Darth Vader

I was a teen when the original Star Wars movie (Episode 4) was released. Like so many other fans, I was captivated by the special effects, the classic plot, and the question of “what will happen next?” at the conclusion. One thing, however, was not a question for me: I knew Darth Vader was bad and that Luke, Leia and their friends were good. I remember that Darth Vader masks were cool because of their novelty, but I don’t remember anyone who said that he was their hero. In fact, a lot of things in that era seemed as black and white as the costumes that were worn by Star War characters. Today, the world is quite different. (No surprise to any of you.) It’s a world of gray. It’s a world where kids are excited to wear Darth Vader costumes and where many other “villains” are admired. It’s a world without easy answers, and even if we think the “right” answer is obvious, others quickly disagree. As a result, I find myself shaking my head or bemoaning the pervasiveness and acceptance of evil. In reality, my black-and-white approach has its own problems. I’m tempted far too often to quickly categorize people as either good or evil. They’re either for me or against me, right or wrong, share my worldview or don’t (in which case they’re wrong). And while that may simplify life, simple isn’t always right. The right-or-wrong approach often goes far beyond basic questions of good and evil. A process-oriented business manager in a church may quickly be labeled as a legalist or Pharisee. A program director that does her best thinking at a coffee shop may be regarded as lazy. The boss who is forced into a tough performance conversation is said to be uncaring. Each of these labels reflects two-dimensional thinking, but people are three-dimensional. They are rich and complex. They have back stories and beliefs that affect what they say and how they act. In reality, no one fits neatly into a “good” or “bad” bucket. So before you slap that negative label on someone, stop and think for a second. Is there more to this person than meets the eye? What’s the rest of their story? As we learn in the Star Wars saga, even Darth Vader is more complex than we first realized. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>