THE MOVIE "THE MATRIX" VIEWED ALLEGORICALLY

(written May 1999)

During vacation, I saw the movie "The Matrix". Noticed some

interesting parallels to
spiritual matters, so thought I’d jot them down for grins. Of course,
some parts are a real
stretch, but the nuances are there. (No, I don’t think this was
intentionally some "religious
movie" – just a secular film that happened to have some similarities.
And the creators obviously
attempted the typical move to hint at the central character "Neo" as a
Christ-type, but "Neo"
actually plays a much different role than that – a role which I
suppose the creators didn't
centrally intend, much less to the degree I will outline below!) Also,
there were hints of other
religions also – palm reading, oracle, Hindu references, new age, etc
– not just Christianity.
And finally, I haven’t read the book nor seen the movie many times, so
some bits are inexact.
But, here ya go…

key: M = "Matrix" – the fictional movie

S = "Spiritual" – the spiritual parallel

I. PRIMARY ALLEGORIES 
(to Christianity; Neo as sinner becoming a Christian)

M. Like a ‘splinter in the mind’, a man (Neo) senses something

is wrong with life. (Even at
a crowded dance club, Neo is distant, somber, separated.) The world no
longer seems
completely substantial, it is more like a ‘dream’ where truth lies
beyond in a wakened state. As
these sensations grow, tip-offs from that ‘outside’ world become more
obvious (notes on his
monitor, cell phone calls, etc.), drawing him toward learning the
truth.

S. The Holy Spirit leads a lost person to question his life,

with a growing dissatisfaction
over the wrong state of self and surroundings. Sin develops a bad
taste; the lost person begins
to want to be free from the empty death that it brings (like Neo
keeping away from the dance
floor.) As the person continues to listen, the Spirit’s voice becomes
keener in his soul, drawing
him toward the truth of Christ. ("No one can come to Me unless the
Father who sent Me draws
him…" – Jesus in John 6:44. Holy Spirit convicts of sin,
righteousness, judgment, and guides
into truth – John 16:8,9) M. Just before Neo is introduced to
Morpheus, Trinity stops Neo and
tells him: ‘Be honest.’

S. In order to find truth, a man must be willing to be

truthful with himself and God. "The
Lord is near to all who call upon Him; to all who call upon Him IN
TRUTH." - Psalm 145:18 The
man who hides his sin will not find truth. (Psalm 66:18) Salvation
involves being transparent
with God; being brutally honest about your condition.

M. Morpheus tells Neo something like, "You have only searched

for me a short time, but I
have searched for you all my life."

S. Long before the sinner responds to the drawing of God in

his life, God has been
seeking after that sinner. (See Luke 19:10, Luke 15, Romans 3:11,
dozens of other refs.)

M. Neo meets Morpheus, who describes the false matrix world:

a) you were born into it, b)
your physical senses experience it c) it is everywhere; in all life
systems – work, church, taxes,
etc. d) it is pulled over your eyes like a noisy veil to hide the
truth behind it

S. Every human was born sinful into a fallen world. We traffic

in world systems – politics,
economics, technology, etc. This fallen world saturates our senses,
saying that the physical is
all there is, using busy noise and sensory input to obscure and
distract from the truth of spiritual
things beyond.

M. Morpheus (a type of ‘evangelist’) encourages Neo to ask his

question again. Morpheus
confirms the existence of the matrix, and directly offers to show Neo
what it is.

S. At some point, the seeker finds the direct source of an

answer – scripture, an
evangelist, etc – that confirms that there is indeed something more
than this life and offers the
exact solution for finding truth.
 M. At this point, Neo must choose to act. Morpheus says – "I
can only show you the door –
but YOU have to walk through it." Simply listening to Morpheus is not
enough – Neo must act.
By taking a RED pill, he will ENTER the truth. If he takes a blue
pill, he abandons the truth and
resigns himself to lies.

S. This is the all-essential ‘step of faith’ for the sinner.

Scriptures and truthful people can
point out the ‘door’ (Jesus said, "I am the door; if anyone enters
through Me, he will be saved…
- John 10:9), but each individual must then make his choice to ENTER
that door in a personal
transaction between he and Christ. Christ died to pay for our sins
with his RED blood – a
person must choose to put his faith in that atoning blood sacrifice to
be freed from sin.
("..righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who
believe…-Rom 3:22, "…having
been justified through his blood…"-Rom. 5:8,9, He who believes has
life, he who does not
believe does not – John 3:18 & 36, I John 5:11-13)

M. It’s wryly interesting that the first words Neo hears upon
his taking the RED pill are
"Follow me."

S. As soon as a man becomes a Christian through faith in

Jesus, God immediately
demands obedient discipleship. Among Jesus’ initial commands to his
disciples were "Follow
me." (Matt. 4:19, 8:22, 9:9, and many more.)

M. Upon taking the RED pill (analogous to blood of Christ),

the man (Neo)…

a) is awakened from ‘sleep’ "we are not of night nor of

darkness, so let us not sleep as
others do…" 1 Thess 5:4-5   "you were formerly dead in your trespasses
and sins, in which
you formerly walked according to the course of this world…" Eph 2:1 b)
finds that his former
world was not permanent "…the form of this world is passing away…" I
Cor. 7:31  "…for our
citizenship is in heaven…" – Phil. 3:20, we are "aliens" to this world
(1 Pet. 2:1) c) finds that he
had been dependent upon machines (world system) to live, both body and
mind "you have died
with Christ to the elementary principles of the world…" Coloss. 2:20 
"the life that I now live in
the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God…" Gal. 2:20 d) finds that
nearly everyone else is
sleeping / dead "the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are
few who find it…" Matt. 7:14
e) is a new ("Neo" = "New") different creature (bald, with tubes,
etc.) "if any man be in Christ, he
is a new creature…" 2 Cor. 5:17 f) finds that his muscles are
atrophied and need to be built up
…He is like a baby. He was old physically, but newborn spiritually -
thus born "again": 1st birth
is physical, 2nd birth is a spiritual one (John 3:3-8) g) finds that
his eyes hurt because he has
‘never used them’. "…unless a man be born again, he cannot SEE…"-John
3:3. True spiritual
sight begins upon spiritual birth by faith in Christ h) realizes he is
at war (machines vs. humans)
A new Christian realizes there is a war raging between God and Satan &
all of their  respective
angels. "We wrestle not against flesh and blood (i.e. the people of
the world) but
against…spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places…" Eph.
6:12  

M. At first, man (Neo) is angry at learning the truth – it is

not what he expected. His mentor
answers that "I only promised you the truth – I didn’t promise the
truth would be easy."

S. New Christians must realize that they have entered a war.

It will not be easy, but victory
is assured.

M. There are enemies in the matrix – in the real ‘outside’

world, they are nightmarish
machines – that are represented digitally in the matrix as humanoid
‘agents’. These agents, like
Neo, are not part of the matrix either; they are ‘outside’ it, yet can
enter it and move powerfully
through it. They have two goals (1) keep the citizens asleep so that
they can continue to drain
their lives, and (2) eliminate any threats. Agents can work through
any matrix-bound citizen,
often choosing tempting methods (like the woman in red).

S. Christians have true enemies also – spiritual enemies that

in the spiritual, permanent
reality of the ‘outside’ world are Satan and his demons. (See Eph.
6:12 above). These wicked
forces work within the world system, wanting all humans to stay in
deception (2 Cor. 4:4 – they
‘blind the minds of the unbelieving’) and to be forever separated from
God. They fight against
anyone trying to reveal the truth, both with direct persecutions, and
with temptations to distract
Christians from the mission and ruin them.

M. Not all of the citizens in the matrix can be saved. Some

older ones will not be able to
handle the massive transition to truth after a long life of illusion.
Others love the matrix – and
will even "fight to keep it!" Others will take much time to persuade
to the truth.

S. The more cemented in his ways and traditions a man becomes,

the harder it is to
dislodge him to truth. Some, even when they learn the truth of Christ,
prefer sin and darkness
instead ("and this is the judgment: that Light (Christ) has come into
the world, but men loved the
darkness…" -John 3:19). Others will take much time – planting seeds,
watering, fertilizing,
persuading.

M. Neo knows that he must return to the matrix to 1) save

humans and 2) fight agents.

S. Jesus asked that Christians be left in the world to

continue His work of bringing men to
God, knowing that it also means warfare against the enemy. (Jesus
prayed about the disciples
- and all believers in John 17:20 - to God the Father: "I do not ask
You to take them out of the
world, but to keep them from the evil one…as You sent Me into the
world, I also have sent
them…" -John 17:15-21). Again, "we do not wrestle against flesh and
blood…but against
spiritual forces of wickedness…" – Eph. 6:12.

M. Neo is taken through simulations and into the matrix

itself. He now sees himself as
separate from the matrix ("I used to eat there!…[they had] good
noodles…"). He is in the
matrix, but not truly of it. Though a simulation of himself walks the
matrix, in reality his body is
seated above (in spaceship lab).

S. Christians must see themselves as still working within the

world, but not of the world.
"They are from the world…We are from God…" - 1 John 4:5,6 Jesus said,
"they [disciples] are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world" – John 17:14. Though
a Christian still has a
temporary physical body in the world that he uses to work in, he is
also "seated in the
heavenlies in Christ Jesus" spiritually. - Eph. 2:6.

M. Neo is taken through training to learn how to operate

within the matrix. This is the
biggest lesson of all – to walk by the truth, not by illusion! The
truth is the reality outside, and the
matrix is just a simulation that a mind grounded in truth can
overcome. Neo can move in
simulation as fast as he WANTS to move – as fast as he BELIEVES he can
move. Morpheus
challenges Neo, "Don’t THINK you are [fast] – KNOW you are."

S. A Christian must learn to "walk by faith, not by sight." -2

Cor. 5:7. The senses lie, giving
false limits. Our natural abilities (wisdom, strength, etc.) also lie
– God can infinitely exceed
them, pouring His strength out where we are weak (2 Cor. 12:9-10). "I
can do all things through
Christ who strengthens me." - Phil. 4:13. God gives us all we need to
handle the situations we
face at the moment. God controls reality, and he can empower true
Christians to overcome any
situation should it be His will. Our competence and confidence come
from God (2 Cor. 3:4-5).
The difficulty for the Christian is to learn to walk in this truth.
Romans 6:6-11 tells the Christian,
"KNOWING that our old self was crucified with Christ…RECKON yourselves
as dead to sin, but
alive to God in Christ Jesus…" God didn’t ask a Christian to PRETEND
("Think") he was
different – but to KNOW it, and RECKON (literally "count up; account")
that fact in daily life.
Salvation – including in this sense the lifelong, victorious walk of
the true Christian – results
from the work of the Spirit, and from constant faith in the TRUTH. (2
Thess. 2:13) There are
many, many references on this subject, as this is a central theme to
master for the life of a true
Christian.

M. Enemy agents have formidable power – unnatural strength and

speed. If Neo fights the
agents according to the rules of the matrix, he loses. Punches hurt,
bullets kill, gravity pulls. But
when Neo fights according to what is real, he wins – he ‘begins to
believe’ and stops bullets,
moves as lightning, flies through the air, etc. By truth, he can
overcome the laws of the
illusionary matrix and defeat the enemy.

S. We cannot fight sin and spiritual forces with natural means

– our willpower, political
maneuvers, social agendas, wisdom of man, etc. But when we use
spiritual weapons, we win.
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the
flesh. For the weapons of our
warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the
destruction of fortresses…" – 2 Cor.
10:3. In turn, "no weapon formed against you shall prosper." - Isa.
54:17 And…"He [God] who
is in you is greater than he [Satan] who is in the world." -1 John 4:4
The "shield of faith
extinguishes the darts" of the enemy (Eph. 6:16), much as Neo’s faith
in the truth froze the
bullets in midair.

M. Some of those who have heard the truth (the ‘Cypher’

character) will tire of the war and
succumb to the lies, choosing the easy way out (‘blissful ignorance’)
while the body is returned
to sleep. Cypher chooses the temporary, illusionary pleasures (the
bite of simulated steak),
instead of the truth.

S. Cypher is far, far more than a simple "Judas" – he

represents EVERY person who turns
from Christ after knowing the truth, like 75% of the ‘seed’ cases in
Matthew 13. Regarding
these people, the "love of many will grow cold"; they will fall away
when trials or pleasures
come (Matthew 13 seeds parable, other refs), being "lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of
God" (2 Tim. 3:4), choosing temporary things over eternal things ("For
Demas has deserted
me, having loved this present world..." - 2 Tim. 4:10)

M. A selfish crewman (Cypher) actually kills several of his

own crew (2 unplugged, 1
electrocuted, 1 wounded) – doing even more damage than the enemy did!
– in pursuit of his
own selfishness.

S. Many of the deadliest blows to Christians and the Christian

message come from within
the camp – another Christian who is careless with words or deeds, or
moving according to the
world’s standards, or selfishness, carnal, ignorant, etc. They can do
great damage to other
Christians, and destroy the image we project to a lost world – a world
who fails to realize that
even Scripture itself warns that most so-called Christians will fall
away (Matt. 13 seeds) or be
lukewarm (Rev. 3). One of Satan’s greatest weapons is a false or weak
Christian working from
the inside.

M. The last human city is Zion.

S. Zion will prevail – see Isaiah, etc. Christ will return and
set up His permanent, victorious
reign.    (back to top)

II. SECONDARY ALLEGORIES

For the curious, there are other mini-allegories buried within

the film, although it is a
mistake to attempt to relate them to the primary allegory strand. For
example, "Neo" can also
be seen as a "Christ"-type in a FEW respects - BUT, he cannot be
"Christ" all through the
movie, because Neo MAINLY represents a lost person coming to salvation
and learning to walk
by faith in the central allegory – even the name "Neo" means "new",
like "new creature" or
"newborn". And the Savior would not ever have been a lost person, have
become saved, have
to be trained by His own ‘disciples’, etc. Neo’s character allegorizes
primarily sinner and
secondarily Savior, and these should NOT be combined as a single
allegory. (The practice of
having one character play multiple allegorical roles is not new – C.S.
Lewis did it a few times,
etc. It is similar to Harrison Ford playing both Han Solo and Indiana
Jones – same actor,
different personas.) Anyway, here are bits of the other disjointed
allegorical inclusions,
including Neo as ‘savior’ type:

* "The One" (Neo) had to give his life to save others. "No
greater

love hath a man than this: that he lay down his life for his
friend." –John 15:13 "This is love,
not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and gave His Son as an
atoning sacrifice for our
sins." - I John 4:10

* "The One" died and was resurrected, and displayed total

power after resurrection,
including ascension.

* Trinity (note the name here) oversaw the death and

resurrection of "the One". Arguably,
the Trinity character ‘caused’ the resurrection (by kissing Neo) –
perhaps allegorical to God
raising Christ from death.

* As a person (i.e., now disregard the name here), Trinity

demonstrated calm faith in the
truth despite present danger (invading enemy robots) by believing the
truth – that although Neo
was dead, he could not stay dead because it had been foretold that he
would not. This parallels
the Christian’s salvation by faith in Christ and His resurrection. "If
you confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from
the dead, you shall be
saved." – Romans 10:9 . A similar example was given by Abraham in the
Old Testament – God
promised Abraham that 1) a son Isaac that would be the father of a
great nation, then 2) told
Abraham to kill Isaac. Hebrews chapter 11 tells us that Abraham ‘put
one and two together’ –
reasoning that 1) in order for Isaac to be the father of Israel that
2) God would have to raise him
from the dead . So, he acted in faith by obeying God’s orders (but in
this case God stopped the
sacrifice, whereas when it became God’s turn to sacrifice His Son, God
carried it out for our
salvation.) Abraham’s living demonstration of faith in resurrection
was a picture of what a man
must have regarding Christ to become a Christian – see Rom. 10:9
above.

* Morpheus could be semi-typed as a ‘John the Baptist’ –

heralding the way for the "One".

* Agent Smith said that the "Matrix was originally created

perfect, but your human species
couldn’t handle it" – nuances of Adam and Eve failing in the garden of
Eden, but of course the
analogy is imperfect in that the garden was created by God, not the
enemy.
 * The love of ‘Trinity’ kept new-man (‘Neo’) going, even
through the shadow of death itself.
"Neither DEATH, nor life, nor angels, nor [etc]…shall separate us from
the love of God in
Christ…" – Romans 8:38,39. "Though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will
fear no evil, for You are with me…" Psalm 23:3 Here are some things
that had no allegorical
significance (as far as I could tell) in the movie, and in some cases
greatly detracted from the
Christian themes:

* The ‘oracle’ – A pseudo-Delphic oracle who reads palms? Hmm.

Actually, the Old
Testament recommends stoning these types… (No, this lady is not the
"Holy Spirit" – the Spirit
lives within the believer, teaching and guiding at all times – and He
doesn’t smoke, either!!. If
we had to make a stretch – and I mean a BIG one - to find a ‘Holy
Spirit’ character, ‘Tank’ would
be a better candidate because 1) he is constantly there as a guide
with his maps, blueprints,
etc., 2) he ‘teaches’ the characters by loading up martial arts disks,
helicopter piloting
instructions, etc., and 3) he equips them for the job, calling up
racks of guns, etc. However, he
does not ‘indwell’ the team, nor is he their superior, etc. And
‘Judas’ sure would not be able to
electrocute the Holy Spirit!! So I still hold there is no real
parallel character. )

* The ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ ship name – no real purpose for using

this Biblical/historical
character name.

* Hindu / Buddhist-style references – meditative child with

spoon-bending, metaphysic
statements, etc.

* Secular humanist references – free your mind, do what you

want to do, carve your own
destiny, etc. – see Neo’s little speech into the phone at movie’s
end.   (back to top)

III. FAILURES IN THE CHRISTIAN ALLEGORIES

Although this movie – unintentionally or vice versa – was one

of the more robust allegories
I have seen for a Christian’s salvation and subsequent walk, there are
still major, significant
flaws that should keep someone from admiring the parallels too much.
Here’s just a few points
to highlight the depth of flaw:

* God is depersonalized. Christ is a ‘red pill’ at best, and

there is no relationship of the
central characters to a higher being. A Christian only draws life and
power from a constant
abiding relationship with Christ. "Apart from Me, you can do nothing,"
said Jesus in John 15:5.
The Christian walk is a constant 1) relationship with and 2) reliance
on God through Christ.

* Salvation is formulaic. To be saved from sin, there is no

‘magic red pill’ – a certain act of
penance, magic prayer, etc – that a person must do. Instead, it is a
personal, relational
transaction of a man to Christ, involving simultaneous repentance and
faith toward Christ alone
as his only means of salvation from sin and death.

* No concept of ‘sin’. The matrix does not show a

transformation from ‘sin’ to
‘righteousness’, or from ‘wrong’ to ‘right’, but merely from illusion
to reality. If ‘Neo’ cursed, got
drunk, or committed adultery in the matrix world, he might still do
the same in the real world – in
fact he does most of the above. There are NO moral convictions or
changes. The concept of
moral purification from sin is completely absent. The characters are
not exactly saints –
‘Mouse’ pimps his red-lady creation to Neo, etc.

* No accurate concept of incarnation of Christ. Christ became

the human form of God
(Col. 2:9, Phillippians 2:5-11) – and walked among man – in order to
be our example, and to
spill His blood as a ransom for us.

* No concept of atonement. This is the flip-side of ‘sin’.

Christ didn’t just offer a way from
this world into a ‘higher reality’ of the spiritual things – there’s
much more to it than that. The
main thing he did was to atone for our fallen, sinful condition so
that we could be forgiven and
spiritually reborn. The "Neo" character certainly did not ‘atone’ for
anybody.

* No concept of being crucified, buried, and raised with and

IN Christ. A Christian is not
simply ‘paid for’ or given ‘tickets to heaven’. Christ was our
substitute on the cross – no sinner
deserves heaven, so when a person comes to Christ, God effectively
considers that sinner to
be ‘in Christ’ – included in His crucifixion, death, burial,
resurrection, and ascension. (We were
crucified "with Him" – Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20, buried with Him –
Romans 6:4, raised and
ascended with Him – Ephesians 2:5,6)

* No "Holy Spirit" that constantly indwells, convicts,

controls and guides the believer in
Christ.

* In the movie, Machines rule the world, and good (man) is a

desperate underdog. In truth,
God is all-powerful, and simply is allowing Satan some leeway for a
time. Christians are by no
means underdogs.

* No direct "Satan" character

* No sense of eternal existence in either fire or Heaven.

* No concept of "the church" – the integrated, spiritually

gifted body of Christ (Eph.
1:22,23)

* Man created AI that became his enemy, whereas God created

Lucifer, who made a
freewill choice to rebel. Man in turn followed Lucifer’s lead, making
the same "I will be like God"
attempt, thus enslaving man to Satan as a default condition until man
puts his faith in Christ’s
blood ransom from that bondage.  

IV. CONCLUDING REMARKS

I think it would be a mistake for a someone to become giddy

about "The Matrix" as some
kind of great spiritual event. True, there are a few interesting
parallels, but remember that there
were crucial failures in the allegories as well. Doubtless there will
also be folks who will try to
spiritualize every little thing ("hey, that building looked maybe like
Noah’s ark!, or "I bet the
squids are the creatures from Revelation!" etc.), which is also a big
mistake.

And a last mistake would be to regard the writers/directors of

the movie as some great
spiritual visionaries, because 1) I doubt they even intended much of
the allegory pulled out
above – in an interview, the creators of the film admit that they
simply threw in a few symbolic
terms, events, and names to add some artificial depth, rather than
making a concentrated effort
to include a hidden message - , and 2) we should realize that they
also included vulgarity, using
God’s name in vain, secular humanism, etc. – things contrary to God’s
Word, things a mature
Christian would not do.

No, "The Matrix" is not some desperate attempt of God to sneak

some hip mode of
evangelism into a cold-hearted nation of scoffers. (The "Neo" figure
makes a horrible Christ
anyway – can you picture Jesus machine gunning a bunch of soldiers who
were just doing their
duty? Swigging alcohol with Judas? Cursing?) How sad that some folks
think that God must
stoop to such depths to make His points. "The Matrix" is simply a
secular movie – nothing more
- with a creative storyline. An observant Christian can take certain
aspects of this film and draw
parallels to the Christian life - as he also could with dozens of
other films, novels, etc.

Bottom line, God is truth, and His Word is truth. And from
time to time in this fallen world,
we notice things that like dusty mirrors remind us of His truth. As a
missionary pastor to 7
countries, I have used dozens of things in my travels to illustrate
Christian concepts to the
indigenous peoples – things such as a local newspaper story, a nearby
animal or plant, a
historical figure, one of their folk legends, etc. – taking something
they understand and relating
it to what Christ did for us on that cross. But it doesn’t mean that
the things I used were
intentionally designed to be ‘spiritual.’

I also outlined a lot of spiritual things in this write-up –

things that an unbeliever would no
doubt smirk at (and as a former hardcore pagan myself, I can
understand the attitude). But it
always interests me that those who profess to be atheist or agnostic
do not live wholeheartedly
according to their belief systems! For even *if* evolution was the
truth, then 1) there is truly no
right and wrong - after all, we’re just complicated chemicals – and 2)
it makes no sense to obey
a lot of restrictions when you’ve only got a short time to live, and
3) if you’re just a chemical,
why care about future generations – about what happens after you
expire? How silly! The
logical lifestyle would be to please yourself as much as possible, as
long as there are no
negative consequences (jail, heart attack, etc.), and don’t fret about
future generations.

Notions of right and wrong are ludicrous to a mere sack of

chemicals – logically, you
should adjust your ‘morality’ to benefit yourself in any given
situation. ‘If you can get away with
it, then do it!’ (just look at the behavior changes when men go away
on business trips!) The
‘evolved social conscience’ stuff is laughable, not to mention
illogical if it chokes one’s freedom
to maximize enjoyment of a brief little chemical life.

Furthermore, it is interesting how a life of seeking pleasure

leaves one miserable and
empty instead of happier. And funny how people think that technology
somehow obsoletes
God and makes Christ some archaic figure – as if the God who created
the universe in 6 days
should be impressed with a Pentium. As the Bible says, "the fool has
said in his heart, ‘there is
no God.’" –Psalm 14:1 However, logic and reason is not the central
obstacle – it is the sinful,
prideful, unrepentant heart of men who "love the matrix" – who love
sin, pleasure, and self more
than truth, and will create any set of lies to help them avoid that
truth.

But how unfortunate that sick "Christians" cause so much

damage to the projection of
truth. Those who do not believe are turned away in droves at the
foolish, hypocritical,
nit-picking stances of many so-called Christians, and the sinful
fallings of others. And worse,
what damage is done within the ranks by the religious rotten, like the
Pharisees Jesus often
rebuked (reminding me of the greedy televangelists of today.) Again,
even Scripture warns that
many who mistakenly call themselves Christians will say at the
Judgment, "Lord, Lord…[look at
what all we did for you]" (Matt. 7:21,22)…and God will in turn
respond, "Depart from Me into
everlasting fire…I NEVER knew you."

But, like God impressed on me long ago, other people being

hypocrites do not give me an
excuse for my own choices (as one man once said – "Do you despise
hypocrites? Then you’d
better become a Christian, because otherwise you’ll spend eternity in
Hell with those same
hypocrites.") I hope I can be that true Christian who lives an honest
life that clarions God’s
simple message: "Christ died for your sins, was buried, and arose.
Faith in Christ alone saves!
And it’s true – my life is a testament of that transforming truth! You
can have it too – I’ve shown
you the ‘Door’, but you have to make the move!" in the hope that many
will make that personal,
heart-to-heart faith transaction with Jesus Christ into wakeful
salvation also.

As a Christian, the allegory angles in "The Matrix" did remind

me – I need to focus all the
more on the mission: to 1) win people and 2) battle the enemy and
avoid their temptations. How
easily I forget the all-too-real spiritual enemy and mistake people as
the root problem. I thought
it was great that the freed humans were completely focused on their
mission – not fooling
around, trying to enjoy the ‘matrix’ for themselves, etc. - and how
they worked as a united team.
Most of all, how easily I forget the truth of who I am in Christ and
operate weakly according to
the principles of this present world instead of the spiritual
realities that God has now given me
in Christ. Well, I’ll stop here. God bless you!