Exit Stage Right

I grew up in a small church that had my mom as the drama director. Essentially what this means is I was the go-to choice for the lead character. I'm not sure that this was the best decision. I was young, impressionable, and the hard life of show biz was just too much for my innocently naive soul.

And by show-biz I mean an on-looking congregation of about 50 people. But growing up around doing things in front of groups of people is probably what makes it a bit easier to give presentations, performances, etc in front of even larger crowds. And I'm thankful for that.

Since this is the season where churches take groups of kids and make them memorize songs, plays, and such, I'd like you to take a moment, try to ignore the "aww" factor and terrible singing, and look at where the children are looking when they're up there. I'm sure you've noticed this, but almost all the kids are usually looking at their director, who is usually sitting in the first row mouthing the words in such an overly expressive manner that you'd think she was stretching her face.

They're all looking at her for direction, and if I can take it a step further, I'll even say that those kids are performing solely for their director. Their eyes are on no one else, and save for a few attention-seeking glory-hogs, everyone is performing their part because they were told to by their leader.

As we get older, the appeal of being recognized by bunches of people or wanting to be elevated above the common folk gets to be very strong - especially if you've got some talent that puts you in such arenas. You're mind is poisoned by seeking the praise of people and you are distracted from your ultimate goal of glorifying the One who allowed you to have the talent that you so preciously guard.

But as a kid, all you know is your leader. Your relationship to them is the only thing that matters. Everybody else might as well not exist because you've got your eyes tunnel-visioned onto the one who is leading you with every overly-enunciated word.

I think that this is one of the reasons that God tells us that if we don't "become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 18)

The way I see it, I want every word I say to be a mirror image of the one I see being mouthed by my Creator. And I'm not just talking about being on stage. Every move we make should be taken as a result of the organized cue of our Director. Whether we're performing our solo or exiting stage right; whether we're the main character that receives flowers after the production or the never-seen orchestra member passionately blowing on his trombone, we are called to be led.

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (John 10)

So my question to you today is are you going to look to your Director for your cue, or are you going to follow your own cue, embarrassing yourself, and destroying the production?

Exit stage right.

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