Forget the Zombies

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.-Romans 6:11-12

I don't really understand the zombie culture. I actually find it quite distasteful. Granted, in my youth, I thought that Michael Jackson's Thriller was a really creative video, but for the most part, I struggle to understand America's obsession with the undead. How is it that we have come to a place where we find excitement and joy in brainless undead automatons, especially given their connection to witchcraft?

But here's the thing--I think a lot of us keep zombies around in our Christian lives as well. What are zombies? Those who have been killed and come back to life, at least in a way.  They behave purely on instinct.  They are soulless.

In Romans 6, Paul tells us that we are dead to sin, but alive in Christ. Our sinful selves have been crucified with Christ.  We've been set free.  He is not telling us that we need to put sin to death, he is saying it already has been and so we need to live in the light of that reality. He says, "consider yourselves dead to sin and so don't let sin reign in your mortal bodies to make you obey its passions."

But how often do we do this?  How often does the zombie of our old self re-surface, driven solely by its passion? The zombie self makes us forget for a time that we are alive to Christ, but dead to sin.  And so we give in.


Rather, Paul tells us to remember that our sinful man is dead so let's keep him dead. Sin shall have no dominion over us because we are under grace.