Warning: The following post contains major end-game spoilers.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Everyone makes disciples.\u00a0 Whether you know it or not, you actually are making disciples\u2013there are people who, for better or worse, look up to you and follow your example.\u00a0 What you center your life around will have an affect on those closest to you and how they live their lives.\u00a0 Certainly it is possible for children to \u201cbreak the mold\u201d of their parents, but I suspect that is far more rare than we would like to admit.<\/p>\n Bioshock 2 was a pleasant surprise because, unlike its predecessor, the game was not about the danger of competing ideologies so much as the power of influence.\u00a0 Particularly that of a father over his daughter.\u00a0 If you haven\u2019t played Bioshock 2 and are interested in picking it up, you may not want to read any further.<\/p>\n Most people remember the original Bioshock because of Andrew Ryan and his objectivistic ideals based on the philosophy of Ayn Rand.\u00a0 The original game showed how devastating one\u2019s ideology can be as Rapture, the city under the sea that celebrates human freedom and achievement, lies in ruin as result.\u00a0 Bioshock 2 explores both Ryan\u2019s failed objectivism and the new villain, Sophia Lamb\u2019s collectivistic ideals.\u00a0 At first glance, Lamb seems to be a true collectivist in the same vein as Stalin, but in the end she reveals that her collectivist policies were simply a convenient strategy in her cruel and selfish designs.\u00a0 This sets the stage for where Bioshock 2 shines\u2013on a very personal level.<\/p>\n In Bioshock 2 you are a \u201cBig Daddy,\u201d which are these huge men who have been engineered to protect Little Sisters\u2013which harvest genetic material called \u201cAdam\u201d which everyone in Rapture is hyped up on and thus have gone crazy.\u00a0\u00a0 As the game goes on you find out that you were a diver that came upon Rapture\u2013your daughter was taken away and you were killed\u2013or at least it seems you were and all the while your daughter is experimented on and held captive by Dr. Lamb.<\/p>\n The most engaging part of the game is found in three encounters you have with some very unique and rather seedy individuals who played a part in your demise and your daughters imprisonment.\u00a0\u00a0 Each encounter is unique and each gives the player the opportunity to spare or kill these shady characters and each instance is unique in its moral implications.\u00a0 At the end of the game when you save your daughter, she has the opportunity to seek revenge on Dr. Lamb who has abused and imprisoned her for so long\u2013your moral decisions determine what decision your daughter makes in the end.<\/p>\n Bioshock 2 reminded me that ideologies don\u2019t save people.\u00a0 Salvation, in Bioshock 2 comes on a more personal level.\u00a0 Rapture itself, is beyond saving, but one little girl is not and your influence on her in the end directs her in the way that she should go (Prov. 22:6).\u00a0 This is true of the gospel\u2013the salvation presented therein is far greater than strict ideology.\u00a0 Certainly I believe that the gospel connotes the one true ideology, but what makes the gospel unique is that God becomes man, lives among us, teaches us how to live, and dies for us because he knows we cannot save ourselves.<\/p>\n The ideology of the gospel is unique because it is personal\u2013Jesus enters our world and saves us individually on a personal level so that one day we will be fit to live in community together in harmony.\u00a0 Unlike most games, the salvation found in Bioshock is more realistic\u2013its personal rather than cosmic. Bioshock reminded me of the incredible power I have to influence others, especially those closest to me for good or evil.\u00a0 It reminded me that relationships are more influential than ideologies.\u00a0 Bioshock 2 reminded me of the power of influence more than perhaps any other game ever has.\u00a0 In spite of our very individualistic world, Bioshock 2 emphasizes the power of the family and the influence therein.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" How Bioshock 2 speaks to the nature of salvation and discipleship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1220,"featured_media":6154,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,9,11],"tags":[168,368],"class_list":["post-6143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-games","category-headline","tag-boishock-2","tag-discipleship"],"yoast_head":"\n