Alien: How our Righteousness is Other-Worldly

Alien.

Two things have caused me to ponder this word over the last few weeks.

First, the film “Arrival.” The movie depicts a linguist attempting the impossible: translator and ambassador for an alien race. Her ups and down, victories and defeats merit deeper study in a separate blog and discussion (I am especially fascinated by their assertion about language effecting our perception of reality: “the theory that the language you speak determines how you think…it effects how you see everything.”) But I digress…

Second, I have been binge-playing Mass Effect: Andromeda. It’s the newest installment in a series of video games rooted in interstellar/intergalactic exploration, diplomacy and inevitable conflict and combat (because, duh, explosions are fun). Both really wrestle with what it means to be alien.

Both help us see that both humans and the other guys perceive the “other” as out of this world, as alien. Like fish out of water, both struggle with the idea of how to cohabitate or even survive with each other. Most alien interactions literally display fish-out-of-water experiences with each species displaying differing needs in air composition and consumption. Is it any wonder that nautical terms and nautical-like equipment seem equally commonplace in both space and sea exploration?

We have such mixed emotions when it comes to aliens. We are simultaneously curious/fascinated, while being filled with fear/dread. We discover both allure and revulsion at how truly different, how truly alien they are. The yearning for cohesion, for restored and healthy relationships permeates this subsection of the sci-fi genre. This yearning for right-standing, for relationships-righted, is the essence of what the term righteousness means. To have the righteousness of God is simply to be in the right sort of relationships with Him, how He created us to relate to Him.

So, what do these films and games about aliens and the general concept of aliens have to do with God, scripture, or my spiritual life? Everything.

One of the more helpful terms in the Protestant articulation of the gospel includes the word, alien: “alien righteousness.” Alien righteousness, simply put, is righteousness that is out-of-this world, not creaturely, not of ourselves, but rooted and founded upon the solid rock that is Jesus Christ. In particular, we are describing how Jesus’ righteousness—the fact that He lived the perfect life so that we don’t have to—is all we need for salvation. We need not add any personal or internal righteousness based on what we do (or more accurately in legalistic traditions, what we don’t do).

Here’s the point. The New Testament quotes the phrase from the Old Testament (Habakkuk 2:4), “the righteous shall live by faith” three different times. First, Paul uses it negatively or as a sharp contrast in Galatians 3:11 to show that we will be righteous, not by the Law or faith in our own ability to measure up to any set of rules, but by faith in Jesus perfectly fulfilling the Law. Second, Paul uses this phrase positively in Romans 1:17 to illustrate the beauty of the gospel which delivers us the wondrous gift of righteousness via the gift of faith. Third, Hebrews 10:38 reminds us of the importance and high stakes of the gospel; namely, that we gain the righteousness of God, the opportunity to enjoy eternity with God, true and everlasting life, only by faith in Jesus.

In the spirit of space films and games, may I suggest a Star Wars prayer? “Help me Lord Jesus Christ, you’re my only hope. May I never trust in myself. May I accept that there is no ‘try.’ Instead, I commit my spirit into your loving hands, because your righteousness is alien to me, way beyond my grasp, like a galaxy far, far away.”