I know it’s not popular to talk about commandments when I’m supposed to be “loving on” everybody but since I’m already less popular than pickled beets, I’m not risking much. There are plenty of “Love Zombies” shambling around to adequately meet the demand for affection with no strings attached. So, let me call your attention back to one of the original “Ten Commandments” that we break almost every time we talk about Christianity.
I love zombies.
I think the walking dead serve as a great metaphor for the walking living. The Bible describes us as dead in our sins and powerless to do anything about it. Zombies are rotting corpses that wander aimlessly with no hope of ever being anything other than rotting corpses. A zombie’s sole purpose for existing is to locate living people; and eat them.
The amazing thing about zombies (aside from they’re being dead and walking around) is they never eat each other. Somehow, they can tell the living from the dead. I’ve always wondered why zombies are such finicky eaters. They’re deceased. What’s the worst that could happen if they ate rancid food? I don’t think indigestion would rank highly on a dead person’s list of concerns. This is where zombies differ from we living people. The dead are careful about what they consume. We are not.
We living people will eat anything. Without asking the question, “How will this affect me?” we’ll gobble up books, videos, movies, articles, news, social media, and relationships. We’re not seeking life. We’re far less finicky than zombies.
We’re proud of our love for people.
The first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” that’s the one we break when we promote our brand of Christianity. Our modern, “woke” church is full of superstitious idolaters. We worship the idol of our own righteousness. Like a horde of “Love Zombies”, we promise “unconditional love” and “absolute acceptance” in the name of Jesus and ignore the fact that Jesus didn’t offer either of those things. We think we’re more Christ-like than Christ.
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
John 14:25
“…In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”
We don’t believe that stuff anymore. Discipleship has nothing to do with Jesus. It’s all about loving the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the powerless, and ourselves. We boast about our love on social media. We brag about our concern for those less fortunate. We’re such beautiful, inclusive souls. Church membership doesn’t require taking up your cross!
The gospel of “unconditional acceptance” is not the Gospel of the Bible. It is a zombie that preaches sermons, leads worship, and teaches Sunday School in many churches across the country. It is a corpse that creates the illusion of spirituality by signaling virtues. It seeks to live again by opposing racism, injustice, and hate. It believes that standing against evil is the source of life. But notice the other zombies won’t touch it. They don’t eat dead things.
There is only one source of life. Jesus claimed to be that source. He is not going to share the credit with us. “Loving on” sinners isn’t going to save them. We’ve built a gigantic statue to our personal goodness in the center of Western Christianity. Let’s tear that statue down, huh?
