Lights, Camera,........ Jesus?

Okay this the time of the year where many churches will celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now please believe me when I say that I do not condemn plays, nor do I hate plays, or think that it is un-Christian and the bearing of people's salvation rests in this, but I do question where we have gone with celebrating by putting on X-Mas plays specifically on Sunday mornings. (Note I know all churches don't do this)
Couldn't we celebrate the birth of Christ through our lifestyle, or by hearing preaching of His own Word? I know many churches put on plays, mine is included. But I sat thinking to myself the other day about why we do them. The answers were less than convincing: we feel a need to do them because of culture , not from a biblical perspective. We have them because we have always had them, or because that's what Christians do during Christmas and Easter. Now I know some people auotmatically would say, Hey wait, the play illustrates the gospel and it is a remembrance of the birth of God and it provides people an outlet to use their gifts and talents! All those things are true, but are they true because Scripture says so or because we think so? What I am getting at is this: I think that the holidays become more about the play than the message. That people want to be entertained, rather than hear the Word proclaimed, that these plays become more about the production with a thanks to Jesus afterwards. I was part of 3 different Easter plays. All in our huge orchestra. We are talking big budget Michael Bay type plays here. We had 150 actors and actresses, dancers, live animals, a 20 man tech grew, closed circuit TV, dvd sales, the same Jesus for 6 years straight (I tell you its hard to find a dude who looks like Jesus when you have had the same guy do it that long) and David Hassolhoff as Judas. Okay maybe not the last part but you get the hint. The question I would ask is do we really need plays? Do we need the production to truly appreciate X-mas or the impact of Easter? Or better phrased have we gotten out of hand with the holiday rituals and taken less focus off the mission?

I will use Acts as a basis for the simplicity the church can have during the X-mas, Easter season.


1. Think about the early church
The early church is a great example, not because they were great people, but because they had so much simplicity. Read the book of Acts, it has so much contained in it that teaches us about the power of the Holy Spirit and an available and willing heart.
Acts 2-Holy Spirit comes at Pentacost

Acts 2:14-41-Peter preaches the gospel

Acts 2:42-47-Early church has fellowship: apostles teaching, breaking bread, prayer

Acts 3:12-4:1-22: Peter preaches to the people (after a healing) and preaches to the Sanhedrin the gospel.

Acts 4:32-36-Believers share all things, take care of each other

The list is endless, I didn't even get into the numerous Paul sermons on the gospel.

Just look at what the early church leaders had:
1. They used the power of the Holy Spirit: Peter before he preached 2:4; before the Sanhedrin-4:8; believers were filled with the Holy Spirit which helped them preach the Word of God boldly-4:31,and so on.

2. Preached the gospel: Peter, and Paul dominate the speeches in Acts (Stephens is the longest) and each time they simply preached the gospel: the death and resurrection of Christ. That was the early churches soteriology (soteria-Greek for salvation/ logos=study--study of salvation). That was the powerful message, they proclaimed it where ever they went--that was their focus. (Acts 2:23-24,32; 3:15-16; 4:10; and read any Paul book)

3. They lived it out: Notice in the passages above I show that there are many instances of reactions to the preaching, and Spirit. People lived out the glory of God: Acts 2:42-46; 4:32-37.


Imagine if we [the church]...lived like that today. So much of ministry and evangelism is tends to get caught up in techniques, and what other books say, or how, when, why, where??!!! We need committees, meetings, and approval by the Supreme Court sometimes to do things. These guys just were empowered by the Spirit, preached the gospel, and lived it out.

Also just imagine if we told Paul, Peter or any of the 12 to put on a X-mas play during worship. How silly would that sound to them? Paul may punch you, Peter might yell, Philip was supposedly small so he wouldn't do much. It would be silly. They would say: Keep Focus on the mission (Christ) through preaching and serving.

I just feel like we have gone a little overboard, thats all. You can disagree, that's what is great about a blog and the internet. You can stare and this and be like "Hmm well this dude is a satanist and hates people with talent." Maybe I am, but my goal is get you to think biblically, not culturally. Plays are a part of culture, and entertainment. Those are the qualities we look for and it is no different with X-mas or Easter. Are they fun, yes. Are they exciting, sure. Do they stir our emotions, sometimes, but we need to hear the Word preached, proclaimed from His Word. We can take time, money, and effort to create an elaborate production to make a picture of the gospel. Why not use the money for those less fortunate, use the time for missions, and use the effort in preaching the gospel, empowered by the HOly Spirit, and then living it out everyday like it was X-mas or Easter.......its just a thought.

Be Blessed.