I Could Play the Background

The past 3 weeks, I’ve been helping out with the high school drama.  I’ve been running lines with students during study hall, drama practice, and after school.  It’s been amazing to see their dedication and progression.  Many students wrote and performed monologues about tertiary characters.  I had to learn that tertiary characters are the background characters in stories.  For instance, one student was a “weak-minded storm trooper” from Star Wars.  Another student played the henchman, who was ready to fight Indiana Jones, but was shot without a fight.  Another student was one of the three triplets that swooned over Gaston in Beauty and the Beast.   The students performed wonderfully and the plot was tied together through a hilarious performance of the time-traveling Dr. Who and his companion Martha.  The characters bumble and grumble in an abandoned theatre, desiring the spotlight, dreaming one day of what they could become as primary characters.  The message of the show was revealed in the Lecrae song “Background.”  Not only was I impressed with the students’ ability to rap, but they had so much fun up there. The characters in the show began to realize that there is more to life than being in the spot light; that sometimes it’s better to be in the background: 

I could play the background

I could play the background

‘Cause I know sometimes I get in the way

So won’t you take the lead lead lead lead lead?

So won’t you take the lead lead lead lead lead?

I could play the background.

Students teach me so much.  They probably teach me more than I could ever teach them.  This is just one way that God has been speaking to me this semester.  He has indeed been speaking in “surround sound” about being the background. 

Last year, was a painful year of rooting out sin with constant… constant repentance.  The year before was all about transitions—understanding this place, my marriage, my friends, my job. 

This year, I think…it’s about consistently being reminded of God’s proper place in my life. 

God is allowing me to have amazing opportunities to share about Him.  I’ve seen three students come to Christ just in the last month.  I’ve seen relationships healed.  I’ve seen people learn from the hard lessons and grow closer to their God.  I’ve seen honesty and openness in my friendships and my marriage.  While working hard in my post-graduate work, I’m also playing the background and support for my husband who has much more work than I do.  I’ve been able to go on several school retreats …where things fail, which always reminds me that it’s not about what I am creating.  It’s not about the ambiance, the environment, the technology, or the games. 

It’s not about anything I do.  It’s not about me at all.  

And how cool is it that God still allows me to be a part of it.  I want that part to be the background.  My prayer is from Philippians 1, which we studied this week in the high school girls’ Bible study.  "Through my being with you agian, your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound..."  Does my being here abound peopel's boasting in Christ?  IS that my goal as I work with students, or sit next to my husband, or laugh with my friends?  What role do I play?... because I’m not the primary character.  I’m not even secondary. 

So, God, please take the lead! I want to play the background.