Deanna’s dying words to Michonne were, “What do you want?”
Who would have guessed the answer to that question was… Rick?
Season Six, Episode 10 was quite a switch from prior episodes. A couple months have passed, walls have been rebuilt, Carl’s injury has healed, and people are back to their routine.
And that’s when they met Jesus.
No …not that Jesus… someone else.
For those who don’t follow the comic, Jesus might have been a surprise. He’s a stealthy guy with mad fighting skills, donning long hair and a beard… hence the name Jesus.
Despite the relaxed pace in this episode, Michonne and Rick each had a big day. Michonne helped Spencer take steps to get over his mom’s death, and Rick moralized with Daryl about the ethics (and wisdom) behind adding people like Jesus to their group.
But when the day ended Rick and Michonne did what many The Walking Dead fans have been buzzing about for a long time coming: they had sex.
So let me be bold enough to ask the question:
Was it right?
Notice I didn’t ask if it was wise, natural, or even fun. I asked the same question we’ve been asking in this blog about every other issue:
Is it right?
The Walking Dead fans have been compelled to ask it over and over again:
Is it right to kill someone in self defense?
Is it right to kill one person to save many?
Is it right to steal to survive?
That’s the question this show prompts us to ask most weeks, and funny enough… most people are not asking that question this week.
Why?
Because in our world casual sex has become so commonplace, it’s not really even deliberated.
Timely enough, today in my personal blog I linked several studies about Millennials and hooking up. One study revealed that 45% of Millennials (twenty-somethings) has sex in the year prior with a casual date or pickup. But this isn’t always just a stranger they met in a bar. In fact, the concept of “friends with benefits” is growing in popularity. The same study revealed “American adults who had sex with a friend jumped from 54.2 percent in the 1995-1999 cohort to 70.8 percent in the 2000-2004 cohort (and has held steady around 68 percent since).” (You can read my entire post HERE.)
So which was this? Was this just a convenient hook up? Friends with benefits? Or is this the beginning of something more for these two?
On The Talking Dead immediately following this week’s episode, host Chris Hardwick declared, “Quite frankly, I’ve actually been surprised that there’s not been more hooking up on this show because it’s a respite from this horrible, horrible world.”
There’s no question a lot of people are doing it.
Is it right?
Or is this one area where we aren’t supposed to ask that moral question?
Let’s take a closer peek.
SEASON 6, EPISODE 10 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
- Why do you think Rick and Michonne had sex?
- Are they just two lonely friends looking for “respite” from this horrible world,” or are they something more?
- Is sex a surprising turn of events when two adults of the opposite sex live together?
- When is sex okay? Marriage? When you love the person? Anytime, as long as it’s consensual?
Read the following passage of scripture from the Bible:
18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (I Corinthians 6:18-20, NLT)
- The original language used for “sexual sin” were words that mean “fornication” or “sex outside of marriage.” How can we run away from sexual intimacy outside of the marriage relationship? What does that look like today?
- Why do you think God doesn’t want us to unite with people we aren’t married to? (See Genesis 2:24)
- How important is it to God to cherish the sexual intimacy in marriage? (See Proverbs 5:18-23)
- Why do you think the majority of people are ignoring God’s design for sex and intimacy?
- How do you think that will work out?
DOES SEX REALLY MATTER THIS MUCH? IS MONOGAMY MORE FULFILLING? IS WAITING FOR SEX UNTIL MARRIAGE WISE? IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE? THESE ARE ALL QUESTIONS JONATHAN ANSWERS CLEARLY AND CANDIDLY IN HIS BOOK, SEX MATTERS.
Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.
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Tracie Smith
February 23, 2016 at 7:16 amAll the things you were saying about the bible and sex are true. The word clearly states that sex before marriage is sin. However it applies to people that are Christians. Concerning the walking dead, we have to consider if Rick and Michonne are Christians ? One of the concerns for me is that you made it seem like Rick, Michonne, Carl and Judith aren’t a family.
Adam Burt
February 23, 2016 at 8:22 amIt doesn’t matter if Rick & Michonne are christians. If sex before marriage is wrong, then it’s wrong. Now we can’t expect unbelievers (fictional though they may be) to abide by christian principles. But their belief or lack thereof doesn’t change the rightness or wrongness of the action.
Jonathan McKee
February 23, 2016 at 12:25 pmTracie… I’ll have to agree with Adam here. Is it okay to murder if you AREN’T a Christian? Is it okay to lie or steal? The question we’re asking about sex is for everyone. We’re basically asking, is the Bible’s mandate of “true monogamy” the right way to do it? Furthermore… is it the most fulfilling (something I researched in great detail in my book Sex Matters). In short: is God’s way smart?
As for your concern that I “made it seem like Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Judith aren’t a family”… I’m not really sure where you got that. But I would argue the Beyonce stance, if Rick wants Michonne as family, put a ring on it.
Adam Burt
February 23, 2016 at 8:39 amThis episode could’ve been called “The Next Family”
I like how the division between Alexandrians & Rick’s group seems gone. They seem to be one family now. For Example:
Maggy is playing a motherly role to Enud.
Michonne is helping Spencer deal with his mother’s death. By killing zombie mom.
Denise asks Daryl for to get something special for Tara on his run.
Michonne plays a motherly role to Carl.
Carl says it should be family who takes care of each other if they go zombie.
And of course Rick & Michonne sit down on the couch to talk about their day together.
As far as Rick & Michonne hooking up goes…the old saying is, “Marry your best friend.” Right? Now I know they didn’t get married, but they’ve been through so much together, and finally have a break from surviving long enough to notice their feelings, so I’m not surprised. I’m glad there hasn’t been more hooking up in the series, cause I really just don’t want to see that.
Jonathan McKee
February 23, 2016 at 12:29 pmAdam… good insight. And if we’re going to look at the Rick and Michonne relationship, it’s only natural to look at Maggie and Glenn as well. Maggie and Glenn did hook up, but then it turned into something more. Now they are married (as official as married can be in this post-apocalyptic world). I like the fact that their relationship was monogamous from the beginning. But still… does that mean that it’s always best for us to go ahead and have sex first, then marriage later? That’s the question we’re asking in this post today.