May the
force be with you? Is God with us or is the force with us? Are God and the
force same?
If you are
yet to recognize that force is synonymous to Star Wars, you probably haven’t heard
of Star Wars, which belongs to sci-fi fantasy movie genre!
Star Wars
merchandise overwhelm us – mugs, t-shirts, helmets, action figures, bedspreads,
pillowcases, curtains and what not! People, irrespective of age, are fascinated
by Star Wars. Touted by Forbes as the 20th biggest movie ever, Star
Wars continues to bulldoze the imaginations of a worldwide audience.
I may be
one among the few to not be fascinated by Star Wars. But the Star Wars
phenomena cannot be ignored when the imaginations of millions are absolutely spellbound
by it.
A conservative
Christian response is to condemn Star Wars and advocate a ban on watching it.
But in the world of internet, smart phones and peer pressure, any Christian
mind could be motivated to watch Star Wars and buy into a few of its innate
themes that are religious in nature.
Star Wars
has already captured the imagination of millions. This cannot be undone.
Instead, Star Wars can be used as a means to drive home the timeless Christian
truths.
Effective
Christian preachers use timely, appropriate and audience-specific illustrations
to teach Christian truths. When Star wars is trending, churches and youth
groups could draw parallels between Star Wars and Christianity to teach Christianity in a familiar context.
Here’s what
I am not saying:
I am not
saying that Star Wars is a Christian movie.
I am not saying
that Star Wars is a necessary means to disciple Christians.
All I am
saying is that the Christian leadership should be open minded to use these latest
trends to augment one’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here are a
few dangerous parallels between Christianity and Star Wars:
God Versus Force
The force
that Star Wars refers to is an all powerful force (an energy field created by
all living beings) that binds the universe together. The force has two sides to
it – the light and the dark side.
However,
God is fundamentally distinct from the force:
God is a
living spiritual being. God is not impersonal.
God is perfectly
good. There is no evil in God.
God is
uncaused, whereas the force is created by all living beings.
God created
the universe and all that is in it.
God is
sovereign and all powerful; God sustains the universe.
Good Versus Evil
According
to Star Wars, good and evil are axioms of the force. The force causes the good
and bad.
The Bible
teaches that God does not cause evil, since God is perfectly good.
God created
angels and humans with freewill. Satan, an angel created by God, causes evil
and causes man to do evil. Man uses his freedom to either accept or reject God.
When man rejects God, he commits evil.
In
Christianity, the believers of Christ are mandated to do good and not evil.
Star Wars teaches that the subjects of the empire should listen to the force to
either do good or evil.
In the Christian
worldview, God will ultimately destroy Satan and usher a world without evil. But
in Star Wars evil cannot be destroyed, since both good and evil are the axioms
of the force. This entails that good and evil will continue to exist.
In Star
Wars, the Jedi knights fight for the good and the Sith lords are on the dark
side. The Jedi dedicate their entire life to fighting for the good in the
physical plane with physical weapons. But we, the believers of Christ, are
constantly mandated to fight a spiritual warfare with spiritual weapons.
Holy Spirit Versus Midi-Chlorians
The
midi-chlorians of Star Wars could be compared to the Holy Spirit – the third
person of the blessed trinity of the Christian faith.
In the
fictitious world of Star Wars, the midi-chlorians are intelligent microscopic
lifeforms living inside the cells of all living beings. They apparently enable
their hosts to listen to the force. Contrarily, the Bible teaches that the Holy
Spirit, who lives within every Christian, leads us to do God’s will, if we are
sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
In a
parallel with Christ, Anakin Skywalker is the prophetic savior of Star Wars –
the one who would come to bring balance to the force. Similar to the virgin
birth of Christ, Anakin Skywalker was apparently conceived by the
midi-chlorians.
The Bible
teaches that the second person of the blessed Godhead, the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Savior of all mankind, was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin.
Death Versus
Afterlife
There are
references to afterlife in Star Wars. Many Jedi believe in some form of
afterlife. The Jedi also believe that they should not fear death and that they would
become a part of the force upon their death.
Christians
are called to neither fear evil nor death (Psalm 23). In Christianity,
afterlife is certain. Death is a mere gateway to either heaven (an eternal
blissful coexistence with God) or hell (an eternal life without God in absolute
torment).
In Star
Wars, those who are evil and die would cease to exist. A few Christians, including Rev. John R.W. Stott, believe
in a similar doctrine – Annihilationism. Annihilationism posits an absence of hell i.e eternal judgment.
If evil people
would merely be annihilated after their death, then while living, the evil
people would live without any fear of an eternal judgment in hell. Thus the
evil people would be motivated to continue their evil schemes.
This
situation poses a serious dent to God’s justice, for cessation of existence is not
a punishment but a reward for being evil in this world.
Rule of God Versus Rule
of Evil
In Star
Wars, evil is in charge of the empire. While the subjects of the empire are led
to believe that good is in control, in reality, evil rules.
Similarly,
we may be led to believe that the sovereign God is in absolute control of the
world we live in today. But in reality, God has allowed Satan to rule our world
for a brief period of time (2 Corinthians 4:4). The rampant evil in our world
reveals Satan’s control.
The fact
that God has allowed Satan to rule over the world reveals HIS sovereign control
from the perspective that HE would intervene in our life as and when HE deems
it necessary. Finally, God would eliminate evil.
Christians Versus Jedi
Training is
vital for both Jedi and Christians. Well trained soldiers will vanquish the
enemy.
In the fictitious world of Star Wars, Jedi had
to be trained well before they became full-fledged Jedi knights.
However, in
reality, Christians should train themselves well through Bible study. This is the
responsibility of every Christian.
Churches should
ramp up their efforts to train their members in the study of God’s Word. Bible study groups exist in many churches, but
these groups, if not monitored by the church leadership become a means to
social jamboree or a ritualistic weekly get-together.
Christian
life is lived intentionally. Christian maturity is an entailment of spiritual training.
Unless a Christian is trained well, he/she cannot withstand the flaming arrows
of the Satan.
To
conclude, if the Christian leadership ignores the imaginations of its young
people, then the young and fragile Christians could be in danger of losing
their faith in Christ. Furthermore, the Christian leadership would not justify
their calling as leaders of the Christian community, if they remain oblivious
to the needs of their young people.
All Satan
needs is a tiny entry into the imagination of the young and fragile Christians.
Movies are a wonderful means to impact the imaginations of people. Good movies could
bring people closer to Christ and bad ones would take people away from Christ.
Jediism as
a religion has the potential to remove people away from Christ. Star Wars
remains to be an effective means towards this endeavor of Jediism. However, Christians
could use the very same Star Wars to reinforce the timeless truths of Christianity.
It is my hope
and prayer that our faith in Christ grows stronger day by day irrespective of
all the distractions around us. May not the force be with you, but may the good
Lord be with us.
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