Recently my wife and I had the opportunity to see the hit musical "Book of Mormon." It was an incredible gift from my wife's parents and we were very thankful for the tickets. I knew a little of what I would expect to see as it was written by the same people who did the Southpark episodes (of which I have seen a couple). In short the Book of Mormon follows two elders (Price and Cunningham) on their missionary journey to spread the word of Christ. They end up in war torn Uganda (not their favorite pick--Orlando FL was!) They don't understand the culture (one quote---"Africa is not like the Lion King"), they struggle to present their beliefs, they struggle with doubt, they make stuff up to get conversions, and finally.....well go see it. What I saw totally blew me away. Musically/set design/ talent was simply wonderful. These guys tackled a lot of issues that are not simply unique to the Mormon faith, but to all religions. Even though this musical, like so many of the Southpark shows, does have some does at times cross the line, these guys touch on some things that I think are vital for the church (when I say church I mean Christian church) to learn or relearn. Here is what I took from the musical:
1. the Book of Mormon exposes the fact that we need to have an ability to laugh at ourselves. (even if it's at our expense)
I am not easily offended. I think there is only one time in my life that I have actually been offended. Yes they make fun of race, religious belief and culture. But because they make fun of these things doesn't mean that some of jokes are not true. Usually there is some grain of truth to it. As a Christian I didn't have a problem with them making fun of how religious people act too pious. That the beliefs sound silly (no lie had a youth tell me this once---we believe in a zombie and a place where everyone can be essentially zombies). We can't be so uptight. These guys are not believers, the play isn't for believers. Keep the musical (just like we do with our Bible) in context. I laughed, it was funny. But I quickly realized that some of my friends would be offended that they would want to bust out the crosses and fire. Deep breath, relax and don't take yourself so seriously.
2. Book of Mormon causes us to evaluate how we approach people with the gospel.
Elder Price and Cunningham go into Uganda thinking they are just going to convert people left and right. They end up finding out that: A. Many churches have "come through" trying to convert people. B. They struggle to find common ground. C. They make up stuff to make the people feel better (adding Star Trek and Star Wars characters to give the story some spice).
As believers, we need to make sure that we approach people carefully, lovingly but also clearly with the message that we are carrying. Between the wackos we see on TV and our propencity to sin, we must be even more vigilant in sharing the gospel in a way that will glorify God and give people a clear picture of who God is (both through speech and action). We don't need to jazz up the story of God to make it attractive and we don't need to subtract things to make it more palpable.
3. We should be attuned to and respect the culture of other people (domestic and foreign).
One aspect in the play is that all the elders present in Uganda struggle to understand their culture and values. At one point jokingly one points out after they see violence and the hardships of the Ugandan people an elder says "Africa is not like the Lion King at all!" I have been out of the country twice in the last two years and one aspect that I make sure is in our travel plans are to learn certain cultural aspects of those countries we visit. Little nuances to help understand the people and country we visit rather than forcing them to adapt to ours. It goes a loooooong way. I can even point out several Americans in the countries we visit because of this very issue. When it comes to sharing our faith, developing relationships within the culture of the people is a powerful tool and amazing things happen.
4. We need to be honest with our faults, our doubts, our struggles, with God and the church.
There is a very witty song within the musical called "Turn it off" The song follows how the two elders mentioned earlier struggle with the troubles of sharing their faith with the Ugandans. This musical number is to illustrate that when you struggle or things in life get you down just: "turn it off, like a lightbulb. Just go click, its a neat Mormon trick." Within the song different elders speak about the abuse of parents, homosexual urges, and a variety of scenarios. Rather than dealing with them, praying about them, being open and honest about their struggles they just "turn it off" or push it deep down and never deal with it. Now this sounds silly, but being in the church for over 13 years (6 of them working IN the church) I have seen a number of people do this. Rather than be open and honest about their struggles, they "turn it off" and simply put a smile on their face, tell you everything is great. One of my favorite quotes that helps remind me that I'm not okay: "The church is not a museum for good people, but a hospital for the broken." Broken (and redeemed) people reside in the church. Not perfect, not good. We are the best people to help those who are broken outside of the church. Let's be honest with our doubts about God, the church and the struggles in our lives (though as my wife says don't emotionally throwup on someone).
This is an awesome musical with a lot that we can learn from. It will be showing at the Kennedy Center till August 9th. Be Blessed.
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