In light of the holiday just past and of all the things I write about, none is going to ever be as important as what follows in this post. Amongst all the blogging done, I would be doing a disservice to you if I did not share the following and highlight something of dire importance that can shape the rest of your life and outlook. For a moment, we’re going to take a step back from financial matters and try to understand a primary truth – one that is a base for which we stand in life. If we miss out and misunderstand this truth, we will never ultimately find fulfillment in our lives.
Now, for those of you movie buffs, you’ve undoubtedly seen The Matrix and recognize the title reference for the “red pill”. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll recall the following scene when Neo first meets Morpheus. For those of you that haven’t seen it, you can watch the clip here. To set up the clip, know that the setting you see is actually taking place in “the Matrix” – a computer generated world to which our hero, Neo, is actually unknowingly connected. Morpheus, the wise sage and leader, is actually “free” and lives in reality – he is only temporarily connected to the Matrix in order to visit Neo and to try and bring him out (I know, I know…confusing. You’ll have to see the movie if you haven’t…really good flick).
Morpheus: I imagine that right now you're feeling a bit like Alice. Tumbling down the rabbit hole?“It is this feeling that has brought you to me…do you know what I’m talking about?”
Neo: You could say that.
Morpheus: I can see it in your eyes. You have the look of a man who accepts what he sees because he's expecting to wake up. Ironically, this is not far from the truth. Do you believe in fate, Neo?
Neo: No.
Morpheus: Why not?
Neo: 'Cause I don't like the idea that I'm not in control of my life.
Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know, you can't explain. But you feel it. You felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there…Like a splinter in your mind -- driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Neo: The Matrix?
Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?
(Neo nods his head yes.)
Morpheus: 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, or when go to church or when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage, born inside a prison that you cannot smell, taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. (long pause, sighs) Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to see it for yourself. This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back.
(In his left hand, Morpheus shows a blue pill.)
Morpheus: You take the blue pill and the story ends. You wake in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. (a red pill is shown in his other hand) You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. (Long pause; Neo begins to reach for the red pill) Remember -- all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.
(Neo takes the red pill and swallows it with a glass of water)
The “American Dream.”
Yes, the American Dream. This notion of attainable happiness – the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. The truth that you are a slave. A slave to ambition and “trying to work your way up the ladder.” A slave to the consumer mindset. A slave to image comparison with neighbors, friends, relatives, and strangers – to keeping up with the Joneses. A slave to the fleeting notion that if “you just had a little more” stuff, money, a bigger house, another vacation, etc. that you’d be happy and that all of your problems would be solved.
It is this notion that is bothering me…it is the “splinter in my mind”.
Let me share with you my heart for a moment:
I don’t know if anyone has told this to you or not, so it’s worth saying: It doesn’t matter how much stuff you have or attain. It doesn’t matter how much money you make or don’t make. It doesn’t matter what vacations you go on, what car you drive, or what house you live in. None of it, repeat, none of it will give you lasting happiness.
Bending our lives over so we can attain the American dream results in giving up our soul for the worship of an idol. That idol is ourselves. The American dream is about us, dear reader, and our attainment of happiness.
The thing we don’t realize – the unfortunate irony – is that we as humans are a black hole and no amount of consumption of stuff will satisfy us. We also don’t realize and understand that money and wealth and “stuff” is a tool only, but we treat it as if it can produce life sustaining and life fulfilling happiness. We’ve all been duped.
The truth is that life isn’t devoid of an alternate reality. Like in The Matrix, we see the physical – but that’s not all there is. The spiritual exists also. In this painful twist of ironies, it is actually the spiritual which will ultimately provide us with life fulfilling happiness. No wonder we are a confused, unhappy, and lost civilization…we’ve lost touch with this unseen reality and have instead tried to rely only on ourselves.
Many of you may know of, or at least heard of, author C.S. Lewis. Most notably, you’d recognize him because he wrote the Chronicles of Narnia series, made popular most recently by the Disney movies. Among his other numerous writings, is a theological book called Mere Christianity (which I’d highly recommend if you haven’t read it) which is a collection of transcripts of broadcasts Lewis did in the 1940s laying out the case for the Christian point of view. The reason I bring it up is that Lewis was at one point an atheist who later came to faith in Christ. His observations and perspective are incredibly relevant to our “alternate reality” conundrum. Lewis puts it like this,
“If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”Interesting, no? Sounds like he was a “consumer” who had a light bulb moment…
How about one of the wisest (and wealthiest) figures in human history to further hammer home the point? King Solomon. After ranting about building cities and palaces, attaining wisdom, being richer than all others, indulging in all pleasures, Solomon states:
“Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.” - Ecclesiastes 2:11Think these guys are on to something here?
Stuff isn’t going to satisfy. Attaining the “American Dream” isn’t going to satisfy. The real truth is summed up best by Lewis again in Mere Christianity:
“Until you have given up yourself to Him (Christ the Lord) you will not have a real self…”Relaying the words of the Lord and speaking on His behalf, the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah says this:
“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me (God), the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” -Jeremiah 2:13Isn’t it about time that we stop “digging our own cisterns”; trying to satisfy ourselves by our own devices through incessant consumption? Isn’t it about time that we got serious about finding our satisfaction, not in stuff, but in the eternal – in the Lord Jesus?
Here’s the challenge laid out:
“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” ~ Jesus (Matthew 6:24)“Money” in this sense can easily be identified with “ourselves”, as money is what we try to use to placate ourselves and fill our black hole of a soul. We cannot serve both God and ourselves.
So here it is…your matrix moment…
“This is your last chance.”
You take the blue pill, the story ends and you continue to believe whatever you want to believe and go back into a self-induced consumer coma.
Or, you take the red pill and pursue a new reality and see how deep the rabbit hole goes - losing your old self and finding a new identity shaped by Christ Jesus.
All I’m offering is the truth…the choice is yours.
"For everyone has messed up (sinned); we all fall short of God's glorious standard." Romans 3:23If you'd like to dialogue more about this man, Jesus Christ, or want to know more about his life, death, and resurrection, or about putting your faith in him, please email me...I'd love to continue the conversation. Click here: Send Me an Email
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
"...if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." John 1:12-13
"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." John 7:39
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