A lot of things happened when Jesus died on the cross. Crazy and unexplainable things. "The graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many" (Matthew 27:52-53). That kind of stuff. That's weird and may have led to some pretty startling interactions.
Then Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to all kinds of people over the next 40 days. We just celebrated His resurrection, and rightfully so, because without it "your faith is in vain; ye are yet in your sins" (1 Corinthians 15:17). Being raised from death unto life is a big deal in Scripture.
The Walking Dead is/was a big deal on TV. The show took the world by storm beginning in 2010. But before that show, Max Brooks wrote a book called The Zombie Survival Guide. Long before that, Audio Adrenaline recorded the song Some Kind of Zombie in 1997.
If you've never listened to the song. You should. Here's a link. Be forewarned, it was the late 90s and things were weird.
Anyway, the book and the song got me to thinking. Specifically, I thought about dead things coming back to life. And that sounds a lot like what happens to us when we accept Christ. Other people think the same way, apparently, and in 2013 the band Family Force 5 released a song called Zombie.
Here are a few of the lyrics:
Not a wannabe but a zombie
I know, insanity, unattainable, unchainable
Zombie-ance is uncontainable
Run for your-ru-ru-run for your life, what
Bon-Appetite, I got a new appetite
Transformed, be-be-be-be-reborn, uh
Love bites and it's in rare form
The lyrics are admittedly not genius-level, but there are a few things the redeemed will recognize. Thoughts about being unchained, having a new appetite, and being reborn among them.
At this point, you should read Ephesians 2:1-10, because I don't want to paste all of the text into my post. The gist of those verses is this: we used to be dead in our sins and as a result we walked a certain sinful way. Christ makes us alive and because of this we walk a different way. In a sense, we are reanimated, like zombies.
Everyone knows that zombies exist solely to make more zombies. Christians are commanded to preach the Gospel, evangelize the world, and make disciples. We can envision a world where Christianity spreads from person to person like a virus.
So what if we had some fun and thought about Christianity through the lens of zombies?
Many of these main points come from a book called Z.E.O.: How to Get A(Head) in Business, by Scott Kenemore. The main points are his, but he is talking about achievement in the business world. We are talking about something else entirely.
As we get started, never lose sight of the ultimate goal: bring others to Christ. There is no room for compromise and 99% is not acceptable. Zombies don’t compromise, and everybody knows it. No one tries to talk a zombie out of what it is doing because it won’t work. It is suicidal, actually. As a believer, you need to project outwardly (to friends and family) that no alternative or substitute way of living is acceptable to you.
Step One: Refuse to act the way the world wants you to act.
No matter the movie, television show, book, or song, zombies never act how the normal world would like them to. The Bible tells us that we are not to be conformed to this world, either. In fact, we should be transformed into something entirely different (Romans 12:1-2). The passage in Ephesians 2 says much the same thing. So be bold and be different. You are called to it!
Step Two: Don’t lust for things you can’t have
There are just certain things that zombies don't want. In the movie, World War Z, it was people with fatal illnesses or severe handicaps. It does you no good to offer a zombie a six-pack of double cheeseburgers. They aren't biting. Literally.
In the same way, there are things that are not okay for Christians to do. Paul lists a ton of them in Colossians, Ephesians, Romans, etc. As a believer, you may as well not waste your time pining after sin. Proverbs 23:17-18 says it like this: "Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off."
Step 3: Forget Peer Pressure – Like a zombie
Zombies just do their own thing, you know? There aren't any competitions or beauty contests. What would the world be like if we Christians could capture that mentality?
Too many times Christians don’t get involved because they cite personal failures, such as shortcomings in physical appearance or charisma, as reasons why they should wait. We defeat ourselves before an opponent gets the chance!
We must never hesitate to serve Christ just because we may fail to measure up to standards you feel society has set for you. Eliminate any negative thoughts about your own chances for success, rather, focus on breaking through the barriers like a zombie breaking through the walls of a top-secret testing facility. If you adopt a zombie’s resourcefulness, any physical or social disadvantages you face can be overcome – many times to your advantage (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Step Four: Take Initiative
No one has to give a zombie a motivational speech. The same should be true for trying to tell a Christian to live like Christ or to witness to others.
We should live and witness with our only thought being: does this make me more like Jesus and point others to Him?
Some people would rather not be involved unless they get to play a central role. Zombies know they all are playing an important role. No task should be beneath a Christian if it helps accomplish the goal. The same should be true for us (Matthew 23:11-12).
Step Five: Don’t remember who you were
No zombie ever returns to the life they once lived. A zombie’s old life is dead. They know it, and other people know it. Just the same, being a Christian should override anything we were previously. Once you become a Christian, who you were doesn’t matter. In fact, there may be parts of who you were that you need to give up and get away from (Philippians 3:13-14).
Your friends and family should know that you are different now.
Conclusion:
If each of us that named the name of Christ lived a little more like the reanimated, transformed, reborn, undead creatures that we are, I think we could turn the world upside down in no time. Think about it, have you ever seen or read anything about a zombie invasion where society wasn't turned upside down?
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