Resistance is Futile

I am a sci-fi girl.  So naturally,  one of my favorite TV series is Star Trek Voyager.

The starship Voyager has an awesome captain at the helm by the name of Janeway.  Since Captain Janeway needs an alien arch nemesis to show everyone on the ship who’s boss, she must confront a race called the Borg.

The Borg assimilate other races into their own, making them into hive-minded cyborgs- thereby destroying any of that race’s singular or collective individuality.   Their announcement to their conquests is always-

“Resistance is Futile”.

Hold on now, and be at peace.  This is not going to be a political or social rant.  And I promise you’ll get the point by the end.

Of course the aliens resist, and of course they are assimilated.  All except Earth.  Apparently, we are very good at resisting.

As a matter of fact, even in reality we are good at resisting, and it’s not just threats that we resist.

Some of us resist Christ as though if we succumb we will be assimilated into something we don’t recognize.

Oh come on, you knew this was coming, didn’t you?

Some of us resist His love because we feel unlovable.  In addition, we are afraid if we return love-even to Christ- we’ll be hurt.

Some of us resist Christ because we like our lifestyles and we are afraid if we accept Him we’ll stop having fun.

Some of us resist Christ because we see the behavior of other Christians and observe that they behave more like devils than ministers.

Some of us are afraid that we’ll turn into a caricature of faith-a laughable farce of late night talk show humor and that intelligent people will view us as cretins.

All of these points are valid.  As a matter of fact, I’ve felt all of these concerns myself at one time or another.  But…

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.  It doesn’t say He loved some of the world. And it also doesn’t say He loved just the nice (or mean) people or just the rich (or poor) people or the just the smart (or silly) people.

Yes, our lifestyles will change.  And believe it or not, you’ll want them to.  When we become Christians, our desires gradually turn to the better, more honorable things. Gradually means it does not happen right away, and there is a learning curve.  Cut yourself some slack.  Christ is with us even when we make mistakes.

You will always encounter Christians that don’t get it.  They don’t understand the true, unconditional love of Christ.  Pray for them, and remember-they are also learning and sometimes people have to learn the hard way.  Especially when they believe they are right.

And here’s a little something wonderful.  You were made just like you are on purpose. God needed someone just like you on the planet to make it a better place. He likes variety.  Just look at the flora and fauna of the earth.  When you accept your place in Him, you simply allow Him to finish the work He started in you as an individual.

So becoming a Christian does involve a little bit of assimilation.  Just a taste.  But you will remember who you are, and if you listen carefully and follow instructions you may find out that-

Resistance is futile…

(it’s really a love thing…)