You are Christ’s protégé

Some of you, as I, have memories of church plays. For many Easters, men of my home church would pose to re-enact DaVinci’s masterpiece, The Last Supper. One year the youth group, under the direction of my mom, performed a stage play of the last week of Jesus’ life.

You may have watched your own children and grandchildren play parts in plays. One Christmas I wrote and led children in a play of the Nativity. The character’s names were changed to be those of parents in the audience, so that each heard their own name as part of the Christmas story. William Shakespeare, in his play As You Like It, shared these now familiar lines: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances…” In the books of Kings in the Old Testament you will find the stories of the prophet Elijah and his protégé, Elisha. Elisha learned to be a prophet by watching Elijah. And one might say that after Elijah, Elisha played the part of Elijah—reprised the role of Elijah in the Bible. But he did so as Elisha; and some say he performed twice as many miracles as Elijah had.

Jeannette George, in her book Some Run With Feet of Clay, tells of becoming acquainted with a Christian speaker by the name of Marge Caldwell. “I heard her speak and saw the reaction and immediately assumed that that was what a Christian speaker was supposed to be.

“I tried to be just like her. I laughed like she does, I copied her approach to an audience, and I even told her jokes. I was terrible! I was miserable, my audiences were miserable, and I’m sure if Marge has seen me, she would have been miserable!

“I went limping back to the Lord. I explained to Him that I had tried my best to be like Marge and wanted to know where I had gone wrong. The Lord let me know He had a Marge, and she was doing a fantastic job of being Marge. However, the Lord did have an opening in His cast: He didn’t have anyone being Jeannette.”

You see, Jeannette realized that her own personhood, her own authenticity, was important to the plan of Christ. It is your talents and personality that God has chosen for a particular place on eternity’s stage.

Only Matthew could have written that Gospel. Only Paul could have been the bridge to the Gentiles. Only Barnabas could have been the encourager. Only Mary could have been that special mother. Only Fanny Crosby could have written her hymns. Only Luther could have played Luther’s part in the Reformation. Only Peter could have projected the image of Peter. Only you can present the Christian witness as you.

On the last day of their trip to Israel, a guide took a tour group to the banks of the Jordan River. Someone asked the guide, “Is this where Joshua crossed?”

“No,” the guide answered, “Joshua crossed about where John baptized Jesus, over there…where Elisha crossed back from leaving Elijah.”

From Joshua and the children of Israel, from Elijah to Elisha, from John the Baptist to Jesus, from the early church to where you are today, “all the world’s a stage.” And you have a part to perform. A part God has chosen especially for you. Playing that part well can change you for the better, can transform your world, and perhaps determine the very outcome of this play we call Life.

You are Christ’s protégé. The curtain us up. Break a leg!