Another Star Wars Sequel

Sorry.  I meant the sequel to my earlier post about Star Wars.  (See "The Story" below.) 

There is a principle for the effective communication of the Good News of Jesus called “redemptive analogy”, the “application to local custom of spiritual truth”, first articulated by Don Richardson in the books Peace Child and Eternity in Their Hearts.  He says that every culture has beliefs that can be used as a bridge to an understanding of the Gospel.  

Well, Star Wars, which is so ingrained in our culture, provides a useful point of tangency in our differing beliefs; a bridge, that can be used to describe our faith.  You’ll find it, appropriately, smack-dab in the middle of the middle movie of the first Star War trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back, where Lucas explains "The Force".  It is the scene were Luke is marooned on the planet Dagobah with C3PO.  They meet Yoda, who reveals himself as a Jedi Knight.  Yoda tells Luke that, by the power of the Force, Luke can raise his ship from the murky swamp into which it had sunk.

“OK.  I’ll give it a try.” Luke says, unenthusiastically 

“No!” Yoda demands.  “Try not!  DO!  Or do not.  There is not “try”.”

Luke, exhausted from his subsequent and failed attempt to raise the ship, says, “I can’t.  It’s too big.”  

To which Yoda sternly replies, “Size matters not!  Look at me.  Judge me by my size, do you?  And well you should not, for my ally is the Force!”

Now, had Yoda said, “my ally is the Lord” and then said “He” and "His" instead of “it” and "its", in what followed, he would have spoken truth!  “And a powerful ally [He]is. [His]energy surrounds us.  And binds us.  Luminous beings are we.  Not this crude matter.”  (He also says, inexplicably, “Life creates it. Makes it grow,” which implies that the Force comes from life itself, not the other way around, as the Bible teaches.”  And he says, “You must feel the Force around you." That's true, too, but he continues, "...here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”  That is more like pantheism or eastern mysticism - of the sort espoused by the Dali Lama, whose voice is intentionally the model for Yoda's voice - than it is Christianity.)

Of Yoda’s instruction to raise the ship from the swamp, Luke says, “You want the impossible.”  And then, when Yoda went on to raise Luke’s ship from the swamp, Luke exclaims, “I don’t believe it!”  To which Yoda replies sadly, “That is why you fail.”  Again, so true - if he had been speaking of God, and not some impersonal force of nature.  When we fail to be empowered to do what we are called to do, it is for lack of faith in God.  (I wonder if Lucas consciously thought of the parallel between the raising of the "buried" ship from the swamp by the power of the Force and the raising of Jesus from the grave by the power of God....)

But, Lucas’s Force is not the personal God we know.  It is an all-powerful, but morally neutral, force to be harnessed for either good or evil, depending on the choice of the believer.  It is not the loving (and powerful) God who displayed His love (and power) for us through His Word and in the sacrifice of His Beloved Son.   

So, the difference between the impersonal Force and the God of the Bible is the love and righteousness (the good and just character) of God.  Our faith is in a personal God who empowers us to do His will - because He cares for us and wants the best for us; not in an impersonal Force that empowers us to do our own will, be it good or evil.

"I look up to the mountains...  Does my strength come from the mountains?  No, my help comes from the Lord, who made heaven, and earth, and the mountains!" (Ps. 121:1-3)

Later, Luke encounters who he thinks is Darth Vader. After a light saber duel in which he cuts off the head of Darth, Luke discovers that he had actually killed himself (in a vision).  Luke had slain his own propensity to go to the Dark Side of the Force. As Lucas explains in the movie’s commentary, Luke has harnessed the Light Side of the Force through the “power of positive thinking.” The Christian, on the other hand, overcomes the "dark side" through faith in a good and loving God whose Holy Spirit empowers us.    

So, you see, The Star Wars saga has analogies to our own faith that offer a wonderful opportunity to communicate God’s love and power to those around us!  For a Star Wars nerd, that is really cool!

Btw:  This post was inspired by Dr. Erwin Lutzer's recently published book, The Church in Babylon, which explores how we can live out our faith in a culture increasingly hostile to our faith.  I highly recommend it!

Do you know someone who is suffering physical or emotional pain who would be encouraged by this blog? Then please send them the link by clicking the envelope below, where you can also share it on Twitter and Facebook.