young adult (in their 20s) asking a Mormon honest questions about Jesus, the Bible, and what it means to know God. The Mormon gave answers consistent with the Mormon faith (which – to be clear – is radically different from historical/Biblical Christianity). I didn’t want to be rude, so simply sat and listened to the conversation for about 15 minutes. As the Mormon began explaining their understanding of salvation, to my surprise, they simply disappeared! Either their headset died, they lost power, or their internet went out (I like to think God silenced them so the other person could learn about the real Jesus!).

This left me 1-on-1 with this person seeking answers about spirituality and the things of faith. I took my opportunity to speak up and learned that this person’s full-time job was in IT. When I shared that I literally hack companies for a living as an ethical hacker, they were quite interested in my story. As our conversation continued, I had the opportunity to share how I came to know Jesus and provided them with a biblical view of Jesus and salvation – while explaining why the Mormon faith is not historical Christianity.

Since I have a YouTube channel where I explain ethical hacking concepts, this person was able to connect with me on YouTube. I then shared my Discord information so they could directly message me any questions they had as they continued to explore spirituality.

I’ve shared my faith many times in the real world; this is the first time I was able to share the Gospel with someone in virtual reality. The great irony is that it was done in the “Mormon Chat” room!

What’s the takeaway? Well, I think it’s a good reminder to keep this passage in mind – even in virtual reality:

“Worship Christ as the Lord of your life. And if someone asks you about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way… ” – 1 Peter 3:15-16