May the Force be with...me?

I'm sitting here watching Star Wars, Episode 1(The Phantom Menace). It's probably my least favorite of all the SW movies, mostly because of this guy. I really love the Star Wars of my youth. Like many people of my generation, we grew up watching the movies, playing with the action figures, & staring at my poster of Princess Leia. They didn't all stare at my Princess Leia poster, that was mostly me, but you get the point. 

It's amazing how this story has influenced a generation. It influenced creativity & dreaming. It pioneered computer generated images & took special effects to new heights. It also challenged modern spirituality.

I don't think George Lucas intended on turning religion upside down, but new outlooks & a few cults have been spawned by his films. Lucas incorporated mythology, philosophy, & a strong Buddhist influence into his story telling. 

When the movies were released, many churches were quick to condemn it as heresy. They denounced the theology of the films without a second thought. I don't think that they were threatened by a motion picture, but by something else entirely.

Galileo Galilei was one of the greatest thinkers in human history. When he said that the Earth had an orbit around the sun in 1610, the church was incensed. This was contrary to their teaching that the Earth was the center of  the universe & they felt that it was an affront to their theology. They had Galileo held under house arrest for the last 10 years of his life. The Catholic church didn't fully admit it's mistake until 1992. It only took 382 years, a brisk pace by most church standards.

I find that we are not all that different. We don't like the thought that we might be wrong. My pride says to fight vehemently & then figure it out later. We are quick to judge & slow to listen. Proverbs 1:5 says, "let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance-."

We don't like for our theology to be challenged. We feel that if something we believe is proved wrong, then our whole belief system goes down the toilet. This isn't the case. The church marched on even after scientific advances revealed the truth about our solar system.

It is good for our faith to be challenged. When I was a freshman in college I had a professor named Dr. Dexter Marble at USAO. He challenged every belief I had about God & I am a better Christian for it. He forced me to examine my own beliefs & understand why I held them as truths. In the same way, when we admit that we don't have all the answers, we are allowing God to reveal things to us in unusual or unorthodox places.

When asked why he went back & fixed the original Star Wars films, George Lucas replied that a film is never finished, only abandoned. Technology changes & allows you to do more. You get more money or time to do what you might not have been able to do before. 

We have never really arrived as Christians. If we ever get to the point that we can't learn or grow, then we are dying. It's OK to not have all the answers. "I don't know," is one of the most liberating things we can say. Just like films I think that our relationship with Jesus is never finished, only abandoned.