Star Trek, quite possibly the pre-summer blockbuster of the year, at least record sales indicate as it opened with $75.2 million in weekend ticket sales, has more to offer viewers than breath taking chills and thrills. It offers depth – on a spiritual level.
New Life to an Dying Franchise
Though fans, both old and new, are clamoring about the non-stop action, the special effects, and the snappy dialogue, as well as drooling over the actors and actresses who make up the smoking-hot, young cast, there’s just something about Kirk and Spock that demands attention (and it has nothing to do with how delicious they are in this film). This long awaited “reboot” has wet the appetite of a new generation of potential fans. The town is all abuzz with the talk of Star Trek.
(Warning: contains some small spoilers.)
Why all this talk? What is the huge draw for old and new fans? Why the renewed interest in a franchise that has been dying a slow and painful death for years?
The answer, in a word, is friendship. Although the timeline of the Star Trek universe has been altered through a single cataclysmic event, and what “has been” may now not be, destiny pulls the “original crew” together as Starfleet cadets. In spite of odds against it, these youths begin to form unexpected yet amazing friendships.
The tumultuous friendship between Kirk and Spock stands paramount from them all. Spock and Kirk are at odds before they even meet, as Kirk has cheated during a test simulation which Spock developed and programmed himself. A brash and reckless Kirk continually creates disorder and wrecks havoc in the life of the emotionally repressed (not to mention control freak) Spock. This tension builds throughout the rest of the movie. They are at odds. It seems that they will never build the friendship that existed in the alternate timeline.
This point is amplified in a scene where young Captain Spock strands cadet Kirk on a desolate, icy moon. There Kirk encounters an old Vulcan who just happens to be the original timeline Spock, wisened through time and space.
Old Spock: “Kirk, how did you find me?”
Young Kirk: “Whoa…How did you know my name?”
Old Spock: “I have been and always shall be your friend…”
Herein lies the true climax of the the movie. The audience could have leapt to its feet, for this friendship was what has attracted so many people to Star Trek for generations. It is friendship that will draw and keep a new generation of fans. It was this same friendship that made Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan, a fan favorite.
Defining moment of a friendship
Time worn Spock had an agenda when he spoke with this “other” James Kirk. His purpose was not to undo whatever had altered time, but rather to ensure that Kirk and Spock found one another in this universe, not as rivals nor as obstacles to be overcome, but rather as friends. Old Spock knew that they needed one another.
As a Christian, I immediately thought of the Body of Christ. In the Body of Christ we need one another. Each member of the Enterprise crew had been strategically placed. Each cadet had a role to fulfill. Each cadet had duties which had been put forth before them. All that each member of Enterprise needed to do was walk in them. In short, each crew member had a place, a role, and a purpose set before him. Scotty was placed as engineer. Uhura was placed as the communications officer. McCoy, the doctor, as the tormented, walking conscience of the crew.
So too is it with the Body of Christ:
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
1Corinthians 12:12-17
As I watched the movie unfold, it was apparent that each member depended on the other members of the Enterprise. If one member faltered, then there were dire consequences. For instance, if Chekhov had not configured the transporter so that it could lock on moving objects, then Sulu and Kirk would have fallen to their deaths on the surface of Vulcan. I could expound on this matter ad nauseum.
As in the Body of Christ, each member - even a teenager - has a vital role.
In the Body of Christ, each member is placed, knit in love together. The crew of the Enterprise was not yet knit together in love. They had yet to be tested. They were building relationships. Before this diverse group of people could function well together, for the benefit of all, they had to learn how to love one another.
Paul understood this about the local church. He wrote about it in Colossians.
I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. Colossians 2:2
This was especially true of Spock and Kirk. If these two men were to ever grow together, being knit together in love, Kirk had to violate Spock’s rules. Kirk had to penetrate Spock’s hard heart, so that trust could be built. The barriers – the willful walls, had to come tumbling down.
The scene where Kirk moves Spock to violence closely parallels the scene where school-aged Spock beats up the bullies who taunt him about his human mother and traitor father. All of Spock’s rage surfaces, an act which disqualifies him as able to command Enterprise. What is a seeming defeat for Spock and a victory for Kirk is actually a victory for all.
Sometimes friendship needs some conflict
Kirk had the skills and character which made him a more suitable captain than regulation bound Spock, while Spock complemented Kirk, bringing reason and stability to the emotion-driven man.
So the movie ends with the youthful Kirk and Spock learning to appreciate one another. Each member of Enterprise was strategically placed while growing closer in purpose – becoming unified. Though this crew has a lot to learn about each other, the viewer is left with a sense of confidence that they will somehow become the close knit – dare I say even loving – crew found in the alternate timeline. The question of how they become unified in love is all that lies open to ponder.
As for the church, how do we plan to maintain the unity given through the Spirit for “we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit“?
I think that the answer lies in Ephesians 3:16-19. Unity is maintained through dependence on the power of the Spirit.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Perhaps Spock should have said it this way:
“Love long (wide, high and deep) and prosper.”
Just a thought. Perhaps we as a church have something to learn from this extended, modern parable.
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