For the last two newsletters we have been discussing the movie The Matrix. The prophets in the Old Testament told stories to a person in need when the message was particularly important and very difficult to hear. Like Nathan, with David; and Hosea with the people of Israel. It is not easy to accept that you have been a murderer and an adulterer; or that you have been chronically unfaithful to someone who would never betray you. It is much easier to listen to a story about “someone else.” With little thought this story could be about you, you listen carefully, with discerning ears and an objective mind, especially when it comes to the truth we all need to be accountable for our sins. After first seeing the fault of someone else, sometimes the heart can accept the hard truth: “Well, it has been done by others. Maybe, just maybe, I could be capable of this as well.”

In the New Testament, as the Kingdom of God is “at hand” and Jesus’ teaching goes deeper and deeper, He also chooses to use stories, or parables.

We watch movies like The Matrix and it is so easy to think we are just passing the time, that literature and movies are just art form we all enjoy, that we need a little break from the stresses of our day. Little do we expect that just below the surface detail in the plot, in the more general themes -- there is a message waiting for us, a treasure.

God ordained for these disguised and coded messages to be spoken. He is hoping we will hear the real message, like David and the people of Israel. But as surprising as it might sound, storytellers have also been speaking to us, unwittingly, and even to themselves!

For deep inside everyone’s heart and soul, lies the real story of humanity -- that once upon a time all was good in the Garden with God, but we became wayward, thinking we knew better, and came to believe we would be happier if we sought to satisfy our heart’s desire in the things of this world, as ends in themselves.

Ever since, we have struggled with this primary dynamic, trying to decide in our hearts which is more “true”:

- That all we really need is an intimate relationship with God. He will lead us along the path of blessing, and true rest can only come from those who rest in Him,

- Or true contentment and fulfillment can only come from our pursuit of all the things this life has to offer; all good things in themselves: success, possessions, notoriety, influence, fame, relationships, etc. That only these things will fill and satisfy us.

One or the other, take your pick. We can even be somewhat stuck in the middle, and I believe most of us are, maybe all of us, unless you are really some unbelievable saint.

And so, as our movie progresses, Neo learns there are really two worlds, not one. That one of these worlds always seemed real, but it is not. It was so real, he had believed it every single second of his life up until that point. Now, don’t get distracted by the detail in this plot -- that in the story, this “world” was a computer-generated virtual reality program playing on a continual loop in his brain as he lay asleep -- the greater message is that Neo was wrong, he believed in a world that was not what it seemed.

My experience was exactly the same when, for the very first time, I began to wake up to the truth the God of the Bible had always existed, I had just not known it. And as I awakened more and more, my experience was exactly like Neo’s. I was blown away. How could I be so wrong about . . . everything?

One or other, which will we believe? Which world -- the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of this world? Which set of values -- God’s values, or the values of this world?

I have come to believe that the whole of our lives, the whole of faith, really comes down to one question. Which world, at any moment in time, will we choose to believe? Which world will we choose . . . to live in?

Next time,
Sam