Jesus and Mass Effect

Enough about my life and my hemophilia and my prayers and me me me. Here’s something interesting for y’all to chew on that has nothing to do with Tejas Kumar: I recently found out that the popular video game series Mass Effect is all about God.

Umm, wow? Now I don’t expect many of you to have heard of it, and I like speaking/writing a lot, so allow me to tell you a thing or two about this game and how it relates to the Christian faith.

About the Game

Firstly, it is pretty “off the hook” in terms of graphics and storyline. If you’re a gamer, get it. Mass Effect is a sci-fi action role playing game that has made huge waves in pop culture. So much so, on the XBOX, its Metacritic ratings have never been below 90%. Admit it, that is pretty darn impressive! To learn more about the game in general, David from the cool game-blog Reclaimer105 has written a piece worth looking at.

The Christian Bit

But that’s not what you came here to read is it? I’m going to keep the focus on how this relates to Christianity. The question still stands: what does this have to do with God and my Christian faith? Here’s a list of the many humungous Christian themes that this humble shooter reveals about the person and work of God:

• In Mass Effect, the main character’s name is “Shepard.”
  In the Christian faith, Jesus is the good “shepherd.”

• The hero is betrayed by one of his friends named Dr. Archer.
  The hero, Jesus, is betrayed by one of his friends named Judas Iscariot.

• At the end of Mass Effect 1, the hero dies due to asphyxiation.
  On the cross, Jesus died of asphyxiation.

• Shepard is eventually resurrected by an affluent company.
  Jesus was resurrected by the most high God.

• The program to revive the hero was named “Project Lazarus.”
  Jesus, with the power of God, revived his dear friend Lazarus.

• Shepard comes back and has 12 followers.
  Jesus had 12 apostles.

• Shepard eventually goes on to become the hope of mankind.
  Jesus is the living hope of mankind.

• People look to Shepard to save humanity from an “external enemy.”
  In Jesus, there is salvation out of hell, and the promise of a new world without sickness, death, hate, sin, cancer, AIDS, and hemophilia.

Blessings and Curses

See, now is when this crazy condition of mine, hemophilia, becomes a blessing. Living with hemophilia, I’m occasionally blessed with the inability to walk. When I can’t walk, I tend to stay in bed all day and play video games! Like Mass Effect!

This sounds weird, but I’m sometimes thankful for my hemophilia because I, at times, get to enjoy amazing amounts of comfort instead of amazing amounts of toil. I’d still like a cure though, obviously. But for the time being, I get to enjoy Mass Effect. Yay.

Maybe there are some things in your life that have this bittersweet duality to them. Things that you’re thankful for, but at the same time, things you wish you didn’t have. Can you find any? Let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!

www.simplesharebuttons.comIf this blessed you, use it to bless someone else...

Technorati Tags: christianity, gaming, God, jesus, religion