R2-D2 is My Superhero

The Quirky Star Wars Robot Teaches Us to Keep the Faith

My neighbor knows I love to find the gospel in a good movie. When she invited me to speak at her student ministry’s winter retreat, it wasn’t long before a text came through, “Hey do you think you could incorporate R2-D2 into one of your talks?” For some reason, their graphic designer decided to put R2-D2 on the front of their t-shirts, and it became a theme for the weekend.

But here’s the deal. You ready for a confession? I feel like I need to look around both shoulders to make sure no one is eavesdropping. I am not a Star Wars fanatic by any stretch of the imagination. There, I said it.

Finding the truth about God and my faith in just about any movie is my jam. Not to mention, the Star Wars series has some obvious spiritual takeaways. Nevertheless, I’ve just never gotten into them.

I did try once. Since I’m a bit of a linear person, I thought I’d start in chronological order of the year each movie was released. Then I’d make my way through all 45 of them. (Who really knows how many there are anyway?!) I made it halfway through the second film before I couldn’t go on—Sci-Fi’s just not my thing.

Nevertheless, with a little help from Google, I was on my way to becoming the world’s newest Star Wars fan. Here’s what I found on Starwars.fandom.com about R2-D2:

“A smart, spunky droid who would serve a multitude of masters over his lifetime, R2-D2 [never had] a full memory wipe nor did he ever receive new programming…These factors [resulted] in an adventurous and independent attitude. Often finding himself in pivotal moments in galactic history, his bravery and ingenuity saved the galaxy on numerous occasions.”

What a mouthful. But get this: R2-D2 saved the galaxy on multiple occasions. That he was an unlikely source of heroism is an understatement. He may have only communicated in weird beeping noises, but I think he’s a pretty cool dude. Here’s why:

R2-D2, the Independent Droid

I loved learning that R2-D2 never completely reprogrammed to the various scenarios he entered into. He had multiple masters and was under the leadership of different forces, but he never lost his original programming. What’s my point? He may have been a bit quirky at times, but always had something to offer. Why? He had what I’ll call ancient wisdom inside.

With all the chaos around us, with the world defining truth like sinking sand, R2-D2 reminds us of our solid foundation. For those who believe, that foundation is in Christ. No matter how our culture shifts, whether to the right, left, or anywhere else, we have something more secure to stand on.

We’re not robots like R2-D2 and that’s a good thing. But to follow Jesus, we need a reboot back to the original. Culture provides plenty of counterfeit offers to peace and meaning in our lives; our own hearts also cause us to stray. But God, in his lovingkindness, provides spiritual nudges that guide us back to him. Whether or not you’ve noticed it lately, God’s been speaking to you, and he is up to something in your life. God is calling you to take your next step of faith into a life of meaning and purpose with him.

You may be wondering what that next step may be. What would it look like to remain faithful to the source of life and truth, Jesus? There’s a story in the gospels called “The Good Samaritan.” For me, it exemplifies how we can stop being robots in our culture and live out REAL faith.

Spiritual Reboots

But first, let’s take this R2-D2 metaphor a little further. What are those potential “reboots” in our lives that we could get caught up in that R2 refused to take on? They often end up in one of three categories: pleasure, popularity, and performance. These become what I call our little earthly heavens. What do I mean by that?

We get impatient waiting for life on earth to be made right once and for all. So, we take whatever promises a little earthly pleasure or meaning in our lives and make it our “heaven.” Maybe it’s the allure of power or the insatiable need for control. Perhaps it’s material wealth, rising through the ranks of a career path, or championing a cause without love as the source.

Students might run to shoes that promise popularity—only they’re shoes. Society will decide there is something cooler and better by next week. The point is, these things don’t hold. So, we keep reprogramming to the next thing and the next thing, hoping to find what will truly satisfy. In our search for our heavens on earth, lowercase h, we think of The Way of Jesus through the lens of religiosity: as just another feeling. We think it could give us what we are looking for no more than could trendy shoes or gaining a social media following.

But when you encounter the living Jesus, it is a game changer. He is the Son of God who knows you better than you know yourself and yet is “over all and through all and in all.” God invites us into a story much greater than the narrative of this world, but we must choose to live it out.

Don’t be like Everyone Else

The story of The Good Samaritan is tucked inside Luke chapter 10, just after Jesus sends out his followers to start their own ministries spreading the good news. He’s speaking to those who have gotten distracted by these “mini-heavens”—the Pharisees whose priorities are all out of whack. In the story, Jesus gives an example of this guy who has fallen on hard times. Maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Or perhaps he was up to no good (we really don’t know this guy’s back story).

We only know the man is in trouble. He’s been beaten severely, stripped of his clothes and everything he owned, and left for dead on the side of the road.

Then, Jesus does something really interesting with his storytelling, and he has a religious person, a priest, enter the scene. He’s like ok, guys, what do you think this religious man will do when he walks onto the scene? Surely, he’ll be a good example, right?

Instead, Scripture says, “when he saw the man (beaten and half dead), he passed by on the other side.”

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. After the priest comes along, another religious person passes by. Maybe not in as much a leadership role as the priest himself, but still, a religious person, the text says. He is a Levite—he’s like you and me. And he says, “so too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw the man” who needed help, he did what? He “passed by on the other side.”

Unlikely Heroes

It isn’t until the Samaritan comes along—of those whom the religious people despised—that the man gets the help he needs. It says, “when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him.” Rather than walking to the other side, hoping someone else would come along and help, he approached the man. It says, “he went…and he bandaged up his wounds.” He poured oil and wine, the best and most expensive of what he had, and placed him on his donkey.

He stopped whatever he had going on that day and made this complete stranger a priority. A man who may not have been the best person to get mixed up with. “Wasting” a whole day, he placed him on his own donkey. He then took his own money to pay for a room at the inn so he could get nursed back to health.

In our day and age, what would it mean to look the homeless person in the eye and offer the help you have? Or talk to the kid at the other lunch table without a friend? We must sometimes ignore the “good advice” of the world. We must reject the “common sense” of believing that going out of our comfort zone won’t make a difference.

I’m personally here to tell you that it will, and I’ve seen it countless times in my own life. Just today, I received a gift card to one of my favorite stores from a friend I met three years ago, begging on the side of the road. His ability to give back proves that his life looks much different than it did three years ago—a different story for a different day.

Perhaps the greatest reboot you need today is to believe that lives can change. Jesus is alive and active. He’s just waiting to use your faithfulness in great and powerful ways to bring hope and healing to a lost generation.

True Religion

Jesus says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” (James 1:27).

And so this is my R2-D2 challenge for you. No matter what master the heroic droid served, R2-D2 didn’t forget the original. He stayed true to the one who created him, allowing him to see things those around him didn’t. He didn’t go along with whatever new master came along or allow himself to be programmed to some version of hopelessness. Trusting that what was inside him held the answer even in life’s most challenging moments, he was faithful to his original programming.

Holy Spirit, may we not let the world inform our reality. Rather may we trust your loving guidance into a life of intimacy, security, meaning, and purpose.

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” –Ephesians 3:20 

Want more ways to fall in love with the gospel through a good story? Read my Top 20 Gospel Moments in Disney Movies.

POSTED BY

Jenna

Jenna Kruse is a teacher but not in a classroom. She loves to think outside the box and inside the Word and is daily in need of an attitude adjustment. She is a wife to Justin, a mother to three children ages 10, 8 and 5 and a mentor to teenagers and young adults. You can learn more about the heart behind her blog HERE.

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