Do you welcome theatre into your life?

Do you recognize these high schoolers from a 1997 performance of Cinderella at Lynden Christian?

To welcome performance as a means of influence is to welcome theater. The beginning of creation from Genesis 1 in the Bible is a kind of theater performance in the imagination of the hearer. We are the audience and God is the actor. The conflict is the chaos and we behold the stage of the heavens and the earth. Our imagination can see it all happening and we are influenced by it. If we acknowledge Jesus’ parables as a kind of theater, then all Biblical narrative/story is potentially a kind of theater as well.

Jesus did warn in one of his parables against what he called the yeast of the pharisees, which he described as hypocrisy. We earlier defined hypocrisy as acting, but it is not disdainful when a person puts on a virtue such as kindness even if he or she doesn’t feel like being kind in the moment. If I ultimately want to be kind in the situation, but in an immediate sense I do not feel like being kind, yet I “put on” kindness, this is not hypocrisy. Instead we are putting on the clothing of kindness until the emotion catches up to the will. It is when one has no intention or to desire to be kind and then pretends to be that such a thing is disdainful. (“Clothe yourselves with…kindness…” Colossians 3:12 NIV.)

Humor also has a place in theater in that it is a part of God’s creative order, humans can appropriately laugh at their own fallibility, and this laughter brings an audience joy as well as it can bring the actor(s) joy, which is a reflection of God’s redemption of sinners to saints. Sin is serious and its consequences dire. Just as we should not underestimate the enemy of our souls, satan, so we should not underestimate the power of sin. Yet on the Cross Jesus made a public spectacle of satan and sin’s power. He is so much greater than all of it that He could step right into it, conquer it and bring salvation to the very ones who sinned against Him. This is the ultimate source of our joy as Christians. Humor is connected to the joy of the Divine. Thus the picture of little human beings trying to defy God in Psalm 2, describes God laughing at the wicked in their foolish pride against Him. The narrative of a donkey speaking to his master and giving him advice in Numbers 22 and Jesus describing a hypocrite as having a log in his eye while trying to get a speck out of his neighbor’s are all examples of humor in Scripture that could be portrayed in a theatrical way. (From Luke 6:41-42.)

But theater brings up many questions for Christians: do we break the second commandment (from Exodus 20:4) if we portray God in a theatrical situation? Jesus never directly portrayed God the Father in his parables, but did so by the characterization of good fathers, kings and masters. The church has historically permitted the image of Jesus to be portrayed because the Son of God is the personification of God in human form. God Himself gave us an image of Himself in the form of His Son. Therefore plays, movies and musicals portraying Jesus would be not only justified but very helpful for an audience in coming to know the One who is being portrayed. Yet to portray God in the form of His Son, Jesus Christ, is good, since it was God’s design to let His Son demonstrate His image in His Son. (Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God…” Hebrews 1:3 “…the exact imprint of His nature…” John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh…” 14:9 “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” ESV)

Can a Christian be involved in a show that has scenes that are sexually explicit or philosophies he or she does not agree with? Is it beneficial to watch such a show? For all such questions I refer to my blog post: “What is a disputable matter?”

In summary theater, for the Christian, must have its proper place in the context of story, for an audience, acted on a stage by performers. The audience welcomes this performance simply by listening and beholding. This is all for the glory of God and the benefit of the audience, whether or not they agree with the message. So go and watch plays, movies, and musicals. Enjoy them and discern them!

Next time I’ll share a one act play called “A Table For Three” as an example of theater.