The Zombie Church: Breathing Life Back into the Body of Christ

Since I’ve become a Christian, I really don’t like zombies.  I used to watch zombie flicks all the time, but they gave me nightmares, and after coming to Christ, I’ve stopped watching horror movies altogether.  But not long ago, I had another zombie nightmare in which God spoke to me very clearly; you can read about it in the post titled: I Hate Zombies.

Anyway after having this dream, I received an email from Kregel Publications inviting me to review a new book called Zombie Church by Tyler Edwards.  Was it sent from God?  After reading the book, I’d say most likely. 

Zombie Church is all about those in the church who claim to be alive in Christ, but act like they’re dead in the world.  It’s a pretty glaringly obvious disconnect that everyone but those who are in this position seems to notice.  The world definitely seems to notice with phrases like “Dear God, please save me from your followers” gaining in popularity among unbelievers.  I think Tyler puts the bullet in the head so to speak in comparing those living in this disconnect to Zombies.

Overall  Edward’s diagnosis of the issues facing the western church was perfect, and his treatment plan of turning to Jesus is the only way to stop the zombie threat.

My one disagreement is the severity of the issue.  Jesus didn’t call people living in this limbo of not quite dead, not quite alive, as sick.  He called them lukewarm, and He said that He would vomit them out of His mouth.  Lukewarmness isn't a sickness; it's a death sentence. The zombies Edwards describes are tares among the wheat that are headed for cremation.  In the Return of the Living Dead, a flick he doesn’t reference, that’s the only way to really stop the zombies.  Is there hope?  Yes.  If Jesus can raise the dead, He can certainly restore the undead.  

But this is the only point where Edwards pulls his punches, everything else is severely convicting, so be forewarned.  Overall, I definitely recommend the book whether you’re a horror movie fan or not.

Buy the book for $10.94

MEET TYLER:

Tyler Edwards is the lead pastor at Cornerstone Christian Church in Joplin, Missouri, where he works to help people learn how to live like Jesus, love like Jesus, and look like Jesus—so they carry out the mission of Jesus to the world. He graduated from Ozark Christian College with bachelor’s degrees in both Biblical Literature and Christian Ministry. He has written articles for Lookout Magazine, spoken at various campus ministry events in Missouri, and served overseas in Mbale, Uganda.

Tyler loves cheesy horror films. He is particularly fond of movies like Dawn of the Dead, The Signal, and 28 Days Later, where zombies run wild and threaten to infect an entire town. Connect with Tyler on Facebook.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

           

A creative, entertaining approach to resurrecting the undead church. There is something missing in the church today. Stuck in a rut of routines and rituals, the church is caught up in doing what it is “supposed to do” but is lacking the true essence of what it is supposed to provide: life. Real faith--and a real relationship with Jesus--is not about playing by the rules, attending services, and praying before meals. Real faith is more than religion.

Believing there is a way to breathe life back into the church, Tyler Edwards adopts a contemporary and entertaining metaphor--zombies--to highlight and challenge the problematic attitude of today’s believers.

Written for the discouraged, disenfranchised, and anyone unsatisfied with their same-old church routine, Zombie Church challenges readers to turn away from hollow religious practices, which characterize “zombie Christianity,” and turn toward a radical relationship with Jesus.

While other books have addressed legalism in the church, this is the only book that effectively capitalizes on a popular entertainment genre in order to diagnose and correct the problem. Realizing that even his own church is part of that problem, Edwards has written an accessible and often humorous book that will help believers change the Spirit-draining (or life-draining) habits that stop them from achieving a full, fulfilling life in Christ.

Flee From Idolatry

Have you ever been told that an idol is anything you put above God?  So it would be something like you watch television more than you read your Bible and pray, maybe you spend more time following sports, more time shopping, more time with family, etc.  

But is that what God says idolatry is? 

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were constantly falling into idolatry.  They made themselves a golden calf only 40 days after hearing the audible voice of God on Mt. Sinai and called it God.  But these idols weren’t always exalted above God.  The Asherah poles or trees were planted right beside the altar of God.  (Deuteronomy 16:21)  Or they had household idols while still worshiping the Lord (Judges 17:5-13)

The point is that these idols were not replacements or exalted over God.  They were exalted against God by being worshiped at all.

The sermons you’ve heard suggesting that idolatry is anything you exalt over God are at least partially correct in that idolatry can be something other than just a graven image.  The Bible says that idolatry is an issue of the heart:

"For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the LORD will be brought to answer him in My own person. I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 14:7-8)

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

But don’t think you have to somehow just give God a little more love then your idolatrous habits.  God doesn’t want a little more of your love.  He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)  If anything in your life takes a fraction of your love away from God, even the size of a mustard seed, it is an idol. 

That’s not to say you can’t love other things, but if you do not love those things through the lens of God’s love, it’s idolatry.  Does God love television?  Does God love what you’re watching on television?  Does God love football? Does God love shopping?  Does God love your family? If you think the answer is a “yes”, the next question is “how does God love those things?”  That’s how you should love them.  Anything else is idolatry.

Why do you think Jesus talks about vomiting lukewarm Christians out of His mouth in Revelation 3:16?

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. (1 Corinthians 10:14)

Don't Be a Digital Christian

You’ve no doubt heard the saying “Don’t be a Sunday Christian.”  The sermons incorporating this phrase often go something like this:

Too many Christians profess their faith in Jesus on Sunday here in church, but then when they leave these walls, they go home or to work and no one would ever be able to tell them apart from the world.  They curse in public, they watch inappropriate movies, they lust, they covet, they lie, they steal . . .

When speaking to the church at Laodicea, Jesus didn’t call this being a Sunday Christian; He called it being lukewarm.  “'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.” (Revelations 3:15-16)

With that in mind as I’ve been networking more with my blog, I’ve come across so many amazing Christian bloggers who have learned and shared great lessons about Christ and life, but at the same time, I wonder how many digital Christians I’ve stumbled across.  Sometimes, I wonder if I’m just a digital Christian. 

It’s easy to sit behind our computer screens and talk about how we should be living life for the glory of God, but if we’re spending all our time behind our screens; how are we reaching the lost, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned . . . For the record, we aren’t doing those things by sending a digital donation.  That’s just enabling someone else to do things.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with sharing our faith on the Internet, blogging about what God’s taught us, even digitally donating to Christians doing the Lord’s work, but I for one don’t want to mistake the things I talk about in the digital world of the Internet for living the real life God’s called me to live.  The Internet is a great tool, but the real life people on the other side of the connection need real life people to invest in their real life.

I was recently convicted with the following words: “don’t talk about things so much that you think you’re doing them.”  And I think that applies to my blog as well.

My Prayer:

Lord, break my heart with the things that break yours.  I want to live as hot all the time: in church, online, at work, at the grocery store, at the park, at a restaurant, wherever You lead let me burn for You. Amen