| Sunny Side Up Feb. 1, 2006 �2006, Kathleen Gibson Performing for an audience of One Last week I watched as the Preacher, my daughter, and my son-in-law all took to the stage. All three had roles in a local production of Fiddler on the Roof. Throughout the five months of rehearsals I watched my grandbaby while the others 'fiddled' away their time. I know stages. I've been going to church from the week of my birth. Churches have stages too. We may call them platforms, but those raised levels up front serve the same purpose as any stage in any theater - to make the ones up there visible to the audience, er...congregation. Every Saturday night as a child I took a 'getting-ready-for-church' bath, a rigorous affair that included a dreaded 'neck scrub'. "That's not dirt, Mommy! It's my suntan!" I hear my own childish voice echoing. After the 'ecclesial bath' Mom curled my hair with blue metal rollers, using her own version of hair super-glue - soaked flaxseed water. The next morning, when she slipped the rollers out, fat ringlets hung in rigid formation around the perimeter of my head. She stuck in a barrette and pronounced me beautiful - and stage ready. I hated that hair-do. And I dreaded the nickname I was sure followed me. Sausage Roll. I don't know if it ever did. Those days marked the beginning of a life that has regularly included 'up front' time on stages of many kinds. My older sister and I were known as 'those Neufeld girls'. We frequently performed in church - sang, played instruments, even acted. Sometimes they put us in the program - oops, bulletin. As I grew, I began to realize the intrinsic difference between performing for God and performing for people. Between honing your skills solely to be noticed and praised by others, and polishing them to be acceptable by God. People, you see, critique performance. God critiques the heart. But I've never believed God doesn't care about our performance, either in public or private. Whether on a church platform or a theater stage; on a newspaper page, at the front of a classroom or under a car's hood; if God gives a gift it's up to us to hone that gift to the sharpest edge we can bring it to, for his delight. To do our best and put our best into our preparation - even if it involves some sort of figurative 'neck scraping' and sausage ringlets. As I watched the show the other night, I recalled the months of preparation that resulted in that impeccable performance. It took my breath away. Excellence and hard work does that, wherever it's found. Over my decades of church attendance I've observed too many people who treat church platforms with less respect than they would give a performance on a secular stage. Who don't practice their skills, who wait until the night before to prepare their offering, whatever it may be. I've been guilty too. God deserves more. In fact, he deserves everything. Ultimately, he's the only audience that matters. Respond Home |
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