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| Star Wars |
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Motion picture trade magazines predicted that Star Wars would become
the all-time, top-grossing picture in box-office history. And indeed it did, beating
out such blockbusters as Jaws, The Godfather, The Sound of Music,
and Gone with the Wind. What the trades did not predict was that Star Wars would become the cultural phenomenon that it has. What child, or adult for that matter, isn't on a first-name basis with Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Ben Kenobi, Darth Vader, and Yoda? Or hasn't learned the names of Star Wars' exotic creatures like wookies and ewoks, space hardware like droids and lightsabers and far away places like Alderaan, Hoth, and the Death Star. Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi are episodes four, five, and six in a planned six-part saga according to George Lucas, the creative force behind the series. Episode One, The Phantom Menace, is the newest feature in the Star Wars saga and is reigniting excitement in moviegoers around the world. Episode Two is scheduled for release in year 2002. The Secret of "Star Wars" Success George Lucas said that people love Star Wars because it allows them to live out childhood fantasies. However, fantasy is only a pretty wrapper around the real gift of Star Wars. For these films deliver more than fantasy, for they teach about morality - good and evil, virtues, and values - the stuff real life is made of. Star Wars is at once an all-new experience, and yet familiar. It is new because it deals with a time and place far distant from our own. It is familiar because its characters and plot (good vs. evil) are borrowed from our favorite stories and fairy tales. Beyond the sheer entertainment, there is another reason people see these films again and again and again. Star Wars has a deeper meaning that speaks to our innermost needs. We want a sort of Force in our lives, and we want to know its ways so we can surpass our mortal potential. "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:6-9). The Force The central, supernatural figure in Star Wars is, of course, a deity called the Force. But what exactly is the Force? Well, Ben Kenobi described it as the substance that held the universe together. Does it control the universe as the Star Wars character Ben Kenobi seems to think - absolutely not! There is no force that holds the universe together, but rather a supreme being! God Himself. Some people even doubt that the earth was even created; they believe that the universe was created by chance and that they evolved from matter! This is called the Big Bang Theory. Sadly today, the public schools are teaching young people this false doctrine. There are people living in the world today who (like the Star Wars character Han Solo) believe only in themselves (humanism) and not in the Almighty Creator of the Universe (God). "Hokey religions are no match for a blaster at your side," says Solo. Sadly, people like this will be in for a rude awakening when they pass away and meet their Maker face to face. What is Lucas trying to show us? George Lucas seems to have genuine concern for people (particularly young people) and a deep commitment to do what he believes God wants him to do. Lucas says, "I am simply trying to struggle through life; trying to do God's bidding." "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong" (II Corinthians 12:10). However, threaded throughout his films is the story of the Force - an impersonal entity with a dual nature - a good and an evil side. The good side of the Force responds when those who have adequate faith call upon it for power to do their own bidding. Its dark side, however, is seductive and can tempt people into doing evil. "Beware of anger, fear, and aggression, the dark side are they," Yoda warns Luke in the Return of the Jedi. "Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny." Because the Force can be manipulated for good or evil purposes, it possesses no morality of its own. God, of course, has only a good side; He is holy and righteous. And Jesus (God's Son) never commited a single sin. While Lucas' Force is a composite god of many religions (including Christianity), it does not clearly represent any one deity. It is certainly not the True Force - the Holy and "personal" God of the Bible. The True Force The Bible tells us there is one True Force, who is God. He is the Creator of all things (John 1:3), revealed to man in three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit (II Corinthians 13:14). The True Force loves us. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16). The True Force is pure. "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all" (I John 1:5). There is evil (or dark side) separate from the True Force. "For our struggle is...against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil." (Ephesians 6:12). "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." (Revelation 12:9). But God has conquered the powers of darkness! "For [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves" (Colossians 1:13). God's Son, Jesus Christ, is the light of this world. Jesus said,"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness" (John 12:46). The way to live with Christ forever. A person is not a Christian merely by being religious, moral, doing good things, or intellectually acknowledging that God exists. A Christian is one who, by faith, believes in Jesus Christ as Savior and walks out his or her faith under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. You can tell Jesus, by talking to Him through prayer, that you believe He is God and that He died for your sins and rose again. Receive Him as you Savior. Invite Him into your heart - either in your own words - or through this suggested prayer. |
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