Are You One Of The WALKING DEAD?

For everyone who was in Sunday School today, I have one thing to say: WOW. I left feeling so inspired by everything that was said, and I am excited to continue the discussion next week. I am left wondering: what exactly does being a Christian look like? Does my life reflect my beliefs? Do I project Christ to the world? Or am I only projecting myself? For those of you who missed the discussion today, I've included an abbreviated version below:

Ok, to be fair, this lesson actually came from last week’s sermon. Chip made the point that we as Christians need to live the life of a Christian, which means living differently as the rest of the world. He made a clear distinction between true Christians and those who call themselves “Christians” but only profess with their mouths not their hearts. He called this latter group the “walking dead.” Now, I’m sure Chip didn’t mean this as a reference to zombies, but as soon as he said this Robbie looked over at me, and he was smiling. He knew exactly what was going through my mind. 

Just so you can understand: I write horror stories. I also write critical work on the relationship between Christianity and the horror genre, so zombies are something I know a little bit about. By the way, here's a link to my other blog in which I explore that idea more: http://lbkroger.blogspot.com/search/label/ChristianityandHorror.

In most zombie shows, it is not always so easy to distinguish the living from the dead. After all, they all look the same (pretty much—except for the dead thing). Movies like Shaun of the Dead highlighted this fact when the main characters mistake a zombie attack for a drunk in the street. To make matters worse, much of the violence usually comes from the regular humans—not the zombies. That is certainly the case in AMC’s new TV show, The Walking Dead. That got me thinking. If humans look like zombies and act like zombies, how are they different from zombies? If Christians are to be different from the rest of the world, how can we tell if we are? How can we tell that we are not like the rest of the walking dead?

To find out, I began a quick search of the Bible. Here’s what I found. 

Here's How the Bible presents "The World":

Luke 12:29-31 

²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

John 3:18-20 

¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

John 1:9-11 

 ⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

John 7:6-8 

 ⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go to the festival. I am not^[a] going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”

John 14:16-18 

¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[a] in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 15:18-20 

    ¹⁸ “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹ If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’^[a] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

Here's How the Bible Characterizes "The Christian":

Romans 12:1-3 

 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

2 Corinthians 1:12

 ¹² Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity^[a] and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace.

2 Corinthians 10:2-4 

² I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. ³ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

Romans 8:8-10 

⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.  ⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[a] because of righteousness.

Galatians 5:13-26

¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh^[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. ¹⁴ For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”^{[b] 15} If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

 ¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[c] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

 ¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

The Bible makes it clear that the Christian looks differently from the World--primarily because the Christian has died to self and Jesus is now the focus and guide. We do not live selfishly (which as I learned today includes the boastful quality of worrying about things that are in reality out of my control); instead, the Christian lets God lead. Easier said than done, but that is our goal.

Here's the thought for the week: How do we "give it over to God"? How do we make sure that He becomes greater while we become less?

All About the Bible

In Sunday School, we've been discussing the Bible, specifically how the canon was formed, its history as both a religious text and a piece of literature/history, and its accuracy. Of course, as Christians, we look to the Bible as guidance for how we live our lives. 

The Bible verse for the week comes from 2 Timothy:

¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, 

rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,  

¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

Often, I complain that I don't know if God is leading me in a certain direction; I've often wished I could just hear Him in plain words tell me what to do. Here's the thing, though: I can hear His commandments. They are written very clearly in His Word.

I've heard this verse used by many parents, who read it as a commandment to raise their children in God's Word. This is certainly true, but because I do not have children, I've read right over this verse many times, thinking that it was not applicable to my life. Then, I took a second look. The Bible comes from God and is useful for directing my life.

Not rocket science, I know, but it was a profound moment for me. God speaks directly to me every day; I just have to be looking in His Word with open ears and an open heart. That is part of what this blog is about: finding Biblical reasons for why I live my life the way I do. 

You Know What You Love

One goal of every Christian is to have a closer walk with God. After all, isn't that the subject of every sermon, every hymn? How do we do that? We can have faith in a higher power, but how do we become closer with someone that we don't physically see?

We can pray. Jesus, while he was on Earth, made sure to take time out, away from his ministry, away from his disciples, away from the crowd, to pray. God assures us that He answers our prayers (Matthew 7:7, Matthew 21:22). How then do we hear His answers? How do we know what to do?

The answer is all at once simple and complex: the Bible.

God did give us an instruction book, though I am the first to confess that sometimes I wish it were a bit easier to understand. Sometimes I find the Bible confusing or even contradictory. Then, I really read it (read it carefully and daily, praying for understanding), and I find it is pretty simple. God loves us and He wants us to love Him.

In Sunday School this week, we discussed some Bible trivia. Here's a sample:

• What two men in the Bible never died? Genesis 5:21-24, II Kings 2:11)
• What are the 10 Commandments? (Exodus 20)
• How many books in the Bible? 66 (39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New)
• What is the shortest book in the Bible? 3 John (219 words)

This was a fun game to play, and while I didn't know many of the answers myself, I was astounded to see how many did know the answers! It was a convicting moment for me.

That started me thinking about the kind of trivia that I do know. I know a lot about literature. For example, April 23 is Shakespeare's birthday, and June 16 is Bloomsday (for James Joyce's novel Ulysses). I know the difference between a comma and a semicolon, the difference between a dash and a hyphen. I know all sorts of useless information about the B-rated horror film. I used to say that it's important because it's my job as a scholar of Gothic literature. Yes, it's important, but not as important as my walk with Christ. Yet, I don't know the most important piece of literature in my life.

As this week continues on, I hope that you will think about where your heart lies. Is it true that you know what you love?