Where no man has gone before

William Shatner, star of the original “Star Trek,” now has actually gone into space and written a book about his experience, which he summarized in a Variety magazine article I found while researching for this column.

While I had a good idea for this article based on the concept of boldly going where no man had gone before, the article didn’t go where I thought it would and became largely based on the Variety article. So, here’s what I gleaned from the Variety article that might be of value to Christians and to encourage others to consider becoming Christians.

In the book, Shatner confessed while practicing for the voyage, he had trouble strapping himself down, saying, “I didn’t nail it every time.” He also wrote about the increasing pull of gravity as they lifted off.

Although Christians are forgiven of our past sins, we still don’t “nail” the pull of sin to conquer it as we should (Ephesians 5:1-16; Romans 7:14-25; 8:26-27).

Because we still sin, although trying hard not to, Jesus’ blood continues cleansing those who’ve followed God’s directions for initial cleansing, which makes them Christians, and continued cleansing as Christians thereafter (Acts 2:38-39; Galatians 3:26-29; 4:6-7; 1 John 1:5-9; 3:1-3; 5:1-5).

Once forgiven, the guilt of sin’s weight is removed, which we can enjoy like astronauts weightlessly somersaulting in their spacecraft (Isaiah 1:4; 2 Timothy 3:6; Matthew 11:28-30).

Shatner also mentioned a brief, unexpected delay in the liftoff. For many, it seems God is delaying Jesus’ return, allowing the times to worsen day by day, while others use the delay to scoff about God’s existence (Acts 17:31; 2 Peter 3:1-13). Even Jesus didn’t know when he’d return, warning us to be always on the alert (Matthew 24:36-51). Shatner was slightly put off by news of the delay, calling it untimely “unvarnished honesty.”

That’s exactly what we need regarding our sin problem and how to avoid its outcome (Romans 3:23; 6:23). We’re to get the truth about that straight from God (John 17:17; 1 John 3:18-24; John 14:15-21).

Finally, having left Earth’s atmosphere, Shatner admitted all his previous notions about space were false. Expecting to see the wonders and mysteries of the universe, all he saw was vicious, cold darkness, leading to “the strongest feelings of grief” he’d ever encountered. Instead of a celebration, his experience felt like a funeral.

Many people will experience that unexpectedly when Jesus returns having thought they were saved, although it won’t be cold darkness (Matthew 25:31-46, 30).

Instead, they’ll realize they’d looked in the wrong direction and followed a false path to salvation rather than following Jesus (John 1:1-5; 14:1-6; Matthew 7:13-27; Revelation 20:11-15; 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10).

Well, I’m out of space (no pun intended) for this article. I’ll do a follow-up with more about Shatner’s trip into space and my original thoughts for this article. In the meantime, to avoid a dark eternity, follow God’s plan for you to have the brightest of futures (Jeremiah 29:11).

Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected].