Yoda’s Worst Advice
Yoda isn’t just the ultimate Jedi Master, he’s also a cultural icon and wisdom figure. His sayings are often quoted and offered as advice in difficult situations.
I’ll admit, from time to time, I will use a Yoda quote to relate to a client or to offer clarity in a season of complexity. How could I not? “Close your mouth and open your ears, you must. Then hear what your true heart is seeking, you will” and “You fail because you do not believe” are brilliant.
But, as the title of this article suggests, there are limitations to the Yoda way. His favorite subject to talk about, no doubt taking a page out of the Bible, was fear. And it’s on that subject that he offers his worst advice which is as follows: “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
In other words, Yoda is an absolutist on fear. Fear is bad. Unequivocally. End of story.
The modern Christian, for the most part, agrees. Fear has made the disavowed list. If you are a true follower of Jesus, then fear (and subsequently, anger and hate) cannot be a part of your life. It’s incongruent. After all, Jesus preaches courage, not fear.
But, if we take a look at specific examples of the life and teaching of Jesus, things aren’t quite so clear.
Explicitly, Jesus tells us to be afraid of the one who can kill the body and take the soul with it (Matthew 10). In other words, be afraid of the consequence of sin. It separates us from God and what is hell but a lifetime of separation from Love?
Implicitly though, Jesus intentionally uses the emotion of fear to jar and awaken the spiritually dead. Jesus speaks the truth. And sometimes the truth is scary.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus, the story of the rich landowner who dies the night he decides to build bigger barns, the wedding banquet where people are locked out of the masters house, the use of the image of an eternity of grinding and gnashing of teeth, are just a few of the scariest truths incorporated within Jesus’ teachings.
And what do they all have in common other than the fact that they elicit fear and spark repentance through that fear?
From my perspective, fear is a useful emotion whenever a person is tangled up in a particular sin. And if you have ever been caught in a pattern of sin, like me, then you know that fear of the loss of heaven can sometimes be the only motivation strong enough to overcome the desire to indulge once again in whatever sin grips your life.
Think here of an addict who finally gets his or her life together. Sometimes the motivation that finally breaks the cycle is love for another. But sometimes it’s fear. Fear of death in particular.
Now, does this mean I am advocating for fire and brimstone preaching? That I want to go on tour telling people to repent or be damned? No. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m also not saying that love isn’t a more powerful motivator in the long run. Because it is.
But a fear that is under the discipline of love and proves to increase the amount of faith, hope and charity within a soul is a useful emotion in the pilgrimage to heaven. It can serve as an alarm clock to wake you up from a spiritual slumber, it can motivate you to change your ways, and it can serve as a reminder to never return to your old ways.
So, while it is popular and simpler to simply classify fear as an unequivocal gateway drug to darkness, it just isn’t true. Sorry Yoda. (And in case you were wondering, he’s wrong about anger and hate too. They too can be used to draw you closer to the light of God).
Yoda has some great lines, some incredible lightsaber skills and admirable discipline, but he’s no Jesus. So let’s go ahead and de-yodify our understanding of fear!
