A film that has been in my “top 5” for a long time is 1999’s blockbuster, the Matrix. Not because of all the action - in fact I had a hard time watching it again recently (a few years since the previous viewing), having to grit my teeth through the scenes of dramatic gun violence. But because of the very deep question that is at the centre of the story: What is the “real world?”. In the story, set in “approximately 2199”, the human race has been taken captive by a new race of machines, spawned from the creation of AI. The machines need power to survive, for which they “farm” human beings, keeping them imprisoned in capsules in order to harvest their biological energy. In order to keep the humans pacified and oblivious to their imprisonment, the machines create a fake, software-generated world (the Matrix) which resembles the real world circa 1999. The farmed humans brain signals are intercepted so that they believe they are living in this world. Ie. that they believe the Matrix is the real world. The lead character, a computer hacker by the name of Neo, has a 6th sense that something is not right about his world, and is searching for the truth about the Matrix. In the scene where Morpheus (patriarch and leader of the human resistance) is showing Neo the first revelation about what the Matrix really is, Neo questions, “This…this isn’t real?”, to which Morpheus responds, “What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you feel, taste, smell, or see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”. This questioning and challenging of what is “real” I would encourage anyone who is seeking the true meaning of life to do.
While there are some biblical references (the one remaining human city in the core of the real earth is called Zion), the Matrix is certainly not a perfect allegorical analogy of the Christian story. Yet to me, it is a powerful dramatisation of the core part of Satan’s strategy in our current age: to deceive mankind into believing that the physical world around us is the only dimension of life that exists. With this false belief, it is logical then that man should live only for him (or her) self. To discover the spiritual dimension is to be rescued from the deception of the Matrix, and realise that everything that you were living for is not real. True reality is being alive in both the physical and spiritual dimensions, and understanding that our purpose in this life can only be discovered by knowing our spiritual Father.
I’ve been pondering and refreshing these thoughts from the accusation that living and raising a family in the Bruderhof Christian community, which we’ve been staying in since January, is to live outside of the “real world”. I suggest the opposite for consideration: To live in an environment where the reality of God’s existence and our true purpose in life is intertwined with every dimension of life (work, worship, education & recreation) is to live in a more “real” world than to live a “normal” life in a world that is governed by a paradigm of godlessness and self-interest.
We must remember that our life on this earth is temporary. As James describes it, “like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). It is perilously risky to live as though it is the only phase of life we will experience. As we approach Easter, we remember Christ’s death and resurrection, and that at his resurrection he ushered in the beginning of His new kingdom. While we are yet to see the full realisation of Christ’s kingdom on earth (ref Luke 19:11-12), the aim of the Bruderhof church is to live based on that paradigm, that Christ’s new kingdom has already begun here on earth, and that Christians can experience the love, forgiveness, joy, peace and unity that Christ died for us to receive. By their own ready admission it is a far-from-perfect effort, and only continues (and has survived many trials) by the generous grace of God.
So, 12 weeks after moving to the Bruderhof community in Darvell, East Sussex, how have I found it? The biggest surprise was how quickly the family settled in, and the (significant) change of home, school and work began to feel “normal”, with few thoughts or longings for our old home & life. As I had such a strong emotional response to the first visit, I was expecting to go through similar emotions again, but they simply never came. The peacefulness and lack of any pressure or stress that I experienced on our first visit I now get to experience every day, which is having a very positive effect on family life, and helping me to be the Dad that I want to be, to our kids. I’ve also enjoyed developing friendships with people that I get to see every day, and to share laughs, challenges, encouragement and support with each other. Getting to “do life” everyday with people who have shared aims, values and beliefs is as cool as it sounds. The school and surrounding environment are every bit as amazing as what I described in my earlier posts, and our three kids are loving life here.
Some of the other “big questions” that we had before moving here are still relevant, like “How do you effectively be ‘salt and light’ in the world when you live in community?”, and we haven’t yet found a full answer to them. But I feel at peace that I don’t need (or shouldn’t try) to find an “absolute answer” to these questions urgently. They are questions that long-time members are also asking, and one reminded me, “these questions are not ones that can be answered once for all time”. Contrary to the edited depictions of various media pieces, people in the Bruderhof do not deliberately isolate themselves from the world around them. There are in fact many regular interactions between people here and the wider community around them, in capacities that are too many and varied to list here, which does give some opportunity for people to be “salt and light” in the world. But it is absolutely true that there are less interactions, which is a natural result of the community model of living, working & educating from a single site, not to mention the alleviation (for most people) of having to deal with day-to-day bureaucracy. What is absolutely intentional though, is that people in the community live by different standards to those in the world around them (even the wider Christian “world”). Both Christ, and Paul as he mentors the early church, calls us to high standards of character and purity, and these are the standards to which members are called and held accountable to. As someone who wants to follow and imitate Christ in an uncompromised way, it is awesome to be in a church which challenges me to live by these standards. But in order to be Christlike, the basis of these standards must be love. Without it, it is just pious religiosity. I’m also grateful to report that there is an abundance of love among the people in this community. If it were not so, we would be retreating quickly back to our former home.
So what about the challenges? So far there have been much less than I might have predicted, and as backwards as it sounds, this is actually an issue. Comfort is the enemy of faith. This is a phrase that I pondered on a lot last year, and concluded is true from the reflections and observations of my life, and those around me, both comfortable, and uncomfortable. The journey of deciding to come and live in the community meant going WAY out of our comfort zone, and consequently it was a time of rejuvenating our faith and tuning in much more closely to the leading of the Holy Spirit. I commented from our first visit that I suspected it would be just as easy to live a comfortable life in community, as it was outside of community. Our time in the community has already confirmed that suspicion. I am already experiencing the challenge of keeping my faith invigorated, as life here is so easy going. The many “benefits” actually make it harder to discern God’s call for us to commit our lives to living in community. I am having to intentionally try to filter out thoughts of the many “benefits” in order to follow His leading instead of my self-interest. In earlier decades, when the community was dirt poor and life was genuinely tough, it would have been much easier to discern this call - there is no way you would have a desire to join (as an outsider) for any self-based reasons like comfort or security. The new Elder (Senior Pastor) of the Bruderhof has also identified that this is an issue contributing to a spiritual dryness and some unwholesome behaviours that has arisen in parts of the communities across the globe. Recently, he sharply, but still lovingly, challenged the whole church to come to the cross of Jesus, seek repentance and renew our thirst for Jesus’ life-giving water. I need that message as much as anyone else in this church, and I feel grateful to have a church leader with the courage to bring this message so directly and un-apologetically.
Despite the temptation to let comfort erode my desire to seek ”living water”, the time in the community has certainly been helping me in my journey to become more Christlike. Jesus’ first statement in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”. I’ve never had a great understanding or appreciation for what it means to be “poor in spirit”. The NLT version says “Blessed are those who…realise their need for Him”, which helps to point more closely to what Jesus was saying, which is closely related to having a heart of humility. For the first week or two I found it hard starting out in a more manual job in the community’s business. The change in the type of work made those first days long, but I also recognised that it was zero-stress, which I was enjoying the benefits of. This change to a more manual/basic work role has helped me on my journey of discovering new dimensions of humility that I haven’t had before. I have been pondering on the circumstances of Jesus’s arrival to earth. The Christmas story is so well known it’s easy to gloss over the significance of the circumstances of His arrival. Not only did he arrive as a “helpless babe”, but the King of Kings - not some weak King, but one with “eyes like blazing fire…wearing a robe dipped in a blood…leading the armies of Heaven” (ref Revelation 19) - arrived in a mucky, smelly, animal-filled barn. As sovereign Lord he could have chosen absolutely any place or circumstance to be born - a posh merchant’s house perhaps? Or the mayor of Bethlehem’s house? But He chose to be born in the stable. This has been speaking to me powerfully that if we are to truly imitate Christ, we must embrace this level of humility. As the weeks of work have rolled on, I have begun to see my “basic” work with a new perspective. I have begun to appreciate the importance, value, and purpose in the work, and the more I’ve realised that, the more I’ve been enjoying it. I’ve become very aware that the subtle snares of pride are around every corner, and it is one of Satan’s most effective traps for man. It makes me equally aware how much I need people around me all the time to help keep me from these traps.
So is this community of brothers and sisters in Christ, the Christian community that I want to commit to serving and seeking with for the rest of my life? While there are many positive reasons to go for it, I think it would be unwise to make such a significant decision without a greater, extended period of seeking God’s leading, and committing only for the right reasons. And the right reason ultimately boils down to this: following the path that leads to “Well done, good and faithful servant”. There is no denying that this church does not have everything “right”, but neither does any conventional church we’ve ever been a part of. We could search the globe looking for the perfect church, but I know that even where God’s spirit is moving powerfully, we would not find it, and will not, until Christ comes again and with Him brings the new heaven and new earth which will be the full realisation of His mighty Kingdom.
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