“The thief comes only to steal, slay, and destroy. I’ve come so you may have life, life greater than you’ve imagined” (John 10.10).
“If that’s what you think, then that’s all you’ll ever be.”
Sometimes, aliens can come bearing wisdom. Least they do in 1984’s The Last Starfighter, which stars Robert Preston as Centauri who delivers the words above to Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), who doesn’t want to be a Starfighter.
Alex, unbeknownst to him, has qualified for the honor of being a gunner in an multi-world alliance who are attempting to defend our part of the galaxy from invasion. In his defense, Alex was merely playing the Starfighter video game at his trailer park home where he lives with his mom and younger brother. A place he would love to escape, but has begun to accept that he never will.
What draws out Centauri’s response is Alex’s statement midway through the film after he’s turned down the opportunity to fight in a war millions of miles from home. I’m not like them—the Starfighter gunners and pilots—Alex claims. I’m just a kid from a trailer park.
The film follows an old formula, one as ancient as parts of Scripture. A young person, through events out of their control, finds that they are more than what they imagined they could be. Take a minute and you can probably think of two or three stories that follow this model. And there’s a good reason it’s a tale told again and again—because it rings true.
I was probably twelve when I saw this movie on video. I loved it. Why wouldn’t I, there’s spaceships and aliens, lasers, and Death Blossom. And I probably would have told you that those along with the characters were what made the film a favorite for me. I had to grow up a lot before I realized that it was this old story, those words of Centauri’s that made it resonate before I even knew what it was that this movie struck so deeply.
For much of my life…what am I saying, all my life I’ve felt exactly the way Alex did. I’m not like them. Take your pick who “they” are or what quality they is exhibited by them, it wasn’t something for me. I’m just a kid from Summer Avenue.
Now (alas) I didn’t ever have the experience of being a Starfighter to help provoke my imagination to dream bigger, but I have had those who believe in me who challenged me, dared me to think that maybe the only difference between me and them was that they weren’t busy getting in their own way like I often do.
It’s that belief, that imagination that is needed for this life that is greater that Jesus talked about. Jesus’ ministry was, at its core, about changing our minds—not in the way of ideas or dogma but about how we think. It’s a change in what we believe is possible, in our world and in ourselves. Why? Because that’s where it has to start. If we can’t first envision it, imagine that something more is possible then there’s no way today can be different from tomorrow.
And we might miss the opportunity to be more than we ever dreamt we’d be.
Divine Dreamer, may I have the courage to be more than I’ve imagined.