Great! Now that I have your attention, lets take a look at a few things.
Clearly I do not think that there is an impending Zombie Apocalypse nor do I feel there is theological value in those silly movies and shows. That being said, I do believe we can extrapolate a valuable lesson from the premise they provide.
First thing I must remind us is that the human mind is a powerful creative tool, the fingerprints of God are all over it. Much of what we humans create with our minds is often perverse or a twisted reality especially in “pop culture”. This is not to say that there is zero value, we need to look beneath the surface and find the deeper meanings. Just like we often need to with scripture.
Are there walking dead among us? No and yes… they are not the morbid, brain eating, falling apart undead creatures we see in these movies. However, until we are reborn spiritually we are literally the walking dead according to scripture.
Though we don’t wander around groaning for brains to eat, we do wander around trying to fill a void that is never satisfied. Whether it is drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, risky behaviour, thrill seeking for adrenaline etc… Just like the Zombies in the movies once we are finished eating the brains of our prey we long for the next brain, the next fix if you will. It is an endless cycle and it never leads to a permanent satisfaction.
So now we have the ground work, in our pre-Christ state we are the walking dead. We follow the commands of the devil, we literally honour him with our lives through our sin and behaviour and indifference. We really are Zombies, we know so much of what we do to fill the void in our soul is wrong but we are drawn to it like a moth to a flame, or in this case a Zombie to a brain!
Ephesians 2:1 to 6 spells it out pretty clearly:
And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the [a]course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (NKJV)
This is our condition. Now you see the fingerprint of God in this Zombie mess a little more clearly. Somehow the heart of these folks recognized something and we’ll share their thoughts on it through a medium they understand: film and TV. So mix that with a unrepentant heart that serves an evil master instead of a loving father and you have this perverse creative outlet.
They in some way actually recognize our condition and you will notice they are always looking for a cure… between explosions and head shots.
In walks the Church, you will notice that in the movies the folks are always running from the Zombie hoards… are we that much different in the modern North American Church?
We too barricade our doors, hide ourselves and our children from the world. When Christ called us to be separated from the world, pretty sure that meant not engaging in all the bad stuff. It’s not hiding from the ones who need Him the most: “The Walking Dead”
You see unlike in the movies we have the most powerful weapon in the entire universe, The Holy Spirit, He resides in us, he guides us and shapes us…. If we let Him!
More than that though, we have the cure! We have the cure for the Zombie apocalypse. His name is Jesus and He came to save us from an eternity of walking dead in darkness.
We must not barricade our doors, we must walk among the “Living Dead “ That they may see the light that resides in us, that they may see the cure for their condition. This condition need not be terminal like it is in the movies. There is a clear way out, the path is narrow but we have the One who will help us keep our footing.
So what are we afraid of? Someone may reject us, how dare they…. Oh wait. If we are loving them and building a relationship with them and they reject the Gospel are they really rejecting us? Of course not! It is God they are rejecting and He can take it. He did not ask us to bring Him a finished product. God asked us to step out in faith, to be different, to love in spite of hatred.
We know the disease, we know the cause and we have the cure…. seems pretty simple.
Now do you love Christ enough to love those that hate you and Him? Will you step outside of your fear of man and recognize that we have something more powerful?
Lets take down the barricades and make the local church what it was meant to be, a place to find truth and love for those that don’t know it and a place where we can come and get patched up every Sunday after fighting the Zombie Hoards.
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:10-13 (NKJV)
The world needs Love and they need the cure, all that stands in the way is fear and the one who feeds fear, remember his end has already been decided. We are fighting for the winning side!
After all, the little “c” church is really an army triage centre not a country club. It is the place we go to get recharged so we may honour God with our lives….”The other 6 Days”
He only asked us to do one thing:
And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. Mark 16:15 (NKJV)
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