The Aliens Are Here — So What?

We’ve gotten used to UFOs, but only in the form of second- or third-hand stories like the ones about ghosts and leprechauns and Bigfoot. But now we’re seeing footage of the things captured on people’s iPhones from all across the country. A Coast Guard crew off New Jersey reported a flock of the mysterious objects — each “about the size of a car” — following their ship one evening earlier this month. Senators and governors are even talking about seeing them on TV.

The rash of sightings since November is new and different. And it’s enough to shake the faith of some Christians, who wonder if the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life invalidates our worldview.

So what if the aliens have arrived? What would the ramifications be to our faith? Well, I’ll tell you what it would mean to me in a moment.

But first, a few points on the bright side:

Take Them to Our “Leader”

Timing: For all the talk about lack of government transparency, I’m surprised more people haven’t pointed out that our invaders have come in the nick of time. We have until January 20 to send them Joe Biden’s way when they demand, “Take us to your leader” … and I hear they do probes. Deep, painful probes.

Location, location, location: If they’re hostile, they couldn’t have picked a more fitting (or fun!) place to harass people than the United States. Particularly in the prophetically named “flyover country,” where rednecks are now shooting at them as if they were varmints.

The meat of the matter: Don’t be myopic about their arrival. It’s not just about us discovering that there’s intelligent life in outer space — it’s also about them discovering the nature of the earthlings, including our stubborn refusal to live up to our own intelligence.

They Come in Peace

In all seriousness, though, I won’t mock you if you really think the aliens are here. Let’s assume they are. Here’s my honest-to-goodness knee-jerk reaction:

The aliens being here doesn’t mean my neighbor isn’t. And the fear of an extremely advanced and possibly hostile race of extraterrestrials doesn’t cancel out the fear of the Lord.

My organization, the Vulnerable People Project (VPP), tracks and responds to cases of people who deserve our solidarity — people in truly alarming situations. Often, they’re hemmed in by powerful and corrupt local governments, militants, or hostile neighbors, and conveniently ignored by those with the most power to draw the world’s attention to their plight.

VPP directly communicates with these people — from patriotic Christian minorities in Sudan to the homeless in my hometown, from Uyghur Muslims surveilled and put in concentration camps by the Chinese Communist Party to the Yezidi people targeted for extermination by jihadists throughout the Middle East, and from children sheltering in the midst of bombings in Gaza to girls hunted by the Taliban and slave traders in Afghanistan.

VPP runs influence campaigns to inspire solidarity with them among much freer, much more influential and wealthier people like you and me — who often have it in our power to meaningfully intervene.

Someone Is Coming, All Right

Here’s the thing.

We’ve heard the basics of Christianity 101 for even longer than we’ve heard stories of UFOs. And in a way, we’ve gotten too used to the Gospel. If you doubt it, just consider how the possibility of “First Contact” threatens to push out of our minds the imminence of the Second Coming.

So those unchanging basics are worth repeating: to love and serve God, to love your neighbor, to treat “the least of these brethren” with the love and honor due to Christ Himself — that is what makes up the stuff of the meaning of life.

I recommend keeping God and neighbor so constantly in mind that aliens arriving to meddle in our lives can’t really shake you.

But I have a confession: I have the advantage and the privilege of working for an organization whose mission is just about identical with the Beatitudes. So I don’t mean to brag so much as to admit I get to see every day the answers to the quiz we’ll all have to take when we face our Judge.

I think it’s because of those daily reminders — and not because of any merit of my own — that I’ve found myself primed against the worries that our new alien visitors are stirring up in the general public. I believe that calm in the face of this swarm of flying saucers is a gift that every Christian has a right to and should take advantage of right now.

We Are Already Under Siege

While some panic and talk about the possibility of our nation coming under siege by attackers from outer space, let Christians be the ones who only think to themselves: “Ah, that reminds me of the people under siege throughout the earth already. Let me check and see if they left me any new messages in my inbox.”

And with that, I’ll sign off and check the VPP inbox for those messages. I know there will be more than a few during these cold months, when many are without shelter or fuel — especially during this time of war and uncertainty in Gaza, in Syria, in China…

While what’s been going on in the sky since November is new, what matters most, in a way, is the suffering that reminds us there’s “nothing new under the sun” — suffering that requires our attention and solidarity as Christians, for as long as we earthlings remain fallen and forgetful of each other and of Our Lord.