Unplugged

How many of you have seen The Matrix? Probably at least 30% of you have. It is the story of computer programmer Neo who lives his normal life despite feeling like there should be more to it. He doesn't feel right at work, at home, or doing anything else, but he just can't seem to find a way to be content. After searching for answers, Neo is found by Morpheous, a mysterious dark man who offers him a way to say good-bye to "wonderland" and step into the "real world" - an opportunity that Neo takes without a second thought.

Taking a red pill, Neo is transported out of what he thought was his life and into a rundown dystopian world of machines and computers where he once again meets Morpheous. Morpheous explains that all humans are plugged into what is called The Matrix, a hyper-real computer system that was created by AI to keep humans in superfluous slavery. Neo is shocked by this revelation and immediately begins to regret giving up his past life. Over time, with help from many other freed humans, Neo realizes how much better a life of freedom is and begins to work to free other humans from The Matrix.

Now, The Matrix can be taken one of two ways; it's either a fun movie that is an enjoyable watch or a metaphor for our own lives. I'm not saying we as humans are plugged into a huge computer system, unaware of the real world; I'm saying we can parallel The Matrix characters' lives with our own.

Most of us have a very comfortable life - a good job, a place to live, and maybe even a family, but these luxuries blind us to a glaring truth. This world is fallen and we are not living the lives we were meant to live. God created a perfect world for his creatures, man among them, to live in, yet because of our failure, sin entered the world and doomed it to destruction. Unwilling to acknowledge this, humans created their own paradise, forgetting God and shrugging off our sin - in a way plugging ourselves into The Matrix of what we want our lives to be. We knowingly blinded ourselves to the problems hanging right over our heads and continued with our "normal" lives.

Every once in a while one of us will desire more in our lives; we search and look, and a "Morpheous" finds us. He tells us what is wrong with our lives, but we must be shown to truly understand. We take the red pill and become a Christian based soley on faith and trust. We then see the real world with all its flaws and fallenness, and we instantly regret our decision. But slowly with the help of others, we, like Neo, realize how much better our lives are when we are free; we see the wonderful Creator who saved us and everything else melts away.

But that's not the end of it. We still have one more thing to do. We are still responsible for each other while we are on earth; it's our job now to free others from The Matrix. We have to come into their lives and unplug them, and stand by them. Our mission is not over.