Star Wars is a staple in the Linn house. We love the movies and the cartoons. We even named our dog “Princess Leia”. I’m not going as far to say that we have a room full of collectables or can recite all the characters and Star Wars history found on Wookieepedia but we are fond of the story. If you are familiar with the story at all you will remember the iconic clones that are in the picture above. The characters in their classic white battle armor were created from the DNA of one man. They used the DNA of a bounty hunter Jango Fett and created an army from the DNA of one single man.

I see a trend happening in our christian culture that is similar to this cloning that is found in Star Wars. We think that everyone should think like us. We try to replicate our selves. We push our beliefs on others with no regard and we do it all in the all in the name of “bettering yourself”. And Christians do this in the name of, “I’m just trying to help people come to know the Lord.” The internet is full of blogs (like this one 😉 and self-help books are coming out of the wazoo. Facebook and Twitter are great conduits of people airing their own opinion. Romans 12:17 NASB says, “Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.”

 My wife and I had lunch recently with one of our amazing team members (we are planting a church) and she brought up some real topics in our society that led to an insightful talk. This team member grew up in a very mainline denomination with less “conservative” views than my wife or I were brought up in. We were able to talk about homosexuality, abortion and the church’s view on how to deal with these issues according to the scripture.  Most importantly we were able to talk about the love of God and the necessity to appropriate grace in those messy situations. This team member helped me see something in our talk..our diversity is apart of the plan of God’s people. You look at Jesus’ disciples and how different they were. Their personality, culture and even ethnicity were very diverse. These diversities were a huge point of contention during those times. Many of the writings in the NT specifically deal with this “exclusiveness” that was coming from the church. I see this same exclusiveness that alienates literally millions of people. We have these conditions that people must measure up to before they can become worthy enough to enter our churches. We act like others need to be like us and conform to our standards before they can truly embrace God.

The problem with this is simply — it is unscriptural. Look at the interactions Jesus had with sinners.. He always embraced them before he ever instructed them (women caught in the act of adultery, women at the well, Zaacchaeus). Yes, we have to be clear on what is considered “sinful”. We need a measuring standard to filter everything through to determine what is right or wrong. But we are too busy trying to clone ourselves that we have forgotten that it is God’s responsibility to make people holy. We do not have that power nor should we consider ourselves that significant or powerful enough to be able to do that.  Our responsiblity to be light and salt. We should attract others to come out of darkness and point them to the source!!

3 ways to avoid Christian Clone wars

1) Realize your place in the body of Christ

Security is a huge part of this. Are you secure enough in your own beliefs to accept others who don’t believe what you believe? People adhering or accepting truth isn’t your responsibility. Whether or not they accept the truth doesn’t make it less true.

2) Point people to a Person not to your convictions

It’s not about rules, regulations or a to do list. It is about a person. Point people to the person of Jesus. Let Him teach them how to live through you! Let people know what you are for not  just what you are against.

3) Being loving is more crucial than being right.

When you hyper critical of people it keeps you from loving them. When your more concerned with forcing your opinion and agenda down someones throat, you fail to listen to them and hear where they are at and what they really need. Don’t assume you know. Love them.. Right where they are at. Earn the right to speak into their lives.

While I believe it is important for the church to be proponents of truth we must also be proponents of grace. “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17 NASB