I wonder how many more ways Hollywood can put zombies into a movie?

Really.

In the past four or five years there’s been a rash of zombie related entertainment coming out. “I am Legend,” “World War Z,” and on, and on.

And now there’s a TV show all about Zombies, too.

But zombies are not the only treatment of the undead that’s been offered up. There are vampires too. The whole “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Twilight” craze has gone off the rails in popularity.

I know, I know, they’re just stories. Just fiction. No harm done.

Really?

Now before you get yourself all in a tizzy, let me tell you right up front, I’m not going on some crazed campaign to rid the world of zombies and vampires (on second thought, that sounds like a good premise for a movie).

But what I hope to do is to give you some food for thought about this issue.

The perversion of a glorious thing

I’ve lived long enough that I shouldn’t be surprised at humanity’s ability to twist glorious things into evil ones. But I am.

The interest in zombies and vampires that has gripped popular culture is something I just don’t get. I can’t see why people would be so enamored with something that is a cheap imitation of a reality so glorious that their soul would be exploded by it (in a good way).

You see,

Only God can resurrect a human life. Only He can give life back to the dead.

He did it three times in the Old Testament days (1 Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4, and 2 Kings 13:21) and nobody ran in terror from the resurrected person. They marveled at the power of God.

The same was true in the New Testament days. There are many instances of Jesus and the Apostles being God’s instruments of resurrection (Luke 7:13-5, Matthew 9:25, John 11:43-44, Matthew 27:52-53, Matthew 28:5-7, Acts 9:36-42, Acts 20:9-12). Again, people stared in wonder, at the power of God rather than running in fear.

All of those events point forward, to a glorious and real hope for those of us who are wise enough to reject the demented allure of zombies and vampires for something greater. We are promised resurrection from the dead, when we place our faith in Christ (John 6:40; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55).

But wait, there are real-life Christian zombies

If you want to take the accepted idea of zombies as “undead” people, walking around among the living, I think I can make the case that God came up with that idea too…

But He doesn’t call those people “undead,” He calls them “born again.”

Stay with me here.

Faith in Christ not only guarantees a resurrection in the future, it gives us new life now. The “old” us is gone, the “new” ‘us (made in the likeness of Christ) is here now as the source from which we live each day. (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:22-24, John 5:24, Colossians 3:9-10, Romans 6:4, Romans 8:1-3,).

It’s real. WE have new life NOW. Our life has been taken over by Jesus, who is our life (Galatians 2:20).

In that sense, we are the walking dead, those brought from death to life (Ephesians 2:1-7), and our hunger is not for human flesh or bloodshed.

Our desire is bring glory to our Father who has given us new life.

So what is a Christian family to do…

in a culture saturated with demented, twisted images of what it means to have life after death?

Here’s my suggestions:

Should you allow your kids to watch the zombie movies and read the vampire books?

I know it would be easy for me to give you a clear-cut answer. But there isn’t one. I think God leaves these things vague for a very important reason: He wants us to draw close to Him so that we can come to know His heart on issues of discernment like this.

You have to go before God, in light of the truths and suggestions listed above, and see what He’d have you do for your family.

I think you’ll find that He’ll steer you toward holy, right, good things rather than demented, twisted, sick ones. I think He’ll raise the bar on what you find to be entertaining and acceptable.

I think you’ll find that God will not share His glory with another – not even a zombie or a vampire. (Isaiah 42:8)

The song in the video below has always grabbed my attention. It speaks to the second aspect of resurrection that I mentioned, the indwelling of Christ, who is our life (Galatians 2:20). It’s called “Some Kind of Zombie.”

Look carefully at the words, and let them challenge you to think of this issue, and yourself, differently.

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