The Code: What I Believe

I thought I'd lay this out in a straightforward manner, mostly for myself. These are the things I believe to be true.

To be honest, I'm terrified to write this. I know a lot of other Christians believe differently (though if they each made up a list, their lists would all look different from each other). I know Spouse believes differently, and might be aghast, and give me the "how could anyone believe that?" line I dread (with either "that's stupid" response or "I can't be married to you if you believe that, because only [insert your choice word here...awful, horrible, etc.] people believe that". I'm afraid this will inspire arguments and disagreement even from non-Christians.

But, in spite of that fear, I need to do this. I need to learn how to conquer criticism. In some sense, if everyone's list is different, even though everyone thinks they're right, and some people shout very loud and accuse others very loud, what gives them a leg to stand on? Who says their list is better? Of course, that promotes the idea of relativism, particularly moral relativism.

Which is one thing I've been told can't exist with Christianity. After all, there's only one morality: God's morality. He decides what's good and what's bad. And any other morality, or the idea of everyone having their own morality, is wrong, because then someone could have a completely evil morality and it would have to be considered fine (if all are equal). Because, if some are better than others, who is deciding the absolutes of which qualities are "better"...unless it's God (or some inbuilt morality within us). A relative morality system either says all are equal (which then makes it meaningless) or hints at a God. And if there is a relative morality system where all are equal, then there is no moral God (which goes against everything I think most spiritual and religious people feel about God - we know God is there and wants us to do Good. In some ways, God is a manifestation of a higher calling to be our better selves). But, we can have no "better selves" without God. Without God, there is no morality period, and who cares what we do with our lives because ultimately it doesn't matter.

In fact, Star Wars has an absolute (Black and White) morality. This is one thing I love about it. I just read an article about how the prequels could have been good, basically if they made both the Jedi and the Sith into extremes (the Jedi representing absolute control, and selfless devotion to the common good, and the Sith representing passion and individualism) as "the bad guys" and only the moderate middle path, the one Anakin tries to take, into "the right path". I didn't like this article, because Star Wars is built on Black and White morality. Good is good, and evil is evil. You can turn the story into one about the benefit of grey areas, and it could still be a good story, but it won't appeal to Star Wars fans because that's not Star Wars.

Anyway, all that's beside the point.

Here is the Code I Believe. I can even call it the Christian Code (because it makes me a Christian, and I will adhere to this in times of doubt, and even use this as a shield to weather criticism by other Christians!). If you are a Christian, please see above - you will have a different code than mine. If you are not a Christian, please note that not all Christians believe this things, and some add different elements to their lists. This is in no way representative of all Christians, only what I believe.

The Code: What I believe

• There is a God who interacts with people. I've seen this quite clearly in my own experiences. I've had very clear messages from God for my life. Every time I get really far off track, He sends me a reminder that He is there. (using the word "He" but really God could be a "She" too.)
• There is value to pursuing good. I feel this strongly, both from my background, and my perception of God. We all do, which is why as humans we construct stories the way we do, with good guys and bad guys, and having something to aspire to. If there is no value to pursuing good, then there is no morality, and what's the point? And if there is a morality system in place, then there is value to pursuing good.
• If God interacts with people, from the content of interactions, it's clear He's trying to help us, and has future knowledge and a desire for us to be better. He may give messages, or hope to help through a situation, or guidance towards personal growth. He may give dreams about the future. He may give a message for someone else, in order to save them. In other words, God's interactions with people show that He cares about you and I. He tries to make or mold peopleinto our best selves. (Is that any different from the Jedi?) He also has them care about each other. It's not just ourselves in isolation growing into our best selves, but connecting each of us to others and to the world around us (the Force, anyone?)
•  God loves us. How else could you explain listening to someone else's problems 24/7 night and day, being there at a moment's notice, and always trying to help them and care about them, and never once being impatient or snapping at them in anger? You would only do that for someone you love. So God loves us and cares for us individually, yet cares for us collectively. In other words, we are meant to be connected with other people, and with the world around us. I don't know if that's a mandate from God per se all the time though or just when He has us do it.
• God endows some people with special powers. Or speaks very clearly to some. Don't ask me how this works; I don't know. I don't know if those people are simply created better conduits for hearing God or not. These are the Prophets in the Bible.
• God promised the message of a Messiah and sent him.: Jesus. Yeshua. Jesus Christ. A conduit of His power, but an extra special one at that.
• We need to listen to Jesus, and follow him. If he truly is someone who has the greatest amount of God's power, then he has some knowledge or closeness with God that we don't. So we should listen to him. Read his words, and do what he says. Believe what he says about God, because he knows better than we do!
• Our number one goal should be listening to God and serving Him.

I think I will put this in a more numbered form, because it's clearer.

The Christian Code: the real Jedi Code

1. Our number one goal should be listening to God and serving Him. 
2. Do good to others and the world around you. 
3. Be connected to others.  Make connections. Star Wars also promotes strong friendships.
4. Always be making yourself into a better person. Even in ways in which you don't want to or think you need to change. God will give you instructions...Follow them and take them to heart. 
5. Keep an open mind, and accept that your feelings, thoughts, and views will change over your life. This is a good thing. Let your heart be changed, softened, broken. That's the only way you can reach new mental heights.
6. Accept God's messiah Yeshua (Jesus).
7. Work towards accepting all of God's morality. You don't accept all the words of the Bible...yet. Be teachable. Work to accept the hard parts of what God says as well as the easy parts.