Have you ever met a person that doesn’t like you for no reason?
You’ve done nothing to the person but they still don’t like you, to the point of heading you?
This week I was reminded of Luke’s encounter with Dr. Evazan in A New Hope.
Luke comes up to the bar at the cantina and has the following interchange with the “not so good” doctor.
Dr. Evazan: He doesn’t like you.
Luke Skywalker: Sorry.
Dr. Evazan: I don’t like you either! You just watch yourself! We’re wanted men. I have the death sentence on twelve systems.
Luke Skywalker: I’ll be careful.
Dr. Evazan: You’ll be dead!
As a Jedi, Obi-Wan tried to de-escalate the situation.
He even insulted Luke in order to do it.
It would have been best for all involved if they took a moment to relax and let the adrenaline drop from their systems.
The “good” doctor avoided losing his head (but had a lightsaber gash across his chest and his drunken friend, Ponda Babe, lost an arm.
Hatred In “Online Cantinas”
Recently I launched The Christian Jedi Academy.
To promote it, I paid to boost a Facebook post to fans of the page and their friends.
One of the first few comments was “Hate this. Jesus did not require a monthly fee. This is a cash grab. They aren’t trying to help people their trying to make money. Period.”
Shortly after that, I was treated to the following, “There is NO fee to be Jedi and there is NO fee to follow the teachings of jesus. This is a bulls#!t scheme to grift people out of money…. Shut this page down you greedy 2 bit hacks!”
Comments like these hurt. They felt like an attack.
I had three options. I could say nothing, respond in kind, or respond as Christ would want me to.
I took several minutes to let the hurt feelings subside and to listen to what God wanted me to say.
I decide to act as Obi-Wan did by trying to de-escalate the situation- NOT attacking with a lightsaber.
Using Star Wars To Share The Gospel
In probing why people were so upset, I found out that there are those that treat Jedi as a religion.
I was told that I “could easily slip into a greater community if you wanted. Google ‘real Jedi’ or ‘Jediism’ or ‘Jedi Realist.’ It may be an untapped resource for you.“
I looked into what he was talking about and decided to reply with:
I appreciate the idea of what you are doing there but I am a firm believer that Jesus is the Messiah and that God has revealed Himself through the writings of the Bible; what is called the Old and New Testaments.
I know that I am a sinner who is in need of redemption.
No one and nothing impure or imperfect can enter into Heaven.
Jesus was born miraculously through the virgin birth. Lived a sinless life. Died the death I should have died so that through His blood I could be redeemed.
He was raised on the third day and now sits at the right hand of God.
When I die, or He returns, I will stand before God.
At that time, God will not see my sins because I have accepted and proclaimed, while I was alive, that Jesus is Lord and believed in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. I am therefore saved from eternity in Hell; separated from God.
You too can become a follower of Jesus and have assurance in your eternal destination.
I dare say, you could move from being like Han, who declared, “I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny!”
To becoming the Han who said, “The Force, the Jedi — all of it. It’s all true.”
While he changed from denying the Force to accepting that it exists, people deny that God exists. My hope is that people, including you, will come to realize that the God and Jesus of the Bible are true.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
I pray that you will come to the realization of your need for Jesus and the salvation He offers.
He replied that he grew up Mormon and is into the Jedi religion.
I replied, ” I can respect that. Things started off a bit rocky, but I’m glad we could dialog.”
He replied, “respectfully, I was in the wrong and let how I felt decide my actions without thinking. Very unjedi of me. Thank you for continuing our conversation: you demonstrate a Jedi trait we should all aspire too.“
Doing OUR Part
The Gospel has been shared with this “former hater” and others like him.
The seed has been planted just as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6-8, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor.”
That is what we are called to do- OUR Part. Did I plant? Did I water? I don’t know. But I shared, and God will take care of the growth.
