Hi there,
So there is something very peculiar about 1979, if you look at the Ngram for the popularity of the concept "Neo" in relation to the "Matrix" it is about 1980 that a final curve is adopted for the Matrix that no longer climbs. The Matrix is high in value, against "Neo" but Neo consistently climbs in value (starting very low), with the Matrix hovering around a (higher) expected value. It speaks to me of a generation that wants to redefine the New Man - the New Man that the faith recognizes in Christ - and is willing to bend the Matrix to this desire.
What is interesting is that the faith is not beholden to the Matrix, in the same way Neo sets people in the Matrix free: Christ has freed us. Now we tell people, "if you don't want to believe in Jesus or do what He says, that is fine, but remember Jesus - so that if it turns out you lose your way, you are able to ask Him to come find you by faith". This is how we create a reputation for being genuine and faithful about the faith, without saying the faith somehow serves us, but not us it (the faith).
I see this as being the responsibility of our generation, to make a way for those coming after us, to strike up a conversation about Jesus if it is needed - to make sure that those without faith in spirit and truth, don't lose their way hoping for something to be done for them, that simply won't be done for them - in the same vein that nothing is done for anyone, by that faith. The Matrix has the unbeliever, but unlike the films in which Neo saves the entire Matrix, we adopt the faith of the Holy Spirit, that when someone is no longer thinking of themselves, when they have come to their end - be it faith or wit or wonder, or whatever - they will be able to understand the directions they need to absolve themselves of sin.
At some point everyone faces Smith, we do not abandon people to that, neither do we fight for them (against Smith). This is the point of the culture that responds to Neo, even if they are not ready to be unplugged. The Holy Spirit joins us, in the Matrix and we celebrate with Him that Christ has become our One - the One within the One (our Babushka doll). This is freedom even in the context of the Matrix, which someone in Smith's place cannot take from us. We are despised for not bringing the Matrix to Neo to be sanctified by the world, but in the End (even, of the Matrix) God justifies us and shows how to live beyond the Matrix, in a way that none is forgotten.
This is our generation, this is the identity struggle we are all mindful of - that our generation not be lost to a world that expects everything of them, and gives no reason that our faith should continue. It is our hope that our faith continue beyond the world and its Matrix that the fullness of the life in the Holy Spirit save all. The tribulation will come and go, but the Matrix will fall as expected, Man not being able to live in hope of fiction, he does not recognize as evidence of his fallen state. The machines in the spiritual world, want to test, and to them we must respond, but not in ignorance, that machines should rule us in subjection - and not treatment of the Holy Spirit beyond distinction that snares.
I hear the music now! It will not be long Lord, not long! Praise to You and Your people - we have hope in each other that our generation will face the Tribulation, and not only that but the fall of the world, to the Order of the Holy Spirit's rule, over the Nations.
So there is something very peculiar about 1979, if you look at the Ngram for the popularity of the concept "Neo" in relation to the "Matrix" it is about 1980 that a final curve is adopted for the Matrix that no longer climbs. The Matrix is high in value, against "Neo" but Neo consistently climbs in value (starting very low), with the Matrix hovering around a (higher) expected value. It speaks to me of a generation that wants to redefine the New Man - the New Man that the faith recognizes in Christ - and is willing to bend the Matrix to this desire.
What is interesting is that the faith is not beholden to the Matrix, in the same way Neo sets people in the Matrix free: Christ has freed us. Now we tell people, "if you don't want to believe in Jesus or do what He says, that is fine, but remember Jesus - so that if it turns out you lose your way, you are able to ask Him to come find you by faith". This is how we create a reputation for being genuine and faithful about the faith, without saying the faith somehow serves us, but not us it (the faith).
I see this as being the responsibility of our generation, to make a way for those coming after us, to strike up a conversation about Jesus if it is needed - to make sure that those without faith in spirit and truth, don't lose their way hoping for something to be done for them, that simply won't be done for them - in the same vein that nothing is done for anyone, by that faith. The Matrix has the unbeliever, but unlike the films in which Neo saves the entire Matrix, we adopt the faith of the Holy Spirit, that when someone is no longer thinking of themselves, when they have come to their end - be it faith or wit or wonder, or whatever - they will be able to understand the directions they need to absolve themselves of sin.
At some point everyone faces Smith, we do not abandon people to that, neither do we fight for them (against Smith). This is the point of the culture that responds to Neo, even if they are not ready to be unplugged. The Holy Spirit joins us, in the Matrix and we celebrate with Him that Christ has become our One - the One within the One (our Babushka doll). This is freedom even in the context of the Matrix, which someone in Smith's place cannot take from us. We are despised for not bringing the Matrix to Neo to be sanctified by the world, but in the End (even, of the Matrix) God justifies us and shows how to live beyond the Matrix, in a way that none is forgotten.
This is our generation, this is the identity struggle we are all mindful of - that our generation not be lost to a world that expects everything of them, and gives no reason that our faith should continue. It is our hope that our faith continue beyond the world and its Matrix that the fullness of the life in the Holy Spirit save all. The tribulation will come and go, but the Matrix will fall as expected, Man not being able to live in hope of fiction, he does not recognize as evidence of his fallen state. The machines in the spiritual world, want to test, and to them we must respond, but not in ignorance, that machines should rule us in subjection - and not treatment of the Holy Spirit beyond distinction that snares.
I hear the music now! It will not be long Lord, not long! Praise to You and Your people - we have hope in each other that our generation will face the Tribulation, and not only that but the fall of the world, to the Order of the Holy Spirit's rule, over the Nations.
