A Ramble About the Blue Pill

I rewatched "Matrix" again recently (yes, the title is actually just "Matrix" and not "The Matrix"). This time, the concept which has stuck in my mind is that of the "Blue Pill." This is in reference to a scene where Morpheus offer Neo the choice of either forgetting any of his contact with Morpheus and his group, and everything going back to the way it was, represented by a blue pill; or of continuing on with his pursuit of the truth and his answer to the question of "what is the Matrix?" This latter being represented by a red pill. Neo takes the red pill, and his world is turned inside out and upside down.

A little later in the film, after Neo wakes up in the real world and has the truth explained to him, another character, Cypher, says to him, "I know what you're thinking. 'Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill?'" At which they both have a knowing chuckle, because the real world is a hard place to be and a hard life to live. They both paid a heavy price for knowing the answer to the question. At one point, Neo says to Morpheus, "I can't go back, can I?" To which Morpheus responds, "No. But if you could, would you really want to?" Later, the film's action revolves around Cypher's choice to try and abandon the real world for the more comfortable life of illusion found by being hooked into the Matrix. He is so desperate to do this that he kills several of his friends and betrays the rest to their enemies to do it.

The path of Jesus Christ is one where we too are given the choice of either red pill or blue pill. We aren't given this choice right away. But there comes a point in our walk when we're told that to go any farther in our growth and pursuit of union with God through Jesus Christ we have to commit to our pursuit, or turn back and be satisfied with the illusions of this world and the pretense of faith and religion. Sometimes that point is clearly defined. Most of the time in our lives it slips by unnoticed by us. We get to a point when we know and have experienced the Truth, its joys and glories, and its pain and stress, and then the blue pill starts looking pretty good when the reality of the Truth and its hardships in this world surrounds us. We experience hunger, persecution, poverty, attacks by our own minds and bodies, attacks by demonic powers, attacks, intentional or not, by our friends and families. Yep, the blue pill starts looking pretty good by that point in time.

But by that point, the time for the blue pill has long since passed. We know the Truth. To try and turn back then would be to deny that Truth and accept the lie that the illusion of security and stability that this world offers is somehow the reality, even though we plainly know and have experienced that it is not. It would be to intentionally turn our back on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to call Him a liar. It would be to attack the faith of those not willing to turn back, and possibly drag them into insanity with you, much like Cypher. The end result would be worse than if we had never started on the Path at all.

The Path of Jesus Christ calls us to trust in the reality of the Truth which God has shown us through His Son Jesus Christ. This Path, when the person takes the red pill and fully embarks on it, will turn your reality inside out and tear it to shreds before He puts you back together. As you are asked to stretch your trust in Him more and more you may find yourself hungry, and then still told to trust Him. Not to trust Him necessarily that your hunger will be immediately satisfied, but to trust Him that He loves you and that He has your best interests at heart. You may find yourself ridiculed, humiliated, and outcast, and still told to trust Him. You will find your very thoughts screaming at you "What are you doing?!" And you will still be told to trust Him. You will be told to trust Him even when your very senses are telling you to pull back and walk away, run away, do whatever it takes. There are times when God allows all of these things to scream at you to the point where you feel your sanity slipping away. He may allow it for days, weeks, or even months at a stretch, depending on the person. Then He makes it back off for a time so you can get your bearings, rest, recover, and then it starts up again. Once again, our thoughts scream at us, "you idiot! Why didn't you take the blue pill and turn back when you had the chance?!" Once again, we must be silent, and do nothing but focus on trusting Him.

As He does this with me in various ways, I know I've passed the point of no return. I can't go back, even if I wanted to. And there are times when that blue pill seems real friendly, even though I know it's worthless now. I know the truth that everything comes from Him. All provision, all blessing, all discipline comes from Him and for His purposes with me. There is no stability or security in this world which He doesn't allow, and the idea that I would or could have control over that is only a pleasant but arrogant delusion. That doesn't mean it isn't tempting, though. And that's the honesty of the situation. Until I comes so much closer to the goal, or until I reach the goal, it will remain tempting in this life, and in this world. I will always be flashed with advertisements for returning to the illusions of this world trying to get me to walk away. I can't ever say that it won't remain tempting, because when I begin to think that way is when I will begin to turn back and deny Him.

The Truth will indeed set you free. But the truth is that not everyone really wants to be free, and those that are struggle to remain that way against a powerful system that wants to plug them back in and keep them there.