The Walking Dead - It's Time to Come Alive!

(Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version)

     There is a popular series on AMC that tells the story of a small group of survivors living in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. The show is called “The Walking Dead.”  Now here is a quick primer on zombies.  Zombies are animated corpses.  These creatures eat survivors.  They also infect “normal” humans with disease.  One bite or scratch from a zombie will prove fatal.  Also these creatures are difficult to “kill.”  Only a fatal blow to the brain will stop these things… dead!

     Why am I talking about a fantasy show dealing with zombies?  It is because sadly today, we live in a world of the walking dead!  These walking dead are individuals who either do not know God or who do not know the full Kingdom message and are walking in darkness and despair.  Appropriately, the title of my sermon is “The Walking Dead - It’s Time to Come Alive!”

     So who are today’s “walking dead?”  These are people who walk by sight and not by faith.  They will focus on past events and failures, constantly “wishing” they had done better.  Their perception of life is what people tell them, what they can see with their physical eyes, and how they internalize their feelings.  They will dwell on negative thoughts and pessimism.  They will allow their thoughts to run wild.  When they get around others, these individuals can “infect” people with their negativity and drag others into their own pits of despair.  It is no wonder that these folks feel down trodden, empty, and just going through the motions of life?  They are the “real” Walking Dead!

     So, what does God’s Word tell us about our lives and how does it bring hope to these Walking Dead?

     “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).  Faith is the eye of the soul by which it looks to Christ for righteousness, peace, pardon, life, and salvation. With faith, we “see” Christ as He is, not with our physical “eyes,” but with the “eyes” of our soul.  As our relationship with Jesus Christ deepens and He reveals more to us, that is when faith is turned into vision.

     To break out of this Walking Dead mode, we have to decide whether to move forward or stay in reverse.  Our mind is similar to the transmission found in a car. There are three modes we can choose to be in - Forward, Reverse, or Neutral.

Neutral:  We are not going anywhere!  Your car engine will rev up, but the wheels will not move.  In our mind, being in neutral means we are stagnating and will eventually die.  The mind is an organ that must be always engaged and working.

Reverse:  This is the Walking Dead mode.  We will focus on past events and failures, constantly “wishing” we had done better.  “If only I had done this (fill in the blank).”  “Or if I had only said this (fill in the blank) and my desired outcome would have been better.”  I had an unfortunate encounter with one of my brothers recently.  During the conversation, he brought up past events and was bitter on how he perceived these events had unfolded.  One of the events had taken place approximately 8 years ago!  He chose to still be angry and bitter over events that happened years ago!  But no matter how much we dwell on the past, we cannot change any past events.  Nothing I say or do will change the past.  We cannot re-write history.  But many folks fall into this backward looking pit, wallow around in their own despair, and are miserable.

Forward:   “I have chosen the way of truth; your judgments I have laid before me” (Psalm 119:30).  When you set your mind upon positive things and God’s Word, you set yourself on a path or journey that is constantly moving forward!  As you pray, obey God, and study His Word, you will continue to move forward and dwell on what lies before you and not what is dead and buried in the past.

     Many "Walking Dead" will dwell on negative thoughts and pessimism.  I work with a co-worker who is a living, breathing and walking example of negativity and pessimism.  A company director will praise our team’s work efforts on a conference call, but my co-worker will immediately point out a negative aspect to the statement.  Or I’ll comment that I’m having a really good day.  My co-worker will reply, “But, it’s still early. Anything can happen.”

     In my co-workers’ way of thinking, the glass is always half empty and never half full.  He has trained his way of thinking to dwell only on the negative.  How sad.

     Did you know that as you train your mind into certain thought patterns, it’s like the rushing waters of a river that, over time, carves and erodes a deeper channel between the banks of the river?  Think constant thoughts of negativity and pessimism, and those thought patterns will carve and erode deeper into your mental faculties.  Then, like my co-worker, you will always think negative and pessimistic thoughts first.  We need to guard against these spirits of negativity and pessimism infecting our thinking!  “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but  righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).

     We must take these thoughts captive!  God operates on faith.  The Enemy operates on fear.  The Walking Dead allow their imaginations to run wild.  We must not allow these negative and pessimistic thoughts to take hold of ourselves and to govern our way of thinking.  We have to constantly go to battle and take these thoughts captive.  “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing  every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

     We also have to guard against sinking into that same pit of despair that the Walking Dead wallow about in.  I remember meeting up with a friend one time. We were going to lunch.  I was having a great day and was excited about sharing some positive experiences with him.  Unfortunately, my friend chose to dwell on some negative and pessimist thoughts.  During our conversation, I started to feel bad and found myself drifting closer to the edge of that pit of despair where my friend chose to sit.  We finished lunch together, and after several attempts to “cheer him up”, I had to excuse myself and return to work.  I could sense that “infection” of negativity and pessimism starting to work on my mental being.

     We have to transform and renew our thinking.  We cannot allow negativity and pessimism to rule our lives.  Romans 12:2 tells us “Do not be conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”.

     We also must guard our tongues against giving negative and pessimist thoughts a “voice.”  The Bible warns us about our tongues.  “Even so the tongue is a little member boasts great things” (James 3:5).  We need to guard our tongue as much as we guard our thoughts!

     There is another account in the Bible of the Walking Dead.  It was in Ezekiel and the valley of dry bones.  Here we have a profound type of death.  These Walking Dead are so “dead” and so removed from God, that these individuals are nothing more than dry bones, bleaching in the sun.  Even the marrow has been removed, and these bones are one step removed from returning to mere dust.  “The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then he caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?'" (Ezekiel 37:1-3).

     But how many folks know, but God?  “I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 37:6).  The Lord took a seemingly impossible situation and transformed those dead and dry bones into living and breathing beings filled with the Spirit of God! The dead had become alive, and not just existing but alive with all the abundance and promise of God Almighty!  Praise God!

     So what are the positive and life affirming things we need to set our minds upon so we don’t end up like the Walking Dead?

1)  We must follow God’s instructions on how to live and govern our lives.  God commands us to love one another.  “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).

2)  We must care for the poor and needy.  “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).

3)  We must not fall into sinful behaviors like those who do not know God.  “For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thessalonians 5:7-8).

Jesus summoned up a life lived for God when addressing a teacher of the law. “Jesus answered him, 'The first of all the commandments is: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul. with all your mind, and with all your strength.'  This is the first commandment.  And the second, like it, is this:  'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment great than these” (Mark 12: 29-31).

     People of God, there are many times that I feel like a survivor living in a world made up of too many Walking Dead.  But that is me looking through my carnal eyes out into the natural world.  But with faith, I can and will “re-adjust” my eyesight so that it comes from within.  I need to use my “soul sight,” walking in faith and relying on the Word of God to guide my steps.  “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but  then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1Corinthians 13:12-13).

     As Sons of God, we have been brought out of the system of men for times such as those before us.  We were once Walking Dead ourselves.  We warmed pews. We listened to the sermonettes and the “good” stories told by those individuals behind the pulpits.  We subjected ourselves to the commandments and doctrines of men, and not God.  “Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations: 'Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,' which all concern things which perish with the using - according to the commandments and doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:20 – 23).

     I read a recent Facebook entry written by a preacher, and he offered advice for new preachers starting out in the ministry.  He talked about listening, establishing your voice, being up front about change, building an effective infrastructure by… get this… having all the staff tender their resignations because new pastors need colleagues who share their approach to ministry.  It read like a corporate blue print on the fundamentals of organization and efficiency.  He ended his post with this statement; “In other words, be loving, patient and kind; be firm, resolute and bold.  Most of all, be yourself and say your prayers.”  A reader replied, in all caps “Listen to the parish members and listen well.”

     Dead words directed to the Living Dead.  I also replied to his post with these words:  “Speak God's Word loudly and always!  Proclaim the true Gospel.  Do not become a slave to what church members "want" to hear!”  

     That, my friends is the system of the Living Dead.  That is what we must change!  We must preach the full and unadulterated Word of God so that these Living Dead may come alive and live more abundantly and richer and deeper than they have ever experienced!  “Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:15-17).

     People of God, we must look above and beyond the Living Dead and fix our “soul sight” on God and God alone.  And at the same time, we must extend our arms and help lift those Walking Dead out of their own pits of despair and into His marvelous sight!  And with God all things are possible!  And His will shall be done – in the heavenly realms and on Earth!

Amen and Amen!

~ Mike West