Jesus Explains the Ending to Inception
The movie Inception (2010) was a world of dreams-within-dreams-within-dreams. It was impossible to tell what was dream and what was reality.
One way of escaping the dream was to get yourself killed. By dying, the dream would be over, and you would wake up back to reality.
But the dilemma was this: If you aren't dreaming, you really die. But if you are dreaming, you return to reality.
The only external reference point was a totem - a spinning top. In the dream-state, the top keeps spinning. In the real-world, the top eventually stops spinning.
We have a similar dilemma. With so many competing worldviews, which is reality and which is fantasy?
For example, we can choose from two worldviews.
Worldview #1
There is no loving, personal God. All we are is matter. So we construct our own meaning and happiness.
Worldview #2
There is a loving, personal God. We are more than matter. We are also souls. Meaning and happiness is found by loving, worshiping and serving God.
We have the same dilemma: Jesus says whoever tries to keep their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for Jesus will gain everything.
So which worldview is it? Which is fantasy and which is reality? Should we live for ourselves or for Jesus? Which is gain and which is loss?
We need an external reference point. A totem. A sign.
This is why the early followers of Jesus called him a sign from God. And if we believe this, then we will gain life rather than lose it.
Jesus performed many other signs ... but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30-31)