Zombies, Ghosts,
Demons, and Saints #1 Zombies
The Halloween
decorations are up, must be October.
Good time to talk about harvest in the fields of the Lord, to examine
how we can evangelize our neighborhood, how to be about the business of
bringing in the sheaves. Instead, I want to consider Zombies, Ghosts, Demons,
and Saints over the next four weeks.
A genre of horror
movies that just won’t die is tales of zombies. Zombies remind me of those Black
Friday shoppers with a need to consume.
In the chaos of false need, you see people waiting in lines for hours
and then fighting over some trinket, latest toy, or new technology. What are they thinking? In Black Friday
behavior you see the decay of social order, anarchy, and terrorism, at least
terrorism of your bank account. You see
the loss of humanity and that’s what zombie movies are all about.
It seems like every
month a new post-apocalyptic zombie move is released for our
entertainment. If you can get past the
stupidity and the gore these movies tell us something about the culture in
which we live. Film aficionados, movie
critiques, are always analyzing the media for its subtle hidden messages about
life. Zombie movies by in large are about something we fear and what we can do
to protect ourselves, to escape the danger, to create a whole new world free
from the mistakes of the past, but in the end…
The easiest culture
critique that you can highlight in a zombie movie is our consumer culture. We are the mindless horde that consumes
everything in our path. In the process of
consumption, we destroy the world in our never-ending quest for more. Almost every zombie movie has a survivor
watching as zombies are feasting on one of the former survivors, only to look
up and go after the living. Not even done with one meal and up for
another. That’s pretty disgusting. There is no peace, no contentment, no
satisfaction, there is only the driving compulsion for more. There is no celebration, there is no
happiness, just off to the next thing often before you finished with the meal
of life before you, that’s an example of hell on earth
Proverbs 27:20 (MSG)
Hell has a voracious
appetite, and lust just never quits.
Have you noticed that
zombie movies rarely have happy endings?
Unless there is going to be a sequel most of our protagonists, the good
guys and gals, aren’t going to make it. They are going to fall victim to
unstoppable forces. The subtle message
is there is no hope. Mankind is going to
be doomed. Do you have a fear that
everything is going to turn out bad? Maybe
it’s the self-suppressed knowledge that we are going to die?
Psalms 103:15-16
(MSG)
Men and women don't
live very long; like wildflowers, they spring up and blossom, But a storm snuffs
them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here.
Friends, without
Jesus, there are no happy endings.
The modern-day
zombies are a lot faster than they used to be.
The first zombies were depicted as stumbling groaning corpses, easily
evaded, but in such overwhelming numbers that there is no escape. The later zombie movies have fast flesh-eating
monsters; some can even think and team up to take down the survivors. Our culture is fast-moving. Sometimes it feels that we are caught up in a
race with no finish line, a race that is set to devour us. In a zombie movie,
it’s always killing them or be killed, a picture of our dog-eat-dog world, of
caring only for ourselves. They are not
called the walking dead for nothing.
Galatians 5:15 (NIV)
If you keep on biting
and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
In most of our modern
zombie movies, the zombies seem to have a hive mind, there isn’t any
independent thought. They usually don’t
do well on their own. So they clump together, creating a horde, then there is
no independent action. Zombies don’t reflect, they don’t engage in critical
thinking, they just react, no planning, just stimulus-response with the
overwhelming desire to infect you, to make you like them. When they are not active
in trying to devour you they go into a kind of stupor, asleep while standing,
oblivious to everything until there is some activating event that sets them off
on their instinctual ravenous desires.
Colossians 2:8 (NIV)
See to it that no one
takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on
human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
In watching a zombie
movie have you urged the survivors to do something they’re not? Don’t open the door! Put your cell phone on silent! Geico, the
insurance company, put out a 30-second commercial called “Horror Movie: It’s
What You Do.” A small group of friends is
running from something horrible, they emerge in front of what looks like a
haunted house, one guy says let’s hide in the attic, a gal says no, let's go to
the basement, while another says why don’t we just get into the running car
when the other guy says “Are you crazy” Let's hide behind the chain saws.” Zombie movies often motivate us to ask the
question: What would I do, if that were
me? Your answer tells you a lot about yourself. What can you do right now, what
are the right decisions, the right moves?
You do know that the Holy Spirit gives all those who ask for it
discernment, to choose what is right?
We’re living in
zombie culture. Unrestrainable
consumerism, always wanting more than enough. The media constantly feeding us
stories to make us afraid, stories with the prognosis that it will end
unhappily ever after. Unreasoned
violence is everywhere from a sucker punch on the streets of New York to mass
shootings at birthday parties in California.
Anarchy erupts, the rule of law and order evaporates. Let’s pass more
laws and then defund the law enforcers. Everything is moving fast, changing
faster than we can keep pace. When it’s not moving fast we’re in a stupor, just
plain worn out, unaware of what is going on around us. We’ve become cannibalistic, devouring one
another by looking out for only our interests. What’s in it for me? Were caught up in the mob of humanity controlled
by passion in the heat of the moment, in the face of the current crisis, instead
of employing rationality and logic to the problems we face, We’ve become overly
emotional not thinking through the various solutions to a problem, not
proactive but reactive. My mind is made up; don’t confuse me with the facts. We
get swept along with the horde.
Zechariah 14:12-13
(MSG)
GOD will visit them
with a terrible plague. People's flesh will rot off their bones while they are
walking around; their eyes will rot in their sockets and their tongues in their
mouths; people will be dying on their feet! Mass hysteria when that
happens—total panic! Fellow soldiers fighting and killing each other—holy
terror
This happens in every
culture that turns its collective backs on God.
When people reject God they become the walking dead, alive physically, dead
spiritually.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (MSG)
Don't be naïve. There
are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be
self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of
parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage,
cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and
allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're
animals. Stay clear of these people.
You can even become a
zombie Christian having a form of godliness but no power…
2 Timothy 3:5 (NLT)
They will act
religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly.
Zombie
Christians. What a movie that would
be! We would see the undead sitting in
pews groaning out hymns, listening to the zombie preaching telling them that
all is well, that there is nothing wrong, stumbling out of the church to
consume. No thinking is required. No reasoning is necessary.
Zombie Christians
have religion, they have the form, they go through the motions. They are near to Godliness, they see it, but
they don’t have it. They might even
attend church. They might even stand
during singing worship times. They might
even give some of their money to support the congregation. They might even show up for a workday. But it’s all form, it’s respectable, it’s
appreciated, but it lacks Godliness.
Godliness is an
experience of power at work within you, making you alive. This power brings you to repentance and
faith. Repentance means acknowledging
your life is not aligned with the life of Christ, and out of sync with God,
your life is full of bad relationships.
Repentance means you’re sick and tired of how your life is going.
Depressed, lonely, anxious, aimless, disillusioned, bored, disappointed, and
miserable, you’re desperate for a change, a life make-over. Faith is believing
that Jesus can and does reconcile you to God which avails you to the power to
change. Godliness is experiencing the power of being drawn and bonded to
God.
Are you experiencing
this power of Godliness or is God on the periphery of your life? Is God your second thought, obeying God when
convenient, God is only important when you’re in trouble you can’t handle?
Here’s a word for you if you feel you might be a Zombie Christian:
Ephesians 5:14 (NIV)
"Wake up, O
sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
You can experience
the power of Godliness in your life right now.
This power justifies, saving you from your sin. This power sanctifies,
transforming your life so that you can live your life to the full. This power glorifies, you become a conduit
for God to manifest his power, his miracles, his gifts in our midst, and after
this life is over, brings you into glory (1 Corinthians 12:7, John 14:12).
Godliness is
experiencing a great change of heart, your values change, your desires change,
your goals change, the way you deal with yourself and others change, from
self-centered concerns to us-concerning, from me to we (Ezekiel 36:26, 2
Corinthians 5:17).
The power of Godliness
helps you navigate the paradox of knowing you are near to God while being far
away from Him. You navigate learning
only to discover you have so much more to learn through consecration. We’ve talked about bending the knee to God,
that’s what consecration is all about. Consecration leads to concentration on
seeking first the Kingdom of God and let everything else submit to the guidance
of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 6:33, Galatians 5:25).
Seeking first the
kingdom is to love. To love God as
demonstrated in our obedience to His commands, to His agenda, to His way, is
how we put the kingdom first (1 John 5:3).
To love others is to use your resources, your time, talent, money, you
presence, not to hand put but extend a helping hand up, meeting a need someone
has, encouraging them to seek God also (Matthew 7:12)
Experiencing the
power of Godliness your life fills with the fruit of the Spirit: “..love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”
these pour out when you are frustrated, when you are angry when you are annoyed
when you hit your little toe on the table. (Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT). You know peace, content with enough, not
needing more than enough to meet your needs.
Are you experiencing
the power of Godliness or is your life just like those who do not know
Jesus? Zombies. The need for a paycheck is the motivator for
life. Got to have a paycheck, I owe, I owe so off to work I go. You woe to work in a job that is just a means
to a paycheck, drinks after with that good looking co-worker, go home
exhausted, sit in front of the TV watching Housewives of Orange County till you
pass out from the boredom, and drag your carcass into bed, to fitfully sleep,
wake up tired, and do it all again.
Maybe you can stick a once-a-year vacation into that mind-numbing
schedule. This kind of life can end today.
Are you experiencing
the power of Godliness or do you just have a form of religion? Going through the motions, a dabbler in
faith, holding back, not thinking, not discerning, but just going along with
the Christian crowd if it isn’t too inconvenient. That kind of life can end
today.
Want God, desire God,
follow God, put God first, look away from yourself and focus on God, become
passionate to be with Him, to continually sense His presence and you will
exchange a form of godliness for the real thing.
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