The Undead in Christ: A Spooky Season Meditation

Welcome to the Haunted House of Grace

At That Church By the Vape Shop, we try to keep it real (even in the Southern Gothic magical realism fiction posts; you know what I mean). So, full disclosure: if you're looking for a nice, normal religion, Christianity isn't it. Ever notice how church people talk like extras in a horror movie? We're always dying, being buried, raised again, eating flesh, drinking blood (symbolically), and waiting for somebody with a sword in His mouth to show up in the sky. If that sounds creepy—well, welcome to October. The truth behind all that imagery is wild in the best way: Jesus didn't come to make bad people behave—He came to make dead people alive.

It turns out that the gospel is the ultimate back-from-the-dead story, and you're invited to star in it.

Therefore, in the spirit of spooky season, let's talk about what it really means to be one of the undead in Christ. While the world decorates with ghosts and skeletons, we celebrate a God who empties tombs.

The Creepiest Book Ever Written

People who think the Bible's all lambs and lullabies haven't read it closely. The Bible has enough horrific imagery for a Stephen King marathon. We've got a disembodied hand scratching words of doom on a palace wall (Daniel 5:5), prophets doing some questionable things with corpses (2 Kings 4:34), and a valley full of rattling skeletons snapping back together like a stop-motion nightmare (Ezekiel 37). There's a dismembered concubine mailed out in twelve bloody pieces as an invitation to war (Judges 19), plagues, demons, giants, and various beasts with one or more heads. Even the angels show up saying "Fear not!"—which tells you they must look like something out of a Lovecraft sketchbook.

Through all this runs one shining thread: God gets the last word. Death loses. Our Savior went into the grave and came back holding the keys to death and Hell. The horror wasn't the end—it was the setup for our happy ending. Death is undone, darkness is outwitted, and the monsters are disarmed.

The Undead in Christ: A Spooky Season Meditation

As I was saying, Christianity is already kind of spooky. We talk about dying, blood, spirits, resurrections, and eternal life—and that's just the basics. You don't have to look far to realize that believers in Christ are, in a very real way, the walking dead.

Paul said it plainly: "How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:2). We're not just pretending to be dead. We've actually died—"I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). That means the old you is six feet under, spiritually speaking.

Here's where it gets interesting: we're alive anyway. We share Christ's life, which has no beginning and no end. "When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (Colossians 3:4). That's right—we're immortal. Not in a sparkly, moody-teen-vampire way, but joined to the eternal Son of God.

Speaking of vampires, the earliest Romans who heard about Christian worship thought it sounded like cannibalism. After all, Jesus said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (John 6:54). They didn't realize He was talking about spiritual sustenance—but if you think about it, "immortal blood-drinkers sustained by their Master's life" isn't exactly a bad description of what we are in Him.

We even smell different. "We are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:15). To some, we smell like life itself. To others, something far less pleasant. Every zombie movie has that moment when the living can sense something's off. Spiritually speaking, that's us—we carry the scent of resurrection into a dying world, and not everyone appreciates it.

As if that weren't enough, we're possessed. It's not by something dark and sinister, but by Someone holy and eternal. Jesus promised, "The Spirit of truth... lives with you and will be in you" (John 14:16–17). There's no exorcising this Presence—He's not leaving. Ever.

The Holy Haunting

Every believer's a haunted house now—Spirit-filled, light-infested, joy-possessed. The darkness can knock all it wants, but this place belongs to the Lord of Life. We have no reason to fear the night anymore, because the Light moved in permanently.

What do we do with this supernatural reality? We let the Spirit express Himself. "It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His good purpose" (Philippians 2:13). To outsiders, the happiest Christians can seem like obedient "Pod People". The Spirit's expression in our lives looks like love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). Terrifying, right?

The world loves tales of witches and warlocks who can change their circumstances by remembering the right magic phrase. We don't cast spells, but we do speak words that move Heaven and Earth—"The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" (James 5:16), and Christ made us righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21).

If that's not enough to make the darkness tremble, remember this: we are loved by the most awe-inspiring, universe-creating Being that exists. The same God who "crushes Leviathan" (Psalm 74:14) and "casts the Dragon down" (Revelation 12:9) calls us His children. The Evil One can't lay a finger on us (1 John 5:18).

The world trembles before ghouls, goblins, ghosts, and grisly goomers with sharp objects, but God can whoop all of them—and we're His.

The Scariest Thing Alive

So, as the pumpkins glow and the skeletons rattle, remember: the scariest Being in or out of all Creation isn't some arm-eating sewer clown—it's the holy, unstoppable Lord Jesus Christ. He's coming back, with a sword coming out of His mouth and fire in His eyes. We're not afraid—we're excited. We've already died, and we're done being judged (John 5:24). Demons shudder at the thought of Him, but we get to enjoy His presence forever (James 2:19).

Scary's on His way, y'all. Please take the deal. "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). Everyone's welcome. The "whosoever" in John 3:16 isn't a lie.

Open Coffin Invitation

If all this talk of death and blood and coming back from the dead sounds a little too "metal" for Sunday morning, that's okay. It's supposed to. The gospel is so metal, it'll make anyone who trusts Him kick the lid off their own coffin.

If you've ever felt too far gone, too messed up, or too spiritually decomposed for church—welcome home, friend. You'll fit right in with the rest of us beautiful, resurrected weirdos. We're friendly neighborhood monsters. We died, we've been raised for keeps, and now we walk around glowing with borrowed eternity.

You can run from the dark all you want, but real peace doesn't come from nightlights—it comes from knowing the Light Himself.

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