The Theology of the Walking Dead

Okay, so maybe some of you are offended that I watch The Walking Dead.  I, like the rest of America, got sucked in -- halfway through the second season when the group was hunkered down at Herschel's farm with his family.  If I were a preacher, I could use each of these circumstances as an illustration during a sermon.  Maybe one day I will be a preacher.  Right now, I'm preaching to myself mostly.  I am in serious need of a pep talk... which is why I have a whole other blog called "Please excuse me while I give myself a pep talk"... maybe I need to merge these two blogs??  Forgive me, I feel really ADHD during this second trimester of with my third child.

Alrighty then… here we go:

Rick: woke up in a haze - his world was turned upside down - took forever to find his family - when he did, his white picket fence had been mowed over by zombies.  His wife and son were safe, but they were thrust into a new world where the rules were different and no one knew what was going on.  Sometimes circumstances of our lives feel like this--

-- The Leader Rick:  since Rick was a sheriff, it was natural that he fell into a leadership role.  But that came with compromises and actions that he regretted (much like the sin we find ourselves entangled in!).

--post-Governor Rick:  the first episode of this season shows a Rick who can't get past his mistakes (like us with our sins) and past the loss of his wife (like us when we grieve).  This is causing him (and causes us) difficulty making sound decisions (following Crazy Irish Lady to her husband in the woods) and difficulty getting to a point where he can be in the fight.

Laurie:  stupid, stupid Laurie... should have had child protective services called on her...  her mothering skills left much to be desired.  Carl went and is going down a bad path because of her lack of parenting skills...  I have nothing good to say  so.... yeah... moving on...

Shane:  selfish Shane- once the apocalypse hit, he was in self-preservation mode.  His selfishness was his demise.

Carol: lost her daughter – could totally play the victim card – instead she is teaching the young girls how to defend themselves against attack – awesome, resilient – learning from her past and moving forward

Daryl:  starts out a scum-bag... now walking around with angel wings on his leather jacket!!  I mean, seriously, if Daryl isn't your favorite, I don't know if we can be friends!  ;)  He is so much like us as Christians!  He has a checkered crazy past.  Crazy family member that he wants to get away from but can't help but want to help him.  He could go down so many dark rabbit holes if he let himself.  He's got tons of reasons to grieve- people that he's lost- no idea about what's going to happen next-
but that joker fights... he doesn't give up.  Zombies rain down from the ceiling- Bad Boy is NOT going to let them take him down... 

isn't that a vision of the world we go out into every day? 

We leave our homes (their prison) to go out to make money (like they do going out trying to get provisions).  We get slammed on all sides spiritually and physically speaking (like the zombie attacks).  Sometimes we are like that new guy who grabs at the wine bottle (our temptations) and attracts trouble because we take a moment to dabble in it (the zombies being alerted).  Then the unprepared newbie gets taken down because he gets cocky.

Like Daryl and Carol: we should always be prepared for attack – the Bible says to put on the WHOLE armor of God…  that the enemy roams around the earth like a lion seeking whom he may devour…  be wise as serpents, innocent as doves…  fasten your seatbelts… it’s gonna be a bumpy 4^th season, y’all.