Leaving the Matrix

I spent Friday walking around New York City yesterday with my good friend Drew.  Drew and I seem to take similar approaches to life.  We have both concluded through our own life experiences that we live to bring God glory, that Christianity is more about loving others than it is about church attendance and that in the midst of the chaos of daily life there are pearls of truth waiting to be discovered.  Life is an adventure of faith designed by God for His children to experience the fullness of His character, peace and blessing.  This pearl of truth has been disguised by the monotony of work schedules, church activities and the frustrations of daily living.

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living.  I certainly do not take issue with Socrates' statement.  Yet Christians must take Socrates' observation to the next level.  I would suggest that the unexamined heart is not worth beating and the unexamined Christian walk is not worth walking.  Far too many believers have fallen victim to the "Jesus take the wheel" mentality of our culture, insinuating that we are spectators of a marvelous show called life.  The problem with this "Jesus take the wheel" theology is if this show of life is thoroughly boring and uneventful, then it is the Director of the show who has failed us and not the cast members.  Now I am certainly not implying that Jesus should not be driving our metaphorical vehicles, but merely postulating that we must be more proactive in our travels with the Lord.  We must be searching for the opportunities to find peace in the midst of pain, truth amongst the lies and love throughout all the hate.

I have based nearly all of my ministry upon John 10:10: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  The fullness of life that is available to Christians cannot be experienced if we sit in the spectator's seat.  There is an aspect of Christian living that requires us to translate our faith into action.  James says that faith without works is dead (James 2:17).  I do not claim to be qualified to unpack this scripture in terms of its implication as to eternal salvation, but I do assert that if we desire to live the abundant life we must actively search for opportunities to find, share and live out the truths of the Gospel.  Intellectualism without heartfelt practical application is useless.

I write all these things to encourage you to join me in the journey of finding pearls of truth in the chaotic seas of life.  It is my hope that we can partner in this journey together - that you can share your pearls of truth with other blog readers and with me.  Together, we will find that there is life outside of this secular Matrix.  Like Neo, we must leave the Matrix, free our minds and embrace reality.  True story.