My favorite thing about Star Trek
Some people never fail to astonish me. I was talking to a Christian brother not too long ago who said he didn’t believe Start Trek was Godly because it was socialist…
For the sake of time and my own sanity (and all the other reasons we could trash one of my favorite TV series) I’m not going to get into that one, but there’s one thing that is absolutely 100% Godly about the age old Science Fiction franchise: they have a mission.
“Its mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
God does this thing where He commissions us to perform specific tasks. Isaiah was called to “make the heart of this people fat” as he prophesied the impending invasion. Jesus was commissioned to go to the Cross. Paul was commissioned to spread the gospel and witness to Caesar. Billy Graham was commissioned to spread the gospel, and ever person who was ever created was done so with a specific destiny and a specific commission.
Ever repeat a word so many times it starts to sound weird? That’s happening with me and “commission” right now but it is the perfect word for this instance because it is derived from the latin commisio which means “to send with a purpose.” In English the word is used to describe a person or group charged with a specific task and given special authority to carry it out. That’s why Acts 1:8 is often referred to as “the great commission” because Jesus grants his followers special power and authority to carry out a special task.
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, Samaria, and to the very ends of the earth.”
What important to notice here, is that we’re each given the opportunity to figure out how exactly we do that. For me, it’s about openly worshiping the Lord on this blog. It’s about using the talents I have to fulfill this task set for me. My personal mission statement (which I encourage everyone to come up with) is the kind of thing that gives me the focus and the grounding touchstone to keep moving forward.
My Mission (at least on this blog), is to praise the LORD through the deliberate and persistent study of His word and the application of that study to real life circumstances.
Do you have a personal mission statement? What do you need to create one?
I have to admit that I am a sci-fi geek. I love Star Trek. I think that there are too many people associated with the church that only have a mission to complain about those that are trying to fulfill the “Great Commission.”
I appreciate your commentary on this blog. It is a breathe of fresh air for someone to be proactive in trying to accomplish something instead of trying to destroy something.
Aww shucks, I’m blushing. Seriously though, thank YOU for your encouragement. These past few weeks especially your blog has been a real encouragement to me. I also just want to say thanks to you and all the other Christian sci-fi geeks out there. For a while I was pretty sure I was the only one.
Wow! We just keep finding more points of connection here. I am a Star Trek follower from way back. I was just a kid when TOS (the original series) aired. My parents didn’t like it, so I used to sneak over to my neighbor’s house to watch it (besides, they had a color TV, we only had B & W). My son and I still watch reruns of all the series. And we own all the movies.
Although I recognize that the series is very humanistic, I can look beyond that world view and appreciate the contrast between it and a biblical world view. I used a Star Trek illustration in my sermon this past Sunday.
If only Christians knew our commission as well as some of us know the “mission” of Star Trek.
–Richard
Ha! Well said. Something I’ve always had some difficulty with though, is the distinction between a humanist world view and a Christian one. The original humanists (assuming I understand correctly) were still Christian weren’t they? It seems like the atheist component of it all was added more recently. It kind of reminds me of liberation theology arguments where the hard core conservatives would call the liberals communists (although humanism and communism probably have nothing in common). But as with all things, the real key is looking beyond the “garbage” (assuming you can always call it that) and see the will and word of God in all things.
By huamnistic I am talking about the idea that human beings are essentially good and are evolving or progressing toward a better world. The American Humanist Association defines it this way: “Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without theism and other supernatural beliefs, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.”
Star Trek basically has a positive view of human nature, that we are capable of making humanity progress toward an ideal goodness apart from divine intervention. How many times does Kirk (or Picard) say something to the effect that humanity used to have certain faults and societal problems, but “we have moved beyond such things.” The Biblical world view on the other hand affirms that humanity is fatally flawed by sin and the only remedy is intervention by a loving and gracious God.
But I still enjoy it!
–Richard
What did ya’ll just say? lol
I really liked the part about the specific task. I think that I am fortunate to be able to say that I have found my specific task. To tell cowboys and cowgirls about Jesus. They are my Samaria. They are my Ethiopia. They are my mission.
I will be honest. I don’t fulfill that task very well at times, but the times I do falter in my mission objective, I tend to reach someone else by accident–which is just fine by me.
U know, if Star Trek wasn’t ‘Godly,’ how come, in the episode “Who Morns For Adonais?” Kirk tells Apalo he nor his men were going to bow down to him, and that they were just fine with the one God already. And in Star Trek V The Final Frontier, Kirk confronts the ‘god’ on the planet Sha Ka Ri. He tells the ‘god’ that if he were real, he would know who Kirk was, and he wouldn’t be violent. If Star Trek wasn’t Godly, then why do they mention Him in it period? If you ask me, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and the rest of the crew all believed in God. So much for it not being Godly.
Thanks for stopping by Nicky and thanks for the heads up. I actually am not familiar enough with the original series to really comment or respond to that, but at the end of the day, I could care less about whether or not Star Trek is Godly. 1) I like it too much to care. 2) everything testifies to the glory of God. I don’t care what anyone says about anything, everything in the world testifies to the glory of God. “the rocks cry out.”