I have never really been a post-apocalyptic zombie movie kind of guy, but I have seen enough shows and movies to know how Hollywood tends to depict such an event. They will show zombies aimlessly walking around with a blank stare on their face seeking to feast on the living. A breakdown of infrastructure occurs. The government soon follows, and eventually, an entire society lays in ruin.
I am here today to tell you today that we are already there. We are living in a real zombie apocalypse. If you look around with a Christian perspective, everywhere you turn you see dead men walking. The Bible says in Romans that a man without Christ is dead in his sin. He is a slave to sin and cannot do anything but sin. Even in churches and in our Christian groups we see people openly living in sin. I completely understand the fact that we are all humans and have all fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), but if a man lives in Christ that means that he has died to sin and is resurrected with Jesus who bore the cross. His chains which bound him to sin lay broken, and he now walks free from sin because he has been made a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). In Matthew, Jesus says that we must deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow him. To serve the Lord, we must deny our own wants, our lusts of the flesh, and our sinful ways and follow him.
What does it mean to follow Him, you might ask? That is an essential question. The Lord Jesus gave his followers many commandments, all of which are important, but we see in Matthew where Jesus was asked a question by the Pharisees that sought not to know and learn from the Lord but to trick Him into saying something they would deem blasphemous. They asked Him what God’s greatest commandment to mankind was. His answer should be a foundation for how Christians should live their lives and how they should treat their fellow man. Jesus said that you must first love the Lord your God with everything you have and secondly you must love your neighbors as yourself (Matt. 22:37-39).
If we as Christians are supposed to be the body of Christ, then why aren’t our hands helping, our mouths proclaiming, our feet walking to the ends of the earth or our eyes seeking out the lost and the afflicted? Why are preachers watering down the gospel and trying to take the sting out of their sermons for the sake of not stepping on the toes of their spiritually fragile congregation? Why do the churches of today look inwardly at themselves instead of outwardly to the down-trodden and the hopeless? Why do alleged believers pray to God for healing and protection and then walk out of the church doors and live like He doesn’t exist?
Believers!? Believe! Stand firm in your faith. Trust in the Lord your God. Lean entirely on Him and cast all your burdens and worry on Him. Our God is a stronghold in your day of trouble (Nahum 1:7), and our faith and church is built firmly on a foundation made of the rock which is our Lord Jesus. Live your life like you have nothing to lose and that all you have is to gain. The worst thing that can happen to us (from a worldly perspective) is death, but if you put your faith and trust in Christ, He promises us that we will not taste death but have everlasting life. In Philippians, the apostle Paul tells us that it would be far better if he died and went to be with Jesus, but since he was not called home, he would stay and minister to the people (Phil. 1:22-24). Either way, God would be glorified.
As Christians, we must remember that this life that we live is not for us, but our life is for the glorification of the Lord God Almighty. Like Paul said life would be a lot easier to just be with Jesus, but until the Lord calls us home, He has left us here with a mission. Don’t be the zombie with the blank stare on his face wandering while on this earth because of a desire to fulfill earthly things. Instead, be a man on a mission. We bring glory to God by serving His people and by showing His love to mankind. The Lord Jesus commanded every man and every woman that follows him to go to the end of the earth spreading the good news (Matt. 28:19-20). We must tell the world that they have a Redeemer and a Savior who has bought and paid for them, who died on the cross and was raised from the grave that they too would not have to taste death but have everlasting life. Die to yourself and LIVE for the Lord!