Necessary Roughness

Wookiees don’t live on Endor. Do they belong in church?

The Detroit Free Press highlights a congregation in Michigan who is conducting three Star Wars-themed sermons to coincide with the release of Revenge of the Sith. Because the church is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, there has been a simmering debate on Bunnie Diehl’s blog, one of the larger Lutheran ones. The comments are entertaining, and the three pastors in the comments handle borderline-incendiary remarks with restraint and accuracy. One doesn’t need in-depth knowledge of the Lutheran confessions to appreciate the discussion.

I have a couple of problems with the methodology of using Star Wars to lure people to Christ, copyright law and fair-use violations notwithstanding.

The message of salvation by faith is timeless. After the temporal events of Christ’s death and resurrection and the recording of Scripture, the message doesn’t change. “Unleash the Rebel Within” is a message that is cool today, because we know rebels are good in Star Wars. It’s not a stretch though, to recall points in history where being a rebel was bad. There are times when being a rebel is not Christian at all. Chaining a fad to Scripture risks the disbelief in Scripture when the fad becomes passé.

Salvation by grace is also deedless. There is no action that can be taken on a person’s part to bring them to Christ. None. Not walking to the front of a church and having hands laid upon you, not the protesting of an abortion clinic, nor dressing up as a Wookiee to cause a stir. There is no content on the web to further explain what the Pastor of this congregation means by “help people take the next step” or “how to pursue the dreams the creator has for your life” or “how we can choose the dangerous road and break free”, but if there is a required action on the part of a human, it is not scripturally sound. Apart from Christ, we can do nothing (John 15:5). If we believe in Him, we are saved, or else we’re condemned (John 3:16-18). Is this belief an action? Either I’m convinced of something, or I’m not. I don’t resolve to be convinced of anything. Either I believe, or I don’t.

As an aside, this is a point of contention within some Christian church denominations. Some point to James 2:14-26 as evidence that doing good works is a requirement for salvation. Romans 9:30-34 clearly states that righteousness (being saved) does not come from works but from faith. So if works are required, they may be required (used) to give evidence to others (James 2:18) that someone has faith. But I digress.

Jesus is not like Yoda or Darth Sidious (if that’s your take on Christianity ). Christ is like Christ. If we say Christ is like something else, then we attribute qualities of the compared item to Christ, and that can blur our understanding of what is going on. I think we need to render to Ceasar the things that are Caesar’s, to God what is God’s, and to Lucas what is Lucas’s.