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The aliens didn't come to conquer the earth. They came just to survive. It was an old species that long ago had discovered interstellar travel and were able to range throughout the galaxy to find all the physical resources they needed. They didn't lack for anything in that way.

But they were also a very tired species. They had been through everything, experienced all that the universe had to offer, and there was really nothing left to do. They had extended their lives to the limit that was scientifically possible -- and anyway, what was the point of a longer life if nothing new could be done? They knew that the universe would continue to spread out and cool down, and they couldn't see anything hopeful about that.

So they had come to one of the few planets in the galaxy that had borne an intelligent species, a species that had developed very quickly. The aliens wanted to know -- is there any way we can recapture some sense of youth, some excitement in life?

Their cloaked ship had orbited the earth, invisible to sensors from the planet, while the scout ships went down to explore some sites that had been selected. Now the away-teams had returned and were reporting to the commander and her staff.

Team A (of course they didn't use our alphabet -- I'm translating as best I can) was the first to report. They had observed the political process in one of the areas of the planet.

"They are now trying to choose a leader for the humans in that country," reported the team leader. "We assumed that they would have some objective procedure for determining the abilities of people, and select one who was well qualified and with some clearly specified plans. Apparently that is not the case. The person who is chosen will be the one who tells people repeatedly that he is good and that the other candidates are bad."

"Do any of the candidates have any vision for the future of their country?" asked the commander.

"Many of them speak about that while they are trying to be chosen," said the team leader, "but usually nothing comes of it once they are elected. They spend a great deal of time raising money and arguing about flags."

"That is not very encouraging," said the science officer. "What about Team B?" That had seemed to be their best bet, the observers who had gone to a big scientific establishment. The team leader stood up to report. "It is a laboratory for research and development in genetics. They expect to make a breakthrough that will enable them to extend the life of each of these humans to 200 of their years."

"Our species long ago exceeded that life span," said the science officer.

"Of course," said the commander. "But they are just beginning. More to the point -- do they have any idea what they will do with longer lives?"

"We could not see that they were giving much thought to that question," answered the team leader. "They seemed to be interested only in solving the scientific problem."

"Many of them do seem to have a great deal of leisure time," said the leader of Team C. "At the site to which we were assigned, there were thousands of humans at something called a baseball game. It was some sort of contest with very complicated rules that we were not able to understand."

"Thousands all engaged in this contest?" asked the commander.

"No -- there were only a few actually playing. The rest were watching and making noise, apparently encouraging what they called 'their team.' We were puzzled by that because the teams were actually owned by some wealthy person and the services of the players were traded from one team to another. We could not understand why those who were watching felt a deep sense of commitment to these paid performers."

"Quite illogical," said the science officer. "I am not optimistic that we can learn anything from this strange species."

"I agree," said the security officer. "And I have no hope at all that we'll get anything of value from our final away-team. We decided long ago that religion is a waste of time. Our species once had ideas about an all-powerful being who demanded obedience and worship and promised rewards and life after death, but we outgrew that. We learned that we had to ensure our own survival."

"Initially we thought that as well," reported the leader of the final away-team. "The religious group in the worship service that we observed did speak of an all-powerful God. But they also spoke about this God dying."

"How could that be?" asked the commander. "How could an all-powerful being die? And why would a God allow that to happen?"

"Apparently, this God is supposed to have become human and to have died in order to save his people. It was not very clear to us, but it seems that in their sacred text, God spoke of 'laying down his life' for his sheep -- which apparently is a metaphor for humans. And this God is supposed to be alive now even though he was killed."

"But that makes no sense! It's just the opposite of what a religion is supposed to be!" exclaimed the security officer. "Creatures are supposed to serve their God and be willing to die for him -- not the other way around."

"Of course," said the science officer. "It does go against common sense. But we have learned that common sense is not always a reliable guide. Suppose for the sake of argument that there were a God who was willing to die to save creatures. There might be some purpose to life in such a world. Death would not have the last word -- if that is possible."

"We weren't sent here just to study the customs of another species," said the commander. "We were to see if this species had anything that might give hope to our civilization. Could this strange idea about a God who became human and 'laid down his life' mean anything for us?"

"Our scholars will have to study the data more fully," replied the team leader. "But the sacred text that they read ended with some words that made us ask the same question."

I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
-- John 10:16

Comment

Christian claims that the Son of God was uniquely incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth have sometimes been criticized because they seem to give unwarranted importance to one species on one small planet in a vast universe. What about all the other intelligent species that might exist on other planets and that might be in need of salvation? The uses of the word "might" in that challenge should be noted: At present we don't know that there is life, let alone intelligence, beyond the earth, and if it does exist we know nothing about the state of its relationship with God. Nevertheless, some consideration should be given to the question. It would be very short-sighted for the church to put off any consideration of it until the first unambiguous signal from other intelligent beings arrives at the earth.

This isn't the first time such questions have been asked. How is a Jewish Messiah relevant to Gentiles? How can a church that evolved in a European setting welcome people from the rest of the world? Does a message of salvation for human beings offer any hope for other terrestrial species? The ways in which some of these questions have been dealt with may help us to think about the relevance of the gospel for extraterrestrials -- if there are any.

It is extremely unlikely that the language of John 10:16, whether it is understood as coming from the lips of Jesus or as a composition of the evangelist, had extraterrestrials in mind. It is much more probable that it refers to Gentile believers or perhaps to Christians in a later setting who were separated for one reason or another from the Johannine community. (cf. Raymond E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple [New York: Paulist Press, 1979], p. 90.) In fact, in the story I don't claim that this verse does have extraterrestrials in mind, but if extraterrestrials were struck by other aspects of the fourth gospel, this verse would be likely at least to raise the question of whether or not the Christ proclaimed by that gospel might mean something for them, too.