Playing Dead
We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight; we are as dead men in desolate places. – Isaiah 59:10 NKJV.
For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. – Romans 6:10-14.
Chuck Lamb found a new occupation in 2005. His occupation? Chuck’s dead, as in he plays dead. It all began one night when he and his wife were watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Chuck had always wanted to be an actor and he suddenly realized that he could be even though he never thought he had any special talent. He decided that he could be “dead guy Chuck” and made some videos and photos of himself. Viola! “Dead Guy Chuck” now makes as much as $1500 a day playing dead for TV shows and movies. Chuck says, “I look like a dead body. If you’re going to get somebody to play dead you might as well get the palest most normal looking guy you can find. No one’s ever going to call me and ask me to be the leading man heart throb so I thought I’d put what God gave me to good use. I thought outside the box by putting myself in the box.” (Mail Online 05.05.14; Today.com 10.28.13)
In Isaiah 59, the people were as good as dead because of their turning away from God and their sinfulness. The people were like “dead men in desolate places.” Today, there are people like them although they are not really dead, they are just playing dead. The apostle Paul is talking about these people in Romans chapter six. Apparently, there were those who knew Christ, but were not living like it, they were playing dead. Paul says in Romans 6:4, “…we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Sad, isn’t it? We who are alive in Christ are playing dead by letting “sin reign in” our “mortal” bodies (Romans 6:12) and by “present(ing)” our “members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin (Romans 6:13).” The result of this acting like we are dead is described in Isaiah “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as at twilight.” In other words, we wander around in spiritual darkness never knowing which way to turn, making bad decision after bad decision; never accomplishing anything.
Romans chapter six gives us the solution to spiritual deadness. The solution is this: “…present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God (Romans 6:13bc).” “…reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Please, stop with the playing dead act and make this be your mantra, your motto for life, real life: Dead to sin, alive to Christ. Dead to sin, alive to Christ. Dead to sin, alive to Christ.
(Some Christians act like they are dead instead of being alive in Christ.)