Toy Story

While Woody's attack upon Buzz did not involve as evil and murderous as Cain's upon Abel, it was close. The motive was the same - jealousy. And because Buzz went out a 2nd story window, it resulted in the loss of Buzz from Andy's toy world, i.e., his room. Interestingly, Buzz's fault before Woody was his righteous deeds. I John says that Abel's works were righteous, which caused Woody's jealousy. Buzz's fault before Woody was not just his fantasy world of being an intergalactic hero; it was also his service to the rest of the toys. He had become not just an action figure/hero; he was a true servant, teaching and helping the others improve themselves. Thus, while Woody's rebukes to Buzz about his fantasy world were correct, his jealousy and attack upon him for being popular among the other toys was wicked to the core. It represents the indwelling sin of Woody, the leader and stability for the toys upon to this point in his life . . . as a toy.

Woody's only hope is to reform Buzz of his fantasy world, to befriend him in spite of the annoyance of Buzz, the weaker brother, to use all his leadership abilities to form a plan and team to rescue him, and to risk his life for Buzz as he faces explosive death. Thus, Woody becomes like Christ, who became like His brethren for the suffering of death, that He might redeem a people for Himself. Buzz becomes a better friend to Woody than any of the other toys, a true leader, and someone who risks his life for Woody. Thus, each of them portrays perfect love by laying down their lives for their friends.

Toy Story

There is an entire theology surrounding the Toy Story movies. Here is a sample. They create a microcosm of God's world, wherein toys stand in for humans and children stand in for God. Like God, the child loves the toy, giving its existence meaning. Woody best represents the ideal faithful human before God - loyal, subservient, respectful of his position, loving. He's also a leader for the other toys - organizing, encouraging, giving wisdom, etc. He's like a king or pastor leading a flock of people through the dangers of life.

Interestingly, the dangers they encounter are particularly theological in substance - faith in their human child and the assurance of not be lost or neglected or rejected by that child. It is the fear of every human to not be loved by God, or worse, to be loved then be rejected. Woody encounters loss of place, of distinction, to another, an equal. But it is not just any equal, it is a newer toy, with more bells and whistles. Therefore, Woody must deal with his place in the world, where he is becoming obsolete, like an elderly person facing the loss of place and position in life.

The ultimate reconciliation of Woody and Buzz indicates that the body of Christ is one body, with many parts. Each part has its own function, and each one contributes to the other to make each part more. Woody became a less rigid, more tolerant leader, and Buzz realistically faced life with a faith that dealt with his real world, not a fantasy world. Together, they were the perfect pair, working effectively together because they were such a great team and so complimentary in who each of them was.

Toy Story

Amazingly, Toy Story deals with self-righteous, indwelling sin. Buzz is so caught up in his self-perceived hero status that he cannot see the reality of who he is. He won't even listen to his friend, Woody, who tries several times to bring him to reality. His only hope of facing up to the reality of his identity is to hear it from the source - his God, which is the toy company which made him. And he does - through a commercial about him, or at least, his toy. The commercial from his maker tells him who he is, and in an attempt to prove it wrong - tempting his maker - he jumps off a balcony attempting to fly. He falls and breaks, just like man who falls and breaks because of sin. Now he can arise as a crouching human to face what he really is, what he in reality can do - falling with style, and use it for good.

It is the same for us. We must come to the end of ourselves, as we view the law and who we really are - sinners before an angry God. Then, we can face the reality of God's grace and His ability to lift us up from the mire. And we can then effectively use the gifts God gives for good.

Spiderman I

The movies of Spiderman portray a fascinating picture of indwelling sin. Take, for example, the Green Goblin of the first movie. Unlike Peter Parker, his change by technology occurs from an overweening ambition, and it aggravates the hatred he holds toward the other scientist, whom he immediately kills once he attains the power to do so easily and anonymously. His ambition is to overcome the natural limitations placed by God on man, and he does so in a test of God. The initial tests indicate a dangerous possibility for insanity, yet Osborne goes ahead and uses the formula upon himself.

Thus, we see how sin, Osborne's hatred, is hidden in his heart and merely waits for the opportune time to burst forth and enact its revenge. Technology, gone awry, is the modern world's version of the ancient gods, who would mate with human females and produce herculean heroes. In Spiderman III, we see indwelling sin even affecting our hero, Peter Parker. This is biblical. No human being, not even the Christian in whom the sin principle is crucified with Christ. But it is not altogether eliminated.

In Spiderman II, the scientist allows his own hubris to corrupt his initial goal of providing energy to mankind. Even a good goal can corrupt a person because of pride.

The Matrix - Morpheus

Morpheus is an obvious John the Baptist type, in that the Oracle reveals that he would find "the One," he taught many others about "the truth," and he gives his life for the sake of the One. At least, he thinks he is giving his life. In the end, the One shows his preeminence by saving Morpheus. Morpheus is a man of faith, and he teaches faith to Neo, the disciple. This faith believes in another world, that which is outside the Matrix. After being freed from it and while in it, one must realize that the rules governing it no longer constrain the one freed. But death is still possible, and so is suffering. Morpheus' disciples know the dangers of the Matrix and from those still bound by it, so they are severe with Neo when they first contact him. And their words, while having completely comprehensible meaning for those who have been freed, are cryptic gobbledy-gook, even evil to those unfreed. Morpheus, like John the Baptist, has a moment of unbelief himself, when he sees Neo die. Morpheus, even though freed and full of faith and believing that the prophecy would come true, did not know exactly how it would turn out. For example, during training he told Neo that when he was ready, Neo would not even need to dodge bullets. Yet, when Neo is struck by bullets and dies, Morpheus was dumbstruck and couldn't believe what had happened. In the same way, the disciples of Jesus, though they believed in Him and His messiahship, did not understand He would have to die. For them, death was victor, along with many other things in life - suffering, loss, disappointment, difficulty - all these things mean God is not in control or has forsaken them. Christ always rose above those things. Think of the time in the boat with the disciples, when they thought they were sinking, but Christ simply said, "Where is your faith?" Think about Lazarus and his sister, Martha, when Jesus asked, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of god." Therefore, Christ was perfectly content with the difficulties His Father allowed into His life and believed always that only the best would result.

The Matrix - Neo

Neo is an obvious Christ figure. To simplify, he dies, rises again, and thereby lives in total control of the Matrix, unable to be defeated by the Agents of the Machine but able to decode and devour them from the inside out. But if it were that simple, the movie would not be genius, and it is genius.

Neo begins as a pawn of the Machine, like all other humans. So in that case, he is not like Christ, who came from outside this world to teach us about the outside of this world. After being freed by Morpheus, Neo comes from outside whenever he returns to the Matrix, but he is not free of the Matrix when he returns. At least, he is a witness of that which is above and beyond the world of the Matrix as Christ was a witness of the world from which He came. Neo in Latin means New, and his name spelled differently is One, as in the One. Christ also was the new man, the second Adam, come to build a new kingdom, not like the old. "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." Eph 3:15-16. After rising from the dead, Neo ascends to heaven at the end of the movie. Part of the genius of the movie is that this supernatural gift of Neo's is not just to show he's the One. It's to show how to escape slavery to the Machine, the world of rules, limitations, disbelief. Neo shows us to endure, even death, and that we will come out the other side of whatever is stopping, hindering, even destroying us. In Neo's case, it is the greatest enemy of all - death. There is no greater difficulty. All our problems are less than death; therefore, if waiting on God, believing that victory is ours, is what Christ and Neo did, then that is all we need. Another part of the genius of the movie is the discipleship phase of Neo's life. Here is what we relate to the most as humans. Neo, according to Morpheus, knows there is something wrong with the world, but he can't explain it. It's "like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." That's how sin is. You can't explain why and how you're not right, nor why and how the world is not right. And you don't know how to stop being a slave to that world. Jesus said, "He who sins is a slave to sin." Neo can't be told what the Matrix is; he must see it. "Except ye be born again, ye cannot see the kingdom of God." Jesus' conversation in John 3 with Nicodemus. And Neo is. He comes out of the womb, seeing the world for what it really is, controlled by something unfriendly, keeping him blind to the truth of the slavery the Machine keeps him in. His new life requires learning new things, most importantly learning how to deal with suffering and fighting with those powers that held him.

His biggest fight is in his mind. In training Neo, Morpheus seeks to "free your mind." He must let it all go - "fear, doubt, and disbelief." And anything is possible. Neo's relationship with Morpheus is subtle but evident; he loves Morpheus for freeing him, for teaching him, for being a fearless man standing for the truth. And this relationship leads to the key to Neo realizing his calling. The oracle scene is profound. Instead of telling Neo he is the One, she tells him that he's not ready. She deflates Neo's inordinate attraction for himself and lets him know there's someone more important - Morpheus. Based on the Oracle's foretelling that he would have to make a choice between himself and Morpheus, Neo makes the choice to think of someone other than himself, and that is where his faith and power arise, from his love for Morpheus. Even so Christ did not suffer for the righteous but "in due time Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6. Were we more deserving than Christ? On the contrary, it was the opposite case - we deserving His death, and He deserving life. Yet, he put us first. Thus, love conquered, and Neo's calling was revealed.

The Water Horse

A lonely boy, who has lost his Dad, finds a creature whom he helps and who grows into a friend and a protector of the boy. But this creature is not like men, cruel and demanding, lacking understanding of a small frightened boy. This creature takes the boy and plays with him in the environment most terrifying to the boy, makes him see its wonder, and that it is not a danger to one who can protect the boy from just about anything that threatens the boy. The boy learns to love this great creature, to build a relationship with it. It is so with our great Creator, who loves us and is so powerful, fearful, yet faithful to us. And we can know Him and His love.