Lessons We Can Glean from “The Walking Dead”

Photo Credit: Moviepilot.com

I am a self-confessed TV junkie. Normally, my TV diet comprises serials like 24, Graceland, Hawaii 5-O, NCIS and pretty much any action-packed production filled with twist and turns in the story plot. But recently, I stumbled on a particular TV trailer for The Walking Dead. Though it struck me as a no brainer, lame zombie post-apocalyptic production bloodied with gore and violence, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to attempt watching the first few episodes of the series.

The drama series is set in a post-apocalyptic age where flesh-biting zombies known as “Walkers” have overrun the world. As the story plot develops, it becomes apparent that the “Walkers” aren’t the focus of the show. Instead, it’s the complicated relationships of the human survivors, plagued by betrayal, lies, pride, violence and injustice, that take centre stage.

If you’ve been closely following The Walking Dead series, you would probably realize after some time that the Walkers aren’t that difficult to exterminate (unless of course you are cornered or surrounded by a mob). However human survivors are the ones who end up inflicting the most harm and pain to each other. In the few episodes that I survived, I found myself making exclamations like “Why did he have to do that!” or “If only she came clean on that!”

As I watched the interactions between the different characters unfold, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to what was playing out onscreen with our human condition. The Apostle Paul’s description of the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-7 mirrors this phenomenon:

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”

The sinful and godless human condition in the last days describes our society today. Every so often, we hear of people double crossing each other, family relationships souring over personal gains, or just plain evil deeds carried out by one towards another. Many times, problems in life are made worse because of the people involved. As sinful humans, we are often the main cause of the calamities happening around us.

But Paul doesn’t stop at the description. Immediately after it, he exhorts Timothy to “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed . . . which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (vv. 14-15).

As Christians, we too are called to remain faithful to the gospel inspite of the persecution and opposition we may face (v.12). Let us be encouraged to cling on to the Word of life that will lead us to faith in God—the One who is in control of all things!