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March 2004 Table of Contents
Special Feature
Too Much Reality
By Kim Messer
I was recently teaching a class on scriptwriting when I realized that many of the scripts I had been reviewing lately had the same problem: too much reality. Having been an editor who has read hundreds and hundreds of scripts, I have seen many works that have stilted dialogue, unbelievable characters and plots, and countless other issues I will refrain from naming.
Yet lately, I've seen a lot more scripts that read more like conversations I'm overhearing. You know, scenes where two or more people are chatting away, delivering information but with no real point. It sounds and reads like real life, but there isn't a bit of redemption in it.
It's a lot like television these days. Just when I think there will be some relief from the onslaught of reality shows, I see another commercial for the next generation of these demonstrations that fill hour after hour of programming.
It makes me wonder how this trend-turned- daily occurrence affects us and our ministries in our churches. When it comes to using drama in the church, there is a fine line between using sketches that are relevant and yet life changing vs. staging scenes based on reality that have no message at all.
Now I believe there are opportunities to use drama-even drama without strong messages-in our various programs at church and for outreach purposes. However, when it comes to what is presented in worship and for worship, I believe that drama should be about changing the hearts and souls of the people sitting in the congregation.
We can't let what seems interesting to us on TV start to infiltrate our worship. Drama is an obvious place where this could occur, but every song, prayer and the very words that are spoken in worship can also suffer. We can be inadvertently drawn to using resources in worship that seem very "real" to us. We can find or even develop our own resources that seem to be relevant to the average person in the pew. And yet, we must look hard at whether the songs we sing, the words we say, and the stories we tell have anything in them that will build the body of Christ.
Most of the church-going people I know go to church for two things: encouragement and spiritual growth. I think most of the people that I wish I could get to go to church need to hear about Jesus and His transforming forgiveness and love. As leaders in the church, we must make the most of God's appointments from week to week. After all, we all know what a struggle it is for many to come to church, and often we aren't even aware of all of the challenges people in our pews are facing.
For these reasons and others, let us be alert to how the culture and the love of "reality" can affect us as writers and songwriters, actors and directors, worship leaders and pastors. When we unintentionally choose elements in worship that don't have a clear message or are so "real" that they don't say much at all, we may be unintentionally missing an opportunity to change someone's life and advance His kingdom.
The challenge before us is to maintain our calling to win the lost and encourage the body of believers. God has used many means, traditions and culturally relevant modes of communication to reach out to us through the ages. As we take our cues from Him to win the lost by all means possible, let's continue to provide "Adkins"-styled worship. Provide your congregation with meat and protein that lasts and keeps them chewing vs. carb-loaded worship that burns up too quickly leaving them feeling as empty as they were before. Let's offer up drama, music and words that glorify Him instead of follow the cultural norm. In our worship let us, as Psalm 96:8-9 says, "Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name; bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness; tremble before Him all the earth." Amen.
Kim Messer is Product Line Manager of Lillenas Drama and Editor of the Lillenas Drama Newsletter in Kansas City, MO.
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