George Lucas, the director and creative force behind the Star Wars franchise had this to say regarding his motivation behind the popular movie series:
“[Star Wars is] designed primarily to make young people think about the mystery. Not to say, “Here’s the answer.” It’s to say, “Think about this for a second. Is there a God? What does God look like? What does God sound like? What does God feel like? How do we relate to God?”[1]
Do you believe him when he says he is not trying to give an answer? I don’t. The notion that we can provoke people to think about the biggest questions of life, whilst remaining religiously or morally neutral is common today. Many artists from various fields assert, like Lucas, that “I am not trying to provide an answer, but only encouraging us all to think.” Don’t believe it for a moment. There is no such thing as moral or religious neutrality. Everybody makes assumptions about how the world works, and these assumptions always influence the way we perceive, and these perceptions inevitably smuggle themselves into all we say and do. Theologians call the way we see the world around us a “worldview”. NT Wright says: “Worldviews are the basic stuff of human existence, the lens through which the world is seen, the blueprint for how one should live in it, and above all the sense of identity and place which enables human beings to be what they are.”[2]
From time to time during our “The Story of Everything Series” we will take a week to look more generally at certain themes to help us understand God, and our place in his story, better. This week I want us to consider our worldview. Is there such a thing as a “correct” worldview, or is it personal preference? Ravi Zacharias always liked using the following framework to test a worldview: origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. In other words: where did we come from, why am I here, how am I to live, and where am I going. All of life’s fundamental questions tend to funnel through one of these categories. Ravi argued that the Christian faith uniquely offers a worldview that is internally coherent (logically holds together) and external consistent (conforms to the reality we witness in the world).
Something to Understand:
Everybody has a worldview of some description. God wants us to see the world as he sees it. How we understand God affects every aspect of our lives, such as: how we see ourselves; how we see others; and how we make sense of the world in which we live. As we work through The Story of Everything, ask the Lord to renew your mind such that it conforms to his, for his glory and your good!
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1-2)”
[1]“Of Myth and Men: A Conversation between Bill Moyers and George Lucas on the meaning of the Force and the true theology of Star Wars,” Time (April 26, 1999), p. 93.
[2]NT Wright. The New Testament and the People of God. (Fortress Press, Minneapolis, 1992), p124