As part of our church’s drama team, I got the text early in
the week.
“Can you fill in on Sunday morning for the sketch? The girl
who was scheduled has to go out of town unexpectedly.”
I agreed and received a quick rundown on the script. My
director concluded with this comment, “Yours will be the Jesus character.”
Being familiar with church-drama-lingo, I understood this to
mean that my character would be the straight man and the one with the right
answers for the other character who would be struggling with some sort of
problem or choice. The “Jesus character” is always loving, kind, forgiving,
compassionate, patient, full of wisdom, and – well – like Jesus.
That particular week also happened to be a week of
relationship challenges. Harsh words spoken. Unresolved issues led to a
face-off, a dead end, and the ever-popular silent treatment vs. the just-get-over-it-and-act-like-it-didn’t-happen
treatment.
