Every now and again those who read my blog know that I come out and rant - this is going to be one of them- so buckle your seat belts and come along for the ride.
Firstly I would like insert a disclaimer that I am not having a go at anyone involved in this ministry- I respect them for seeing what needs to be done and jumping in. Also i am not having a go sitting at my desk- I also have helped out with this event in past years in every level from acting to picking up rubbish to ushering to Painting children's faces (badly). And God of course works though all our feeble efforts and does the work not us.
Now to THE RANT:
During the week here in townsville an event was run called "Stable on the Strand." (Our Esplanade) This has multiple areas namely: Stable tent, Stage show, youth area and Children's tent (sorry if i missed any areas) Tonight I'm mainly going to concentrate on point 1 and 2 with a little bit on 3 and 4 if your taking notes. (Sorry NTE joke)
In the lead up to the stable we were feeling the buzz from the various organisers about 'this wonderful evangelistic event'. Apparently 'every year the council lets us put more and more of the gospel in.' I allowed myself to be sucked in looking forward to seeing a refreshing presentation that can be shown to the 1000s of people who come in- many unchurched and often having no contact with the gospel at all and them hear a clear gospel message. Boy was I wrong...
The main focus was the stable tent which started well, there was the guide who announced that Christmas was all about hope and the three wise men/women who set the scene well- introducing Bethlehem. then we saw King Herod, Simeon and Anna, Pregnant Mary, dancing shepherds, baby Jesus and the people handing out bibles and the people blessing people and the prayer wall. The only problem was it was all rush and there was no clear message just a haphazard play on what it might have seen like in play form. but with no meat- I've done primary school plays with more meat. Sure its a great line 'Hope is born today' but what is the hope- there might be a fuzzy connection to Jesus in there somewhere, so he was born to give me hope: Great. I hope I finish uni one day is that the hope? I hope I get a girlfriend one day too- that must be what Jesus came for. NO Jesus came to save the world from their sins and to restore the relationship with God. But instead I was left with a wishy washy picture of Hope and no thrust of where it goes to next. As i read on the Prayer wall some one had thoughtfully put, obviously missing the whole point of blessing, "Lord please bless my telstra shares".
2ndly there was too many difficult things in the plays- I know my biblical accounts well but even i was confused with the interaction between Simeon and Anna followed by the starving family and Gabriel (Did Jesus come to give physical bread?).
3rdly why have people at the end blessing people- I thought it was great that they were handing about bibles and a decent version for ppl to understand. But then after that- hey you stood in line for an 1hr followed by crammed in small sections standing watching plays, have sore feet and probably kids needing to use the loos- Can I give you a blessing? WHY????????... And what is this prayer wall- do you think a base relationship with God might be the last thing people should be dwelling over as they leave the tent.
4thly I couldn't help but laugh as I left the tent and saw a cross outside. Yes finally an indication Christ came to die for our sins. oh no its actually a collection box. But wait there is more you put money and it lights up plays music and says Jesus was born today. hmmm maybe that's the Gospel you put money in and get a bit of gratification/humour and a flashy light show. At least I got a free wristband with hope on it.
Having said that I really enjoyed the stage show and the youth area was quite good. but when it came down to it the whole thing was very much it. All show or rather entertainment. There were some very good gospel snippets but in the end they seemed to be afterthoughts not the main point of the event. And when it comes down to it how is that different from a show put on entirely by non-Christians. If that is the way the organisers are planning I have no problem with it there as a Christmas show and it does give a christian side to the overly secularised event that is Christmas. But stop hoodwinking us by telling us it is 'THE evangelistic event of the year for townsville' unless you put some gospel and some decent evangelism in there.
11 comments:
Am I being too Harsh: let me know you you think. (notice i didn't use the P word once) :)
i don't think you're being too harsh... i think the same thing. and i didn't even see it this year...
Yeah I didn't have a strong enough opinion to say anything about it but I came out of the stable thinking "ok great... that told us *what* about Jesus?" As you said it was a good representation of what the event itself may have looked like, and I think that was one of the original intentions of Stable. However, again as you said, they shouldn't be calling it *the* evangelistic event of the year as there is not an awful lot of evangelism in there.
I think the primary role of Stable is just re-enacting the (extended) nativity. This is evangelistic in the sense that it does bring the real reason of Christmas to the community, but it does not explain sin, salvation, or what Jesus did- therefore, it is a bit rich to be calling it *The* evangelistic event of the year.
Not to say it wasn't a good event. I painted kids' faces for three nights (including Annie and Tom Mac's :D) and even got to see Live at the Strand on the last nite (as I had a view from my face painting seat ;) :D)
Ooh, that gets me started on soemthing else. Is it just me, or were a majority of the Live at the Strand entertainers from either The Rock or Calvary? I didn't even hear of other people getting the chance to participate.
And I would have no trouble if that was the theme of it as some say it is. The Live show was good (again Show) but i heard the carols were pretty dodgy- why write new songs when there are heaps of great gospel proclaiming carols there. My complaint is that the Stable seemed to be the big push as in the central thing- when I got more of a gospel message in the rap contest in the youth area.
On Kids tent i don't think you can under value the oppotunities we do have there and apparently these were taken well.
I noticed that too with musicians with a few exceptions and these exceptions also seemed to be the ones who gave good gospel spots... Any correlation???
yeah yeah yeah whatever. I happen to agree with Tim. hey yes i can agree that there was some Jesus in there but all i saw was a baby, the cross discussed me it was sugar coated to the max (well painted and lighted). The Jesus I know died on a cross, but it was nothing like that cross it was made of yimber not sanded and prob gave you splinters ig you touched it. So why white wash something why make something bigger than it is, like Timo said they acccounced it as the big evangelic event of the year. What is the centre of all evangelism, THE GOSPLE, am i right, what are we saved by, a Jesus in a stable. No my Jesus went further than that. My Jesus Died on a Cross. A crule cross in a crule way. The closest thing we have to repesent it would be the passion but even that is watered down a little bit. My God is not a kitten, rather a rawing lion. He's not going to buckle at the Knees when it comes to the end. "Alright you can come to heaven" NO NO NO. It will be did you love me? NO Then Be off with you. If you don't want me then i cannot stand you. there is no Flex in His rule. I know that it was the Christmas story, but why did Jesus come? To seek and to save. So they could have repesented it a little better, well alot better because the Christmas story didn't finish with the babe. It continued on a cross and then a resurection, and finished with our salvation. Thats the True message of Christmas. Our Salvation.
Greg
Does anyone else feel violated after being forced to read that?
Amen to that, Tim.
Greg, learn to spell :P
I was like "the cross discussed me it was sugar coated to the max"... huh?? ohhh... "the cross DIGUSTED me..." :P
Oh and I had to laugh at your 'correlation' point Tim. I have to say, I didn't notice it, but I wasn't able to pay much attention as I was painting faces. I can't remember a lot of good gospel spots (a lot of the music was good tho)-- who did those? Do you know?
The Gospel spots? When they had people singing solos they put a little 2 mins or so before the song on what the carol ment to them. A couple were quite good gospel bits as opposed to 'world peace' but I only knew one person: Rachel from Capitol ministries (Wes. meth that meets at Anandale Christian school) she also works at Christian bookworld. (hehehe I shot her at paintball and she was on my team :) oops)
Yeah, I mostly agree with you guys, too. Walking throught the stable I was like: "What the? Wise men at the start? Didn't they come a couple of years later?" and for the bit with the hungry beggars: "I suppose they're just there to set the scene.... But who's that guy in the white? Oh, Gabriel. What's he doing there, and why is he talking to the people?" (didn't remember that happening in the Bible)And then the shepherds...made me laugh, I think they told a good message but can't remember because I wasn't really listening (mind had wondered by this part) I think I had a problem with the first mary and Joeseph too, but can't remember what it was...
The bit at the end? Took a wrist band, said no to a Bible and walked out. As did they majority of the population, I'd assume. Managed to avoid the guy blessing people this year. Hadn't thought about it, but I like Tim's point on the prayer wall.
Ok, and that's my little rant for today. The Live Show I only saw about 20 mins of before each facepainting shift. What do I remember? This bad comedian who can't even sing as well as his back-up singers who sang (to the tune of 'deck the halls with boughs of holly') "Deck the guy who stole my carpark!" Yep, shining Christian message showing through there.
Michelle, that wasn't Live at the STrand. That was just entertainment. Live at the Strand didn't start til after our shift started.
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