Mortified!

[WARNING: Theological discussion ahead. No animals were hurt during the writing of this post.]

One of the funniest scenes in cinema was apparently not in the script. In the only good Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indy is racing through Egyptian backstreets looking for the kidnapped Marion when a scimitar wielding baddie out of nowhere blocks his progress. The hero freezes despair spreads across his face and the crowds part in anticipation of the ensuing donnybrook.

At that moment, you can almost see the Looney-Toon lightbulb pop up over Indy's head. He reaches for his holster, grabs his revolver, and dispatches his foe. Before the corpse hits the ground, the pistol is holstered as Indy rubs his grizzled chin wondering where in this camel-flea-bitten town he'll find his Hepburn.

This scene came to my mind as I frustratedly reran my Sunday school class through my mind. I tried (unsuccessfully) to convey to the class how we are to follow Paul's command to "mortify...your members which are upon the earth," those sins that creep up and entice us again and again. Then I thought of Indy.

As Christians, Paul explains that because of what Christ has done and our association with Him, sin no longers holds mastery over us. Where before our relationship with Christ sin was our nature, now the Christian has a choice to follow after sin or follow after righteousness. Paul urges the Roman church to "reckon yourselves dead to sin," consider yourselves dead in your battle against sin. But how do we do that?

We tend to act like morticians. Rather than kill a thing and move on, we want to study the festering corpse. It grosses us out, but somehow we just can't turn away from our sin. We try to walk from the table but we keep getting drawn back to the icky green stuff oozing out of a particular cavity. Phew, that stinks! Paul does NOT call us to be morticians but mortifiers.

In living the Christian life that by its nature has victory over sin, our lives must be more like Indy in that Egyptian street. When the scimitar-waving sin nature stands in front of us, we don't submit to it. We don't even "fight" it per se. In the spiritual realm, it is already dead, impotent. We simply grab the pistol, see the corpse fall to the street, and move on.

Jesus Christ has so much for us to do. He has an abundant life for us to live. How foolish we are to hang around and examine the corpse, probing the bullet wound, checking for pulse. How much time we waste obsessing in our sin. Turn and walk away from the carcass toward the myriad of things your Lord has called you to do. If another one crops up, slay it and press on.

He's DEAD! Move on in the work Christ has called you to do. There are damsels to rescue.