If you’re unaware of the hit show, “The Walking Dead”, then you should consider getting out more. The show keeps collecting awards, including a Golden Globe, and over 16 million viewers consumed (excuse the pun) the fourth season’s premier.

Of course, anything zombie is likeley to do well these days, but this show IS everything zombie. Maybe it’s so popular because it’s also a jolly good adventure. Maybe it’s popular because of brilliant acting, a complex plot, and moments of redemption. In either case, this stuff ain’t fantasy friends. You and I wake up and pursue our various dreams in a reality very similar to the show.

Yes, it’s true, the walking dead are very real.

Here’s the plot of The Walking Dead in two sentences: Rick Grimes, a former sheriff, wakes from a coma in a post-apocalyptic world populated largely by zombies. He must overcome and evade said zombies while picking up survivors as he searches for his family.

I’m not being trite when I say that we are living the reality TV version of “The Walking Dead”. Nor, by the way, am I at all recommending the show. All I’m saying is that Christians, those who were dead in our sins, have now been made alive in Christ (Romans 2:1-5) and eat, work, and play in an entire world full of people who are still dead in their sin. They are the walking dead and they don’t even know it. They need the gospel. They need Jesus Christ, the only savior for mankind.

If I might riff on an Augustinian theme, the world is now divided into two camps: the walking dead and the living. It’s us vs. them and it’s real warfare. We don’t conquer them by killing them, however, since they’re already dead. We conquer them by giving them Christ, the antidote of death.

What’s most troubling and what this blog post is really about is this: Christians, those who are alive in Christ, often pass for the walking dead.

Sometimes it’s awfully difficult to tell the difference between the walking dead and the living. Our vacant expressions, appetite for consuming others, and our limp drag through the day are all classic zombie behavior. I would not blame unbelievers for looking and acting like zombies since they have no hope in this life or the life hereafter. But why would Christians look and act like zombies? We have meaning in life, purpose, and hope saddled on the promises of God. So why do we look and act like zombies? I think it often comes down to indifference.

If we are not passionate about God and are not zealously about his business, then we will perpetuate indifference. It will breed death in our hearts and that indifference will show itself in our bodies; especially in our faces. And our indifference, our zombie approach to life, is contagious. It spreads alarmingly fast. If you act like a zombie, then those around you will likely act like zombies. If you hang out with zombies, then you too will become one. I promise.

So here’s a call to action: battle the zombies. Fight the zombie tendencies in you and fight off the zombies around you. You don’t have to look happy all the time either. The goal isn’t to simply fix external behavior, but to recognize that external behaviors say boat-loads about the state of the heart. Want to eliminate any doubt about whether you are alive? For starters, here are five simple tips to overcoming indifference and, therefore, zombiness.

• 1. Pray continually.
• 2. Practice thankfulness.
• 3. Look up: keep your eyes on the prize and keep your eyes on Christ.
• 4. Hide Scripture in your heart.
• 5. Sleep: rest is good for heart, mind, and body.

• Oh, and while you’re doing those things, lift up an imaginary mirror to your face and see what you look like to others. Does your countenance inspire joy and life? If it doesn’t, then it might be time for a theological tuneup.

If we do these five things (well, six things), we can build a culture of thankfulness, joy, hope and purpose, all expressed in our faces too. Our outward expression of those internal realities are NOT simply a bonus. The outward expression is the tangible measure of how deeply we believe that life is meaningful, joyful, purposeful, and hopeful. As Ecclesiastes 8:1 says so frankly, “A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the sternness of his face is changed.”

Yes, the walking dead are very real. But fear not, the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the earth and those who dwell there (Psalm 24:1). Spoiler alert: we win.

Finally, a note to self: Remind your face to inspire joy and life today.

I welcome your feedback: What tips have helped you overcome zombie tendencies?

[pullquote hidden=true]If we are not passionate about God and are not zealously about his business, then we will perpetuate indifference. It will breed death in our hearts and that indifference will show itself in our bodies; especially in our faces. [/pullquote]