Before we seek to answer that question let’s consider two truths. The first truth is that “the Church is NOT a building, like the Temple was in the Old Testament.” Perhaps you were thinking that the PLACE where believers meet is “sacred” and thus it might be defiling to play board games there. We learn in Acts 2:47 that the “church” is made up of “people who have been saved” (and NOT of materials like wood, stone, or glass). It says, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” In other words, “We (believers in Christ) are the church.” The Apostle Peter taught this clearly in 1 Peter 2:4-5, “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as LIVING STONES, are being BUILT UP A SPIRITUAL HOUSE, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We see here that we are a spiritual house and a spiritual priesthood, and one of the main reasons we come together is to “offer up spiritual sacrifices to God” (see also Hebrew 13:15). This brings me to the second truth.

We read in Acts 2:42, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” As soon as the church came into existence, they started coming together for fellowship. Here are the MEETINGS expressed in this verse: 1) Bible studies and lectures to learn the truth that the apostles had taught; 2) The Lord’s Supper (called here the “breaking of bread”) to “remember the Lord and His death for us on the cross” (see Luke 22:14-20; Acts 20:7; and 1 Corinthians 11:23-26); and 3) The prayer meeting to pray collectively at the Throne of Grace for the Lord to help meet many present needs (see Hebrews 4:14-16). It is vital to see that these are the MAIN REASONS for coming together.

So, is it right or wrong to come together and play board games as an act of fellowship? We just saw the main “meetings of the church” and those should always be our “main focus” in our fellowship one with another. Yet AFTER having fellowship together in these meetings there may be times when we come together for harmless and innocent activities, such as playing sports or board games together. Notice, I said “harmless and innocent activities,” for we would not want these things to turn into fierce competitions where PRIDE and ENVY and ANGER could come into play. Nor would we want this to become ADDICTIVE which would result in “focusing on this kind of fellowship over the spiritual meetings for fellowship outlined above.” I answered a question dealing with these possible SNARES and here is the LINK to that question:  https://answersfromthebook.net/is-it-bad-to-play-video-games-like-dota-2-for-entertainment/

We do have what we call “Christian liberty” for these activities, but we must always be on guard lest they take away from our main focus. We read of these warnings in the following passages: “All things are lawful for me, but ALL THINGS ARE NOT HELPFUL. All things are lawful for me, but I WILL NOT BE BROUGHT UNDER THE POWER OF ANY… All things are lawful for me, but NOT ALL THINGS EDIFY” (1 Corinthians 6:12 & 10:24). I will close by quoting Galatians 5:13, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”  (DO)  (729.1)