Zombies in Heaven
I’ll admit that this title has very little to do with actual zombies. What I mean by the undead is that you are dead inside. Void of emotion.
How does that play into Christianity?
A Christian without emotion is not a Christian who is in tune with The Lord. Why do I say that? Because God gives us many positive emotions. He is the God of joy—everlasting joy. How can you testify of his goodness if you’ve never opened yourself up to feel it?
There is a very negative stereotype that ‘real’ men don’t cry. That’s absolute garbage. Jesus was the greatest man who ever lived and he wept many times throughout the Bible. I’m not saying you aren’t a great Christian if you don’t cry, actually, my point in this article leans more toward the feeling of guilt.
What’s so important about guilt?
It is a negative feeling, but one of those kinds of feelings that’s actually good to have. In increments at least. Just the same as fear. Fear keeps us in line, it keeps us from going too far, and sometimes it keeps us safe. But too much fear becomes a burden, or even worse, a phobia.
Guilt is very similar. What’s good about having it?
Working in line with fear, guilt keeps us away from sin. There is also the factor of love, we don’t sin because we love Christ so much we don’t want to do anything to hurt him. But isn’t it also true that, because we love Christ so much, we don’t purposely sin because we don’t want to feel the heavy guilt of turning against Him? Love, guilt, and fear work together to produce the Christian heart that yearns for God’s goodness. But what happens when you lose that combo?
You become a spiritual Zombie.
Just what is a spiritual Zombie? Its someone who no longer feels the guilt of sin. And when you no longer feel the guilt of sin, you are dangerously close to losing your soul to the flames of hell. Why? Because when you don’t feel guilty, you don’t see a need to apologize. What happens when you don’t apologize? You don’t get forgiveness and forgiveness is the difference between heaven and hell.
If you are not forgiven of your sins, then you cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
So being a Zombie isn’t so cool after all.
Zombies don’t go to heaven, they don’t have a conscience, and therefore do not have a heart. This isn’t something that suddenly comes about. It is gradual and most times its barely noticeable. In my own experience, a spiritual Zombie most often begins to form when new Christians are first exposed to the sermon of forgiveness. Most times, these scriptures are mentioned;
“Then Peter came to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22 KJV
Hearing this Scripture, a lot of Christians think, great, now I can sin seventy times seven and God and all my buddies will forgive me. It’s easy to see why someone would think that but it’s also easy to see how this could lead you down a path of unrighteousness.
Continuously sinning, when you know it’s wrong, will weaken your relationship with God and, in turn, weaken your sensitivity to guilt. What are the main excuses someone gives when they are confronted with doing something wrong?
Everyone’s doing it.
Or…
I do it all the time.
When those words leave your mouth in defense of sin then you’ve got a problem. You are a cold, hard Zombie, and it’s easy to argue that you are on your way to hell.
Those are some strong words there, V.
Of course! This is your soul salvation we’re talking about. I know this ‘free thinking’ country doesn’t like to hear this but there is such a thing as an absolute right and an absolute wrong. God is right. Sin is wrong. End of story.
It doesn’t matter who does it, or how often. Sin is sin and it will get you to hell unless you ask for forgiveness and turn away from it. But that won’t happen if you have become desensitized to it. If you have become a Zombie.
How do you keep yourself from turning into a Zombie?
Try looking at this scripture, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17 KJV
This scripture is specifically talking about faith but in this case I want to focus on Paul’s statement about hearing. He says faith comes by hearing and then he goes on to say that ‘hearing’ by the Word of God. So you’re not just listening to any old thing, you are listening to Christ Almighty. Your ears are open to His Word.
Basically, the only thing that can keep you from becoming the undead is making sure you are alive and renewed by the precious Word of God. He is said to have breathed life into us in the first place, I think He’s capable of a little Zombie prevention.
Never go a day without prayer, without worship, without praise, and most importantly, without reading the Word. It is the weapon of all weapons in this ongoing spiritual battle.
God bless.