After seeing the latest Star Wars film, I had a lot of thoughts about how it relates to the Christian faith, but to discuss it, I have to reveal a ton of spoilers from the plot. So be warned, I discuss the movie and its plot here as if you’ve already seen it – so proceed with caution!
The events of the latest Star Wars film have sparked all kinds fan reactions, but the most common ones seem to be polar opposites: they either totally love the film… or totally hate it. The most negative feelings seem to be inspired most of all by how writer/director Rian Johnson treated the beloved hero Luke Skywalker. But I’ve found that it’s this treatment of Luke that has spawned all kinds of parallels I’ve experienced with life as a Christian, and working for over two decades in the Christian music industry.
Last WARNING!! Major Star Wars: The Last Jedi SPOILERS ahead…
In the film, Luke has secluded himself on Ach-To island, ashamed of the unintentional role he played in his nephew, Ben Solo, turning to the Dark Side (and becoming Kylo Ren). He’s even shut himself off entirely from “The Force” and believes the ancient Jedi religion should end. The once passionate and on-fire believer in The Force that we saw in the ’77-’83 trilogy is now broken and discouraged and has given up on his faith.
Does this sound familiar at all to anyone?
Enter Rey. Rey has just had The Force “awakened” in her (hence the 7th Episode’s film title), and now, only days after facing Kylo Ren head-on and discovering her strength in The Force, she’s come face-to-face with the legend, Luke Skywalker. She’s heard the stories that fans all know and love, and she’s come to believe that Luke is the galaxy’s last hope once again. However, she quickly discovers that Luke doesn’t believe this in the least. Worse yet, he’s given up all hope. As Rey holds out the very lightsaber Luke used to face his evil father — the very lightsaber that was his father’s–Anakin Skywalker–before he turned into Darth Vader — Luke takes it into his hands (one of them being a now-metal hand in place of the one he lost when he lost this very lightsaber)… and merely tosses it aside. Despite Rey’s plea for him to teach her again and again, Luke bitterly refuses and insists that it’s the Jedi’s very hubris that led to the rise of the Empire in the first place. He makes some valid points as to why the Jedi should end, but Rey sees the positives — something Luke has completely forgotten.
When I started “The Jesus Freak Hideout” (JFH) in 1996, I was 16 years old. I had been raised to believe and follow God, but I never really accepted Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior until I was about 13 years old. It was around that time that I discovered Christian music. I soon found these musical pilgrims to be larger-than-life heroes to me. I loved their crusade for the faith, and I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to do whatever I could to help others find these artists and their music and feel what I felt when I listened to their songs. If I could spend hours of my life sitting in front of a computer screen, promoting this kind of music from the comfort of my dad’s home office, then I’d be more than honored to do it. Obviously, over the years, JFH grew and so did its presence in the music industry. And with its growth, came more of my own involvement in the industry, mostly interacting with record labels, publicity groups, and even tour production companies and artist managements. I was suddenly meeting some of these heroes of mine — whether in person or via email or phone. The curtain, so to speak, was being pulled back and I became privy to a world most don’t get to see – and it was exciting!
But it didn’t take long for reality to set in. Two years after the site began, I experienced the business side of the “Christian music industry” in a very negative way when a record label took advantage of my naivety, and their “help” turned into a fight for me to gain ownership of something that was always rightfully mine. I was starting to see that the passion and love and hope and positivity that was radiating from my teenage heart was not really shared by everyone who I had assumed would if they were involved in promoting this music that touched my heart so much.
I was Rey.
And now I was meeting my Luke Skywalker’s. These artists and labels and champions of the faith that I was reading about monthly in CCM Magazine, seeing them grace the covers while talking about their music ministries and love for Jesus within those paper pages, were proving to be something I never considered: Human. Flawed. Just like you. Just like me!
Upon seeing The Last Jedi, and loving the film but being disappointed by seeing our hero, Luke Skywalker, as someone who had lost his faith along the way — basically because of shame and discouragement — I realized how sadly REAL that is. I’ve seen it time and time again. People of the faith we look up to – heroes – suddenly walking away from everything they preached or sang about. (I’ve seen it happen to friends close to me, even family, too.) I have recorded songs on CD and on my iPhone about personal beliefs and passionate faith that are sung and performed by artists who no longer believe these declarations. Now when I hear them, I hear the hearts of someone not declaring, but struggling to believe. And sadly, I know where that struggled eventually led them.
I debated on whether or not to write any of these thoughts down, but then I saw a social media post from one of the aforementioned heroes making a bitter reference to something in the Christian music industry — and it wasn’t their first post like it. A little bit later the same day, I was listening to John Williams’ brilliant Last Jedi score and these thoughts came flooding back, and my heart broke all over again.
In the film, Rey’s passion and fire help Luke to start to rethink his current position on his faith. He lets The Force back in, and we start to see just how powerful of a Jedi this man really is. (We see the potential he has for good that he has forgotten!) He’s then visited by his old friend and teacher, Yoda, who helps remind him that he’s lost focus… that he’s always looking in the wrong place for answers. It’s a callback to a younger Luke being trained by Master Yoda in Empire Strikes Back, but it’s also such a real moment where a mentor in the faith helps get through to someone who’s lost the plot and lost their way. It’s a turning point for Luke. By the film’s end, it seems he gives his life to save his friends one more time, and his faith in The Force is restored. It’s a hopeful conclusion, and it gives me hope that some of those who’ve inspired us through the years who’ve fallen away and let discouragement and brokenness consume them can rediscover the fire that brought them to their faith in Jesus in the first place.
But another lesson can be gleaned from Luke’s story: we all can fall. We all can let discouragement cloud our vision and make us lose sight of the cross. It’s up to us how we respond to the disappointments and hardships in our lives. What I miss most about Christian music from the 90’s and early 00’s is how much of it was about living the Christian life. People would complain then that much of it was “preaching to the choir,” but what many failed to realize is that believers NEED encouragement and fuel to fan the fire of faith inside us. And, ironically, it seems that so much of the music today is made almost exclusively for Sunday morning services (but that’s an entirely different loaded topic for a different kind of blog), and it’s drastically shrunken the diversity of what Christian music once was. I feel like the songs of yesteryear often talked about things to really chew on and make you think, while also encouraging you in your faith. Songs like “I Don’t Understand” by PFR, “Rubber Meets the Road” by Steven Curtis Chapman, “See Through” by Audio Adrenaline, or “Lost the Plot” by Newsboys were songs that were honest, vulnerable, and helped believers navigate their doubts and fears in the faith (and musically, they were just really good and cool to listen to, too).
Love it or hate it, there’s a lot to take away from the story of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. And I feel like it really gives Christians a lot to talk about and discuss. Are you more or a Rey? Are you more of a Luke? And if any of us are feeling more like a Luke these days, what can we do to get that fire and passion back in our lives?
It’s my prayer that our fallen heroes in the faith may find the fire and hope again. If you know someone like that in your life, the very least we can do is seek the Lord for them and pray for them. Their story isn’t over yet. 🙂
— John DiBiase