I love sci-fi. Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, Superhero movies. All of them are fun and thrilling. Endless story lines and mind bending concepts are introduced through sci-fi movies.
But there's something else that always hits me after watching one of these movies or reading a book. Like any fiction the story is set in a world that the author has created, a world where they make the rules. Unfortunately, many authors and movie writers are not christians, so the world they create is a world without God.
Star Trek visits the idea of a reality that is beyond what we understand, a spiritual like reality. But it is discussed in a more evolutionary mindset.
Doctor Who has ventured into religious grounds several times with episodes wherein the villain is the God of a certain culture or race of people, or even the devil himself locked underground for centuries. In the end, the Doctor always makes these ideas seem small and meaningless as he (sometimes easily) defeats the entity that some thought all powerful.
Now I'm not saying that all shows need to be about God (although it would be nice) and I'm not saying that shows that are not christian based shows are always evil.
But the last few times I have finished watching a superhero flick or a dazzling space thriller, I am left at the end feeling depressed. I have submerged myself into this world being put before me and found it to be a world without God. From then on it consumes my thoughts leaves me thinking about whats beyond the story portrayed, about how the characters view life. Jean Luc Picard of Star Trek Next Generation often philosophizes about the existence of man and the need of man to explore and better himself. But what's after that, Jean Luc? In your world however dazzling and appealing now, it holds nothing after. No promise of rest or peace. Just nothing.
Ironically enough, it's the life I live thats to be envied. Because though, at this moment, crawling under houses to fix leaking water pipes may be less glamorous than exploring the far reaches of the galaxy, I know the man who created that galaxy. And I have his promise that I will one day fly through that galaxy by his side. And not just for a life time. But forever....
So
As exciting as Sci-Fi life is, it cannot compare to the life I now hold.
This all seems strange because I am arguing the meaning of life with a Sci-Fi Character.
But how much of our culture is consumed with Sci-Fi and fiction? How much are we enamored with the adventure and drama and how much of our thoughts do we give to dreaming about being involved in such drama? Sometimes it may be to a point where we are addicted to watching other people act out this drama. How often do we forget that we will have the greatest adventure of all times in a world that is to come. And how often do we forget all the meaning in this life when the Sci-Fi life that we look to with envy really holds.... Nothing.
