THE CORE OF THE MATRIX…

I was in seminary when the first Matrix movie came out and I enjoyed it for all kinds of theological and philosophical reasons; the fighting wasn’t bad either. The core issue for the main character Neo, was that if he was living in a world created by machines, he couldn’t stand the thought that he wasn’t in control of his life. Neo had to have the ability to choose in order for life to have meaning. In the real world, God certainly grants us the ability to makes choices, but ultimately we are followers of something or someone, and therefore slaves to that person or thing.

The word slave can be a tough descriptor to fall under. But anyone who has been a follower of Christ for any length of time knows that in order to live for God requires dependence on the power of the Spirit to get it done. Hence, we are dependent on His guidance and work in our lives. Did you catch that word, dependent? The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 6, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” (ESV) Did you catch that word, slave?

Non-believers are also slaves… to whatever they give themselves to. The end of naturalism is determinism. Every action within secular humanist philosophy is determined by the cause and effect relationship. The atheist living by the laws of nature has to acknowledge that if there is no God everything that happens is dependent on previous occurrences. Even the philosopher of human freedom Jean-Paul Sartre had to acknowledge later in life that we are “conditioned” beings. Human beings have no control over our place and date of birth, who our parents and siblings are, or if we grow up wealthy or poor. The atheist is also a slave to that which he or she claims ultimate allegiance to in order to live in the context handed to him or her.

Rather than surrendering our lives to Christ, Men often succumb to religion because it gives us a feeling that we are in control of our lives. What I mean by Religion is the belief that we can do enough good things or at least not do enough bad things to merit heaven when we die. We want ultimate control or our lives, but as I stated above, every human being who has ever lived on this little planet is dependent and ultimately a slave to something.

Therefore, freedom really only comes when we surrender our will to the eternal and infinite God of the universe. Only through the One, True God can we exist in world without boundaries if we’re living by the Spirit of God. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Galatians 5:18). That one little verse says more about the freedom offered in God through Jesus Christ then much of the rest of the Word. And it is a welcome reminder to me when struggling with temptation that to follow the Spirit of God is the only real freedom there is.

Have you surrendered?