I Hate Zombies

I hate zombies. I really do. Before I was a Christian, I used to watch zombie movies all the time, and they always gave me nightmares. At this point in my walk with Christ, I have no desire to watch any kind of scary movie, but every once and awhile, I still have a zombie nightmare.

Last night was one of those nights.

I dreamt that I was in a house, and just outside there was a zombie apocalypse. I began boarding up the windows in the hopes of staying alive and not falling victim to one of them to become a zombie myself. That's how it works you know. One bite and it's zombie land for you.

At one point, there was a little zombie girl banging on a window, trying to get in. Her hair was curled in ringlets, and she wore a beautifully blue dress with lace, but it was covered in dirt and dried blood, and her face was twisted in a lifeless snarl. I felt bad for her even though I was terrified to look at her. "A little girl doesn't deserve to become a zombie", I thought as I boarded up the window she was banging on.

The dream ended, as all good zombie nightmares should, with a breach of my defensive perimeters. The zombies were in the house, and I was as good as dead, or at least walking dead anyway.

I woke up from my nightmare, not scared like I used to be, but angry. I demanded from God why He continued to let me have these accursed dreams.

His answer was unexpected and convicting, a sure sign you're hearing the Almighty.

He said, "This is how I see the world. People dead in their sins, pretending to be alive, while they cannibalize one another. And those of you who are alive, board yourself up in your houses and do nothing to help them."

I hate zombies, and that's my sin. I've been given the means to show them life, to bring them the Gospel of Jesus, and yet I am so afraid that they'll infect me and make me one of them, that I've boarded myself up in the safety of my home, my family, my church, and other Christians to keep them away from me. And the ultimate result of this, most assuredly, is that sin will find a way in, and my fear of becoming like them will be realized. Wouldn't it be better to leave the house and make them like me? To show them Christ and Him crucified so that they can learn what it means to be alive and stop cannibalizing one another.

Lord, help me to love people like you do. Help me to love the zombies of this world, and show them You so that they can live.