Liquid Church in Morristown, NJ has come up with an innovative way to generate interest this Christmas season by pairing celebrations with the latest Star Wars movie release. Seeking to be culturally relevant, the church anticipates 7,000 to attend their Christmas Eve services that will feature a live Star Wars nativity scene, with Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca and R2D2. Children will get to share their wishes with Darth Santa and take photos with his Stormtrooper “elves.”
Pastor Tim Lucas defends the unorthodox approach as a way to “draw on the excitement surrounding Star Wars in order to reach new people and teach them about the birth of Jesus Christ in a way they’ve never heard before.” He further adds, “It’s okay to laugh and celebrate together while talking about Christmas. If that means having Star Wars characters in costume and dancing Stormtroopers, I’m all for it.” Apparently his church’s methods are successful at attracting people and attention. Liquid Church is reputed to be one of New Jersey’s fastest-growing churches.
I’m all for unique and innovative methods to spread the Gospel, but I wonder if we don’t sometimes run the risk of communicating the wrong message?
Star Wars is a great story of good vs. evil and the struggle between light and darkness. I’m a fan of the movie franchise and even have a boxed set of the original trilogy. I am also convinced that the pure narrative of the Christmas story, as told in Matthew and Luke, is enough to satisfy any modern moviegoer or book reader. It does not need to be interpreted through any element of modern pop culture, in my opinion.
You want romance? Consider the love story of Mary and Joseph, a young couple about to be wed. You want plot twists? Think how Joseph must have felt when Mary told him that she was pregnant, and the baby wasn’t his. Can you say scandal? How is Joseph going to handle this situation? You want intrigue? How about the numerous visions, dreams and angelic visitations that surround Jesus’s birth? You need adventure? Magi from the East make a long and treacherous journey looking for the Christ child while bearing precious and costly gifts, and guided only by a star.
Evil shows up in King Herod’s scheme to kill the newborn baby. He had a history of eliminating rivals to the throne. When the Magi foil his plans to discover the babe’s whereabouts, Herod orders the slaughter of innocent children, forcing Joseph and Mary to flee to Egypt for safety. Kings are supposed to be born in palaces, not stables; but that’s where Jesus was born. It sounds like the making of a great movie to me (and it has been put on film numerous times), full of all the things that make for blockbusters.
The story of Christ’s birth is no mere movie script or screenplay, however. Unlike Star Wars, it is no work of fiction and man’s imagination. It is the Biblical and historical record of Jesus’s birth, and the unfolding of God’s plan of redemption for mankind. Many millions of believers for over two millennia have treasured, celebrated and commemorated God’s great gift of redemption.
Christmas is our time to worship and to proclaim the message of His love for mankind. I’ll get around to seeing the latest Star Wars installment; but, for now, I’ll celebrate the purity and significance of the Savior’s birth just the way the gospel writers presented it. It’s beautiful and attractive just the way it is.
Bishop Patrick L. Kelly is the pastor of Cathedral Church of God, 365 S. Dixie Hwy., Deerfield Beach, FL 33441. 954-427-0302.