A Performance Worth Watching

Friday, November 21, 2008

Briana's drama class performed a series of skits last weekend. It wasn't a long performance, but there were some really good messages within the skits. One that particularly hit me had each actor labeled with a body part, (mouth, hand, head, etc.--Briana was an eye. . .) and represented the different parts of the church, the body of Christ. As the play went on, they were trying to decide what to do for Christ, but as they came up with an idea, an important piece of the body was missing. They couldn't partake of the Lord's Supper because the thumbs didn't show up. They couldn't lead the singing b/c the arms left. They couldn't sing b/c vocal chords hadn't shown up. They couldn't read the Word b/c the tongue had left to catch up on its wagging. Meanwhile, 'ought to' and 'opinion' were going on about what others ought to do and what they thought. In the end, they decided the meeting would have to adjourn. When the eyes were asked to come forward, and the finger asked what THEY could do, the solemn response was 'They can weep.' They can weep. . . I'm not describing it nearly well enough, but I found it particularly powerful. I didn't even clap at the conclusion of the piece because I was so moved. It made me ask myself 'what is MY purpose in the body that God is counting on me to fulfill, but I'm 'not showing up', or I'm out doing my own thing, or I'm focusing on what someone ELSE should be doing'. . .the kids did a great job! Another skit was a retelling of the story of Rahab, from the perspective of Rahab being older and a mother and telling her child the story of the destruction of Jericho. Briana played the part of the 'mature Rahab'. I know the picture is blurry--it's hard to get a good pic with a little one on my lap and changing camera settings in the dark! They ended with a resounding chorus encouraging Christian soldiers to go onward into battle. Briana's the second one to the left of the cross (another blurry picture!) I'm really grateful for the opportunity for my children to participate in drama performances that are clean and even have a worthwhile message! Kristina and I went to a high school performance of 'Annie Get Your Gun' last night. I was so surprised by some of the content! I think there is so much worldliness around us all the time that we get desensitized to things that simply contradict God's Word and plan so we just go along with it. The musical had the high school kids cussing, but what was really surprising was the prevalence of the immorality. Now, I realize that many of the participants are probably sexually active anyway, so maybe people don't see it as a big deal for them to sing songs about 'doing what comes naturally' and wearing dresses with heels and no underpants, and not having money for stockings but getting them by 'doing what comes naturally'. And a young man sang a song about how he'd always been proud of being with many girls b/c it kept him from settling down with one. But I was very surprised that *teenagers* (especially!) would be allowed to be involved with this. Am I getting prudish in my old age?! I think it's such a difficult balance. I realize I don't want to overprotect my kids and have them be naive and easily taken in by the snares of the world (Proverbs 6-7) as I see chapter 7 verses 21-23 referring to someone who is just clueless and unprepared to resist temptation. I want my children to be wise and aware and prepared to recognize and thus flee from evil. I want them to be able to interact with people of all backgrounds and to be relevant to the culture in a way that they can show Christ in their lives without turning people off of Christianity. Yet I think of Romans 12 and I am also aware that I don't want them (or myself) to be conformed to the world, but rather to be TRANSFORMED to the image of Christ. If we look just like the world around us, why should they be interested in knowing more about our Savior??? I don't know. What do you think? We didn't stay for the whole play. We were pretty disturbed by its content. I've been thinking about it all morning. What is the balance between standing up for God's truth and being able to relate to unbelievers without them dismissing us as 'prudish', 'old-fashioned', 'radicals', etc.??