WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS
The Force Awakens can be summarized as tendencies in people. You have the wholehearted person who is Rey that chooses her path not because of expectations, pressures, politics, or power, but purely from her heart. Rey begins her story on Jakku, alone in the desolation trying to survive as a scavenger. From there her life is altered when she encounters Finn, a former Storm Trooper that leads her into conflict with the First Order and propels her on path to becoming a Force User. Rye when she encounter Anakin's Lightsaber has the repository of Jedi knowledge flood her mind in a vision. The intensity and immensity of the Calling of the Light leads her to flee and inevitably places her in clutches of Kylo Ren. It is when Ren is probing her mind with the use of the Dark Side, that Rey's powers surface, and her submission to Light begins. She is able to not only to resist Kylo, but even pushes him back and learns the Jedi Mind Trick and more to escape. Rey quickly shifts from fear of the Force to becoming a force for the Light. Her journey to Jedi comes from relationships. It is her love and care for Finn that makes her use the Force to acquire Anakin's Lightsaber and fight Kylo Ren. It is in this duel, that Rey defeats Ren and decides at last to seek out Luke Skywalker and become a Padawan learner (Jedi Apprentice). Rey commits and her heart is undivided. She sees how her power can help those she loves and how it can defy the darkness and one day deliver people from its clutches.
Kylo Ren has a divided heart. He is caught up in a conflict within. He feels the Call of Light, but dogmatically chooses the Dark. He has been deceived by Supreme Leader Snoke, and believes he is the heir apparent to his grandfather Darth Vader. Evidently it is unknown to Ren that Vader was redeemed and came back to Light. Kylo's conflict and doubts proliferate throughout the film. In one scene he says, "Snoke senses my weakness, that the Light is calling to me," and I another scene while holding Vaders mask he says, "forgive me, I feel the call of the Light again." Kylo feels the yearning, the calling of Light Side, but refuses to let his heart be whole. He feels the pressure of his insecurities, and wants the power of Dark Side to quell them, but instead it only makes him more uneasy and doubtful. The more Kylo fights against his inner compass, the more the Light calls, the more Darkness he embraces, the more the Light stings in his inner being. Kylo is not committed, he is not wholehearted, and instead is doing what is expected of him; is doing what he must for position, power, self importance, and acceptance at expense of his soul.
Rey's motivations come from within, she chooses her path out of love, compassion, and genuine care for others. The Force is not for her sake, but for others. She must become a Jedi to bring peace to others, not to herself. In this we find the call to discipleship in Christ, that our goal is not to empower ourselves alone and do things for only ourselves, but for the sake of others as well. We cannot get over a bad habit because we think it will earn spiritual points in heaven, make us super or better Christians, earn God's acceptance or approval; if we believe that then we have already failed. But if we decide to get over darkness and bad choices for sake of others, to say, "I don't want to do this anymore because it hurts others, and myself," we are empowered, because now the focus is not us which leads to the Flesh and darkness, but on others which Jesus who is the Light said, "love your neighbor as yourself," (Mark 12:31) and "love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34-35).
Ren's motivations are from without, he chooses his path out of blind loyalty, cruelty, and genuine fear of others and his insecurities. The Force is for his sake, not for others. He must become a Sith to bring passion to himself, and pushed down all other threats to his passion to be like Vader. In this we see the epitome of the flesh which wants at the expense of others, and that fosters on the devil's design to make people self focused and power hungry to the point of harming everything and everyone. Kylo is on never ending treadmill of having to prove himself to his master Snoke, the First Order, and most importantly to himself. He 'masks' literally and figuratively his frailty, insecurity, and feelings of inferiority with his power and outfit. Kylo Ren is like a child who knows what is right, but chooses the wrong because of fear, anger, lust, and insecurity. Ren's problem is he is trying to be something he is not.
The Bible says, "Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear (revere) your name.," (Pslam 86::11), "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh," (Ezekiel 11:19), and "love Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength." (Luke 10:27, Mark 12:30). We are called as believers to have whole heart before God. The Psalmist says, "O LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill? He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness, And speaks truth in his heart." (Pslam 15:1-2). Kylo Ren is not walking in integrity, nor speaking truth in his own heart, Rey on the contrary is. Jesus said, "It is not what goes into the man that defiles him, it is what comes out of him that defiles him." (Matthew 15:12). Kylo Ren is divided, he is constantly having to speak to himself, reassure himself, and coax himself into this role he has chosen, but that role does not fit. Rey on the other hand knows who she is, and more so has discovered her connection to the Force in midst of the chaos caused by the First Order. Rey has found as family, she connected with Han Solo, was tenderly soothed in her grief by Leia Organa and is now to be trained by Luke Skywalker in how to use the Light Side of Force. Rey began her journey as an orphan, abandoned, and lived as a loner, but now finds herself in the family of the Jedi, the Republic, the Resistance, and Finn. Kylo Ren in contrast has lost his family, killed some of them, and finds not a family in the Sith, the First Order, and Snoke, but rather oppression, harsh task masters, and a business of conquest that is ruthlessly carried out in Medieval fashion.
The Force Awakens, as were the rest of the installments in Star Wars Saga are about family. This is reason the series thrives because as one expert said, "to sum up Star Wars, I would say Fathers and Sons." The entire Saga is about those without a family finding one, and those who do have family discovering its heritage and the hardships that come with it. This is why Star Wars continues to draw a following, because at its core is a fundamental truth that all people of every race, creed, and ideology believe: we all want a family and to belong to it. This is why there are gangs, causes, even empires are built on familial lines. Family is centerpiece of life, one God created and wanted to proliferate and subdue the world (Genesis 1:22-28, cross ref Genesis 9:7). The Force Awakens in us the reality that we are in a family of faith (fidel) as Christ followers, we have a family we are born into, and we have family that is comprised of diverse people who are connected to different causes. In the end we can choose to be like Rey and help our families by pursuing the Light of Jesus Christ, and bring life, love, truth, hope, and righteousness to them or we can turn to the Dark Side and against all bonds of fellowship for position, power, passion, pleasure, and performance to prove ourselves like Kylo Ren did.
A great Scripture to sum it up is this, "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15). The other gods are the devil, fallen angels, and spirits that will drag you into darkness and death (Matthew 7:13, Ephesians 5:11), but the Lord who is Jesus Christ will lead you into light and life (John 8:12, John 10:10). Choose Christ.
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