Inside the Matrix
Movies like to capture the essence of self-determination in overcoming tremendous odds. Characters surmount the impossible by finding courage and strength within themselves and with the help of their friends. There is often a sacrifice in some way to make the achievement possible.
This is the basis that we use to find encouragement and determination to live our lives. The problem is that is not how God wants us to see things. We can try to relate these movies and stories as analogies to the Christian perspective, using the sacrifice to compare to Christ and the value of unity and the ability for the “good” to defeat the great “evil”. However that leaves out the most important element, it leaves out God. We do it all ourselves and the idea of God is either pushed farther away into abstraction or brought down to a level of corruption. The Man, or big brother, the system, the matrix, the force… A cold, alien controller that tries to oppress the valiant spirit. The hero has to find a way to break free of the oppression and in doing so will free everyone else.
Overall the story is a contradiction. For example, In the Matrix, the Matrix was the reality. The characters had to borrow from the same reality they were trying to destroy. How can you step into a programmed reality and rewrite it without access or authority? We do the same thing in our own lives, lets say it is God that controls the Matrix, and you cannot unplug, or find a door out, or a glitch in the system. He writes the program for all reality and controls everything within. There are no tools, skills, no amount of knowledge, no special training that can increase our odds. We cannot sacrifice ourselves to free everyone else, that would be pointless, we have no real power in ourselves. So everyone pretends that they are in control, that maybe they will find the secret that will give them the freedom from the programming that is within them and all around them. Perhaps if we imagine a different reality, make up our own authority we can live in freedom. We always know the truth though, when the end comes and our version of reality is about to be unplugged, we know our control is about to end and it never belonged to us to begin with.
Some people realize this is reality. The futility of their existence. That they have no control and real freedom is subject to the boundaries that contain them. Then comes the question, what is the point of freedom or control anyway. What good would it do? How do we know who is the “good” and “evil” anyway? It is all futility. They realize that the individuality we have has no relevancy, we are blowing in the wind being defined by the places we land along the way. Some find this place in reality and lose all hope and purpose, and many just never look. There are others that keep looking, groping in the dark trying to find a purpose. That is when our eyes can be opened and we can see like the patterns in the code on the Matrix. Only we see that what controls the boundaries around us is not what oppresses us, it is our struggle to be free that binds us and tangles us in our own bonds. We have redefined reality for our own purpose and we have changed truth to fit. We use borrowed logic to try to cheat the inevitable. We say that we will choose the truths we want to believe, we will pick our own morality, virtues, purposes and our own gods. The world around us will be subject to our viewpoint and our own authority. Then we call that free will, spirit, and determination. It is really defiance, audacity and lies. The ultimate deception is our own. This is sin, this is the place our heart is in when we decide to put ourselves first. Redefine a little truth here or there to make it OK to lie, or rationalize a bit to steal, if we change enough around, we can even justify taking someones life. Without a universal authority who can say it isn’t?
So once we see that we have been busy deceiving ourselves into believing we our own authority, God helps us to see that he is the one is charge. He created us, he knows everything, sees everything, controls everything. He is always good, he is truth. He frees us from the chains of our own deception, he opens our eyes to the world as it was really meant to be, where we have a much greater purpose than just for ourselves, but at the same time we finally find real freedom, and we find our true selves.
To illustrate this in the movies, Neo would have to realize his futility, change his version of reality, and submit to the will of the Matrix. The Matrix would not be the great “evil” but really the great “good” that was not cold and oppressive and the Matrix would be the one to sacrifice and free everyone because it was the only one that had the capability. Something tells me people would be less likely to watch that. A powerless hero subject to the will of the system. We like our own version of reality reinforced not shaken or disturbed. Of course we want to believe that we have the power to overcome, that we can get stronger, dive deeper, beat the odds, but the truth is, we can only do what God allows us to do. If we listen to that truth, step out of the made up world around us, God promises us strength and courage and the power to overcome any odds.
The Rabbit Hole
Inside the Matrix
This is the basis that we use to find encouragement and determination to live our lives. The problem is that is not how God wants us to see things. We can try to relate these movies and stories as analogies to the Christian perspective, using the sacrifice to compare to Christ and the value of unity and the ability for the “good” to defeat the great “evil”. However that leaves out the most important element, it leaves out God. We do it all ourselves and the idea of God is either pushed farther away into abstraction or brought down to a level of corruption. The Man, or big brother, the system, the matrix, the force… A cold, alien controller that tries to oppress the valiant spirit. The hero has to find a way to break free of the oppression and in doing so will free everyone else.
Overall the story is a contradiction. For example, In the Matrix, the Matrix was the reality. The characters had to borrow from the same reality they were trying to destroy. How can you step into a programmed reality and rewrite it without access or authority? We do the same thing in our own lives, lets say it is God that controls the Matrix, and you cannot unplug, or find a door out, or a glitch in the system. He writes the program for all reality and controls everything within. There are no tools, skills, no amount of knowledge, no special training that can increase our odds. We cannot sacrifice ourselves to free everyone else, that would be pointless, we have no real power in ourselves. So everyone pretends that they are in control, that maybe they will find the secret that will give them the freedom from the programming that is within them and all around them. Perhaps if we imagine a different reality, make up our own authority we can live in freedom. We always know the truth though, when the end comes and our version of reality is about to be unplugged, we know our control is about to end and it never belonged to us to begin with.
Some people realize this is reality. The futility of their existence. That they have no control and real freedom is subject to the boundaries that contain them. Then comes the question, what is the point of freedom or control anyway. What good would it do? How do we know who is the “good” and “evil” anyway? It is all futility. They realize that the individuality we have has no relevancy, we are blowing in the wind being defined by the places we land along the way. Some find this place in reality and lose all hope and purpose, and many just never look. There are others that keep looking, groping in the dark trying to find a purpose. That is when our eyes can be opened and we can see like the patterns in the code on the Matrix. Only we see that what controls the boundaries around us is not what oppresses us, it is our struggle to be free that binds us and tangles us in our own bonds. We have redefined reality for our own purpose and we have changed truth to fit. We use borrowed logic to try to cheat the inevitable. We say that we will choose the truths we want to believe, we will pick our own morality, virtues, purposes and our own gods. The world around us will be subject to our viewpoint and our own authority. Then we call that free will, spirit, and determination. It is really defiance, audacity and lies. The ultimate deception is our own. This is sin, this is the place our heart is in when we decide to put ourselves first. Redefine a little truth here or there to make it OK to lie, or rationalize a bit to steal, if we change enough around, we can even justify taking someones life. Without a universal authority who can say it isn’t?
So once we see that we have been busy deceiving ourselves into believing we our own authority, God helps us to see that he is the one is charge. He created us, he knows everything, sees everything, controls everything. He is always good, he is truth. He frees us from the chains of our own deception, he opens our eyes to the world as it was really meant to be, where we have a much greater purpose than just for ourselves, but at the same time we finally find real freedom, and we find our true selves.
To illustrate this in the movies, Neo would have to realize his futility, change his version of reality, and submit to the will of the Matrix. The Matrix would not be the great “evil” but really the great “good” that was not cold and oppressive and the Matrix would be the one to sacrifice and free everyone because it was the only one that had the capability. Something tells me people would be less likely to watch that. A powerless hero subject to the will of the system. We like our own version of reality reinforced not shaken or disturbed. Of course we want to believe that we have the power to overcome, that we can get stronger, dive deeper, beat the odds, but the truth is, we can only do what God allows us to do. If we listen to that truth, step out of the made up world around us, God promises us strength and courage and the power to overcome any odds.
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