The Matrix of your mind!

One of my favorite movie series of all-time is the matrix series... Now there are some very obvious parallels with Christianity but sometimes we can forget about those parallels. One of the things that struck me the most while watching it this last time comes right at the beginning of the first movie. The matrix is being explained to Neo and what it is and what it does.

"The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work... when you go to church... when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch. A prison for your mind."

Ok so let's start with this quote... Have you ever wondered if there was more than just this physical world? Cause there is, Jesus says that "he who has eyes should see", now this does not necessarily refer to the spiritual realm that is around us, but it definitely has potential to. I think that one of the greatest tools of the enemy is to say that what you sense is all that there is. He wants us to be oblivious to the spiritual world around us. The enemy wants to keep you in the "prison for your mind". To keep you "blind to the truth" and keep you "a slave" to him. I think many times we too easily accept this as true. It is so much easier to simply accept what is in front of us as reality and ignore the fact that there is a spiritual realm around us, that has just as much effect (if not more) than what we can see, taste, touch, smell, hear. As soon as we can learn (through the help of God) to start to see, to open our eyes, we can escape the prison and learn about the world behind our world. This is a very uneasy thought and feeling. The world of our senses is so comfortable but it is a mistake to simply stay content with just this. There are battles going on around us everyday. So now to the next quote:

"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system, and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so injured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it"

I think this is so true of a lot of unbelievers. this is why bible-thumping is such a flawed way of trying to evangelize to people. We can see people just like us around us everyday. A lot of them are not ready to accept Jesus christ as their lord and saviour. We cannot fault people because they are not ready, but we need to be ready when they are ready. This means befriending people, accepting them as they are understanding that God is working within their systems and beliefs and is trying to get them to a place where they understand that something is wrong with those systems and beliefs. That there is something more than the "matrix" they have created for themselves. That there is a world that is full of life that only God can give people! One of the most clever lines in the matrix movies comes when neo has just been freed from the matrix and asks why his eyes are sore. Morpheus responds with "because you've never used them before". This is true of new believers, hopefully the church can open their eyes to a new world that they have never seen before. something that causes them to ask why they never noticed it before, and the church can say "because you have never truly seen, never truly lived, and now you can"!

There is a lot more christian truth in the matrix movies even if it was not meant to be there. I think this is just touching the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully this will enrich your matrix movie watching and will help you in your walk. I pray that we could learn to open our eyes and truly see the truth and life that God has for us.