Star Wars Theology

I know I'm not the first to find (and share) gems of wisdom in the Star Wars trilogy, nor do I expect to be either the last, nor the best. But I do expect to be another...

In Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Yoda gives this outstanding piece of advice to Anakin - "Train yourself to let go of the things that you fear to lose." What a powerful way to live that would be! What a shield against fear, jealousy, anger, resentment, and covetousness, just to name a few sins and temptations.

Because it is fear that drives Anakin Skywalker to turn to the dark side. Fear of losing his wife. And the very thing he fears comes to pass - because of the actions he takes that are prompted by those fears! What if he had simply lived by faith in his ability to survive loss? What if he refused to take on an impossible-to-fulfill level of responsibility for her well-being?

Fear is the root motivator for far too much "Christian" behavior. Fear of breaking God's rules. Fear that our children might end up believing something unbiblical. Fear that we will lose some blessing, or some person, or some thing! These kinds of fears prompt us to take actions that oftentimes bring about the very consequence we fear.

Sometimes, fear-prompted actions look very similar to love-prompted actions. And many times, they are quite alike - maybe separated by only a degree or so of variance. But that 1/360th of a circle, over time and distance, can land us in a very different place. One we thought we were going to avoid.

For instance, we can - and should - manage money well. We can do it out of fear of losing our money, or out of love for the One Who loaned it to us in the first place. The management principles are pretty similar, but the difference in motive will inevitably lead to choices that make divergent paths.

The same can be said of raising children, serving others, performing in our jobs, relating to our spouses, relating to our parents, relating to our siblings, etc.

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But perfect love casts out all (unproductive) fear. Love is by far the better motivator, the one that will take us successfully to the goal. Too often we focus on what we do, and pretend that is what proves our motives. Not so! We need, each and every one, to first be very sure of our motives - our "feelings," in Star Wars terms - and then move forward.

Is our motive in raising children to raise strong, successful adults, or is it the fear that we may not raise strong, successful, adults? Is our reason for working hard and long at our place of employment that we respect (a form of love) our employer, that we are thankful (a sign of love) to our God? Or is it that we are afraid of what will happen should we lose the job?

What is it that we are afraid to lose? As we each figure it out, maybe we can help each other in training to give those things up.