Spontaneous…
It’s not a word that comes easy for me, but more importantly, the action is not easy for me. I am a planner. I watch my calendar like a hawk. I live by it… once that calendar is set, it’s hard for me to change.
Last year I spontaneously went to Mexico for a week with my husband. He came home and said let’s go, and the following week we went. It was so far outside of my comfort zone, but it ended up being one of the best things we ever did. And so I decided to make spontaneity part of my life.
But a few weeks ago, when my mom and I were in Branson, my son called with the wild hair idea to return to Branson the next week. He wanted the four of us and my in-laws, too, to go back to Branson almost immediately after I got home from that trip… and my spontaneity was lacking.
I balked at the idea. My schedule was full, my calendar was set, and there was no way we could find a three-bedroom condo with such short notice. I argued. I fussed. I gave a firm no… and then I started thinking…
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last 3 years, it’s that family time is important. So, here I was, immediately poo-pooing the idea of going to Branson with my in-laws… yet I had been preaching how important it was to make time to create special memories with family.
This seemed like maybe one of those times I should slow down and reconsider things. Perhaps I should practice what I preach? So just for shits and giggles, I decided to see if I could find a condo. I typed the specifications into my VRBO app, expecting to see nothing available. But would you believe that the first one that popped up was precisely what we needed, in the location we wanted and within our budget?
So, I booked it. I didn’t even unpack my bags from the previous trip. Instead, I washed my dirty clothes and put them back in the suitcase.
Let me tell you, I was tired, and I just wanted to stay home. I knew we would be leaving for Austin for a week, precisely one day after we got home from this second Branson trip. I was struggling to be excited, but I knew it was what we should do.
We left late last Tuesday and drove to Branson. My in-laws met us there on Wednesday. And we had the absolute best time together. The kids enjoyed spending quality, uninterrupted time with their Nana and Papa. Jeremy and I enjoyed it just as much or more. It’s just not something we get to do very often.
We went to Silver Dollar City, played cards, and cooked breakfast every day at the condo… it was perfect, and I have zero regrets about being spontaneous.
Hold up… that’s a lie… there was one part of the trip that I might regret just a little.
The kids both requested that we go to a show while we were there. I’m not big on the shows in Branson. I don’t particularly enjoy listening to people do a halfway reasonable job singing someone else’s country song. The rhinestones and the big hair are just a little too much for me.
But, the kids wanted to go to the Sight and Sound Theatre to see “The Miracle of Christmas”… so I bought tickets. And they weren’t cheap. It cost us over $200 for 4 tickets to this show.
We showed up Friday afternoon for the 3:30 show along with everyone else in Branson. It was a packed house.
The theatre was so cool. The stage was magnificent, and the props and costumes were pretty amazing. I mean, they bring camels, horses, and donkeys down the aisle… how awesome is that?
The show started, and I vowed to be open-minded.
But, you see, I’m not a huge fan of “Christian” things like that. I hate “Christian” movies. They are so hokey and fake. The production is always… well, it’s just terrible.
I once heard Tim Hawkins say he didn’t want to be known as a “Christian Comedian.” He just wanted to be a good comedian who was a Christian. That has always stuck with me. Like, can’t movies just be good wholesome movies without a bunch of hokey stuff in them? Can’t they have a Christian message without being just weird?
I went to see the original “God’s Not Dead” when it came out in theatres. It was awful. In my opinion, the producers and directors drew imaginary lines in the sand and, in doing so, made it completely impossible to reach all these people they had made into villains… the Muslim, the professor… they made things black and white that aren’t black and white. How do you reach a Muslim for Jesus… hey, let’s go see a movie that paints all Muslims as terrorists and terrible people… hmm, I don’t think that’s the way Jesus did things…? And the professor’s deathbed confession, I’m just going to be completely honest… I laughed… it was so cliché. Why didn’t they let that poor man live his life for Jesus in the next movie… well it wouldn’t have pulled on the heartstrings like a deathbed confession… Needless to say, I haven’t seen another “God’s Not Dead” movie, and I probably unfairly judge all “Christian” movies because of that one.
So, here we sat at this play that I paid 200 dollars to see, and I was all up in my cynical feels. The curtains open, and we are immediately in Nazareth at the betrothal party of Mary and Joseph. It’s a little hokey, but I’m enjoying it. That scene ends, and we find ourselves in Heaven. God is a blurry being on a screen, with angels all around Him. One even flies in from the back of the theatre, Jesus stands before him (the classic American Jesus), and God tells Him what will happen next. The angels sing a song, and the scene ends, and my cynicism is at an all-time high.
We as humans have such a strange idea of what Heaven will be. I’m just going to say it, I hope we are wrong because I don’t want to stand around dressed in a robe singing opera songs all day. If God allowed us to make earth such a wonderful, fun place, why would He stick us in such a boring place for all eternity? Where are the heavenly roller coasters and the river rapids? Where are the beautiful mountains, waterfalls, and beaches? We have such a closed-minded view of Heaven, in my opinion.
So, the heavenly scene is over, and the play continues. Minus the blatant scripture inaccuracy in some places, it’s a decently entertaining play. Until we reach the manger scene and we watch the birth of Jesus… this woman who owns the stable where Jesus is born helps with the delivery. She picks baby Jesus up and says, ‘His eyes are shining with love”… Jeremy rolled his eyes, I shook my head and the kids both audibly snickered… we had reached a new level of hokey.
Come on, Christian people… we can do better than this.
The story of Jesus isn’t hokey, but this entire play made it seem like it was. If I was an unbeliever, I would’ve left that play, saying I didn’t want anything to do with this stuff. Even as a believer, I questioned some things’ validity.
We have a responsibility as Christians to proclaim the gospel of Jesus. Jesus was and is relevant. He isn’t a baby with eyes shining with love. He isn’t a long-haired hippy in a robe. God isn’t a creepy dude on a screen…
I know these things are hard to portray on a screen or on a stage, and people are doing their best. Heck, I’ve done it. I’ve written plays and portrayed things the very same way… I should probably repent.
I think it’s very similar to what we’ve done with the church and also to our ideas of what and who Jesus really is.
We’ve filled it all with human ideas and traditions and forgotten what it’s all about.
We’ve made the church a country club. We’ve given Jesus a proverbial set of golf clubs, cleaned Him up, dressed him in loafers, tied a sweater around His neck, and made Him just what we think He should be… a pretty church member with love shining from His eyes.
Jesus isn’t a country club member…
Jesus isn’t a superhero who wears a cape and flies around watching us. He isn’t like one of the Marvel or DC characters. He isn’t like Thor with a big hammer… He isn’t like Batman, who comes running when he gets the call…Jesus isn’t a baby in a manger with superpowers shooting out of His eyes.
Jesus isn’t a genie in a bottle. He isn’t someone we run to who grants our wishes, and then we keep Him in a bottle the rest of the time.
He doesn’t only dwell in magnificent church buildings, theatres, or cathedrals.
What is He?
He is God. He is loving but also King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is our Savior. He is the One to whom we are accountable. He is full of love, but when He lived on earth, He held no traits that would have drawn people to Him. He’s the One that someday every knee will bow to, and every tongue will confess that He is the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, Emmanuel, Yahweh.
We can’t put Him in a box, in a church, in a cape, or in a bottle. We can’t make Him who we want Him to be… Because He is the Great I Am…
Until Next Time,
Whitney