Making a Difference
A sticky note from the front lines. It was placed on a public blackboard, and received quite a few replies, some mocking, others, like the one above, sternly hard-hearted.
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Sometimes you might not feel like you’re making much of a difference.
Let me tell you a true story. There was a man who made Christian video games for a living. About twelve years into his career, he decided to make a video game that never mentioned the word ‘God’, but told a very wonderful, Christian story about a robot sacrificing everything to save a little girl who had been aborted by her mother. The game came out, and it received very good ratings, but the man didn’t feel like he’d made much of a difference. Not many of his video games had ever made much of a difference, in his opinion. |
Two years later, he made another Christian video game for children. However, this one received very negative responses. The man was very discouraged, and he decided to make one last video game, unrelated to Christianity. If this game received just as negative criticism as his last, he was going to move on from video game development.
Just the opposite happened. His latest game exploded in popularity. It received such high praise that the man told his story to his fans about how he was almost about to quit video game development if this game didn’t do well. As he began work on a sequel, some fans heard of his story and decided to spin it in a very anti-Christian light. They told everyone that all of his Christian games had failed, and that, in an epic rejection of God, the developer had decided to make the very popular video game. This wasn’t true, but, unfortunately, all of the fans believed it.
The sequel was released, and then another, and then another. By this time, the series’s popularity was gigantic. Four years after the first game’s initial release, in a Christian middle school’s gym, an average girl watched as her friend played the man’s game. She asked her friend what it was, and after learning about it, the girl fell in love with the series.
About three years later, in an entirely separate location, there was a woman, and she had an idea. She had heard of many video game developers’ inspirational stories behind the creation of their biggest games, and so the woman decided to tell these amazing stories to help inspire others. Eventually, she heard of the man’s story, but being a Christian herself, she removed the false, anti-Christian elements from the story and merely told it how it really happened.
Just the opposite happened. His latest game exploded in popularity. It received such high praise that the man told his story to his fans about how he was almost about to quit video game development if this game didn’t do well. As he began work on a sequel, some fans heard of his story and decided to spin it in a very anti-Christian light. They told everyone that all of his Christian games had failed, and that, in an epic rejection of God, the developer had decided to make the very popular video game. This wasn’t true, but, unfortunately, all of the fans believed it.
The sequel was released, and then another, and then another. By this time, the series’s popularity was gigantic. Four years after the first game’s initial release, in a Christian middle school’s gym, an average girl watched as her friend played the man’s game. She asked her friend what it was, and after learning about it, the girl fell in love with the series.
About three years later, in an entirely separate location, there was a woman, and she had an idea. She had heard of many video game developers’ inspirational stories behind the creation of their biggest games, and so the woman decided to tell these amazing stories to help inspire others. Eventually, she heard of the man’s story, but being a Christian herself, she removed the false, anti-Christian elements from the story and merely told it how it really happened.
The girl, meanwhile, had been greatly inspired by this man’s series. She felt that God had placed the issue of abortion on her heart, and had begun writing and illustrating a pro-life graphic novel. The girl felt like God was leading her to write this novel, but she was scared. She was afraid that if she wrote it, then when she grew up, nobody would want to hire her to make art because of the pro-life comic she had made.
She prayed to God about it, and God, in response, showed her the man’s video game, the one that told the story about the robot and the little girl who had been aborted. This impacted the girl greatly, and she understood what God had showed her. The man had made a pro-life video game, and he had gone on to be very successful, meaning she could make her pro-life graphic novel, and her chances of getting a job as an artist when she grew up weren’t destroyed. The video game made a big difference in her life. The girl was inspired to work more on her graphic novel, and she felt so much better knowing she wasn’t alone in her cause. |
After finishing the man's video game, the girl immediately set out to draw the robot, her favorite character. In the piece, he holds a flower, with which the game draws parallels between the fragility and beauty of the flower and the little girl's life.
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A year later, the girl was watching videos, and she saw the woman’s video about the man’s story come up. The girl clicked on it, but was afraid of what it might say. After finding the man’s pro-life video game, and seeing all of its positive reviews, she realized that the anti-Christian story that was common among the fans wasn’t true, but she didn’t know if the video would have the correct story or the false one.
She watched the video, and was relieved to see that it seemed to have the correct story. The woman’s voice told the story, and said that the man “didn’t feel like he was making much of a difference.” The girl started crying at this point. She realized that the man had made a difference, he’d made such a big impact on her life, but he would never know what he had done for her. He would never know how much he had inspired her, how so many of his ideas for his video games had influenced her own writings and art. Neither the man nor the woman would know about how God had brought all three of them together to impact this girl in a way she’d never forget.
You may not feel like you’re making much of a difference, but just remember: One of your sticky notes might have affected someone just as much as the man’s video game affected the girl, but you will never know what you’ve done until you get to heaven.
“Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret, and he will reward you.” (Matthew 6:4)
She watched the video, and was relieved to see that it seemed to have the correct story. The woman’s voice told the story, and said that the man “didn’t feel like he was making much of a difference.” The girl started crying at this point. She realized that the man had made a difference, he’d made such a big impact on her life, but he would never know what he had done for her. He would never know how much he had inspired her, how so many of his ideas for his video games had influenced her own writings and art. Neither the man nor the woman would know about how God had brought all three of them together to impact this girl in a way she’d never forget.
You may not feel like you’re making much of a difference, but just remember: One of your sticky notes might have affected someone just as much as the man’s video game affected the girl, but you will never know what you’ve done until you get to heaven.
“Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret, and he will reward you.” (Matthew 6:4)