InterVarsity students at California State University-Sacramento were concerned about reports that the director of the campus production of Godspell intended to portray Jesus’ interactions with the disciples with a homosexual theme and include lots of erotic choreography involving women in the cast. The chapter began to pray, “God, what should we do?”
One of the chapter’s student leaders, Lauren Keil, discovered that the cast of the musical was upset by the director’s failure to provide information needed for character development and scene direction. They wanted to hear from someone who knew about the historical Jesus and his disciples. They asked Lauren to tell them who Jesus really was.
I asked Lauren if it would be okay if I came with her. I thought, “At last my theater background could be put to some good use. We can do character studies and talk about each character’s motivation.”
When Lauren and I met with the cast of Godspell, we talked about the promise God gave to Abram, that he would bless him to be a blessing to the rest of the world. We talked about how Jesus was the fulfillment of that promise, and how his motivation was to gather a community to be a blessing to the world. We talked about why John the Baptist called Jesus the “Lamb of God.” We talked about the way Jesus treated women and why it was revolutionary.
“Women were enamored with Jesus because finally someone was treating them with respect,” I said. “Not because he was some hottie!”
We talked about Jesus bringing light into a dark world, and we considered the people who were grateful to be exposed and why some of them hated it and hid. We talked about the parables and why Jesus used them.
By the end of the night, one girl who began every question by saying, “I’m not a religious person, but…,” was asking about when and where InterVarsity meets.
Another girl, a believer who hadn’t opened her Bible in two years, was reminded of the richness of the stories of Jesus, and began to talk about getting back involved into a Christian community.
Two other girls decided to tell the director that they were uncomfortable dancing seductively to the words of Psalm 103.
The man playing Jesus thanked us profusely for clarifying who Jesus was and what his motivation was and still is. He later became a Jesus-follower.
It was a great night!
As a result, the dance numbers were no longer seductive! The believers in the cast felt empowered to speak up and tell the truth about Jesus, and the director had to honor it because they had done the homework and research that he refused to do.
Praise God! Please pray for the cast of Godspell and that this musical, based on the Gospel of Matthew, would bring glory to the name of Jesus!
Kyle Dickinson is a campus staff member at CSU Sacramento for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.
