Stage Performance

Well here I am back again,
I would like to take the time now to address the graduation ceremony held recently at Pace High School for their graduating class of students. As we all know there was a recent U. S. Court decree handed down regarding a suit that was filed against several school officials here in Santa Rosa County, among them being the Pace High School principal Frank Lay. One of the primary issues addressed in this suit was regarding the open public performing of religious rites, namely praying.
Well, since this was ruled as being an act that violates certain student’s civil rights it was to be permanently banned at school as well as at school sponsored events, namely graduation ceremonies. So, what happened this year at the Pace High School graduation ceremony? You guessed it! A group of students separated themselves from the rest of the class and put on a stage performance! They showed their audiences that they could defy the court’s ruling by, in an act of rebellion, recite the “Lord’s Prayer”! Bravo! What a show! They received quite an arousing round of applause! Quite the show of being a true Christian!
Or was it? Who was glorified in that act of rebellion? Christ? I don’t think so. For one, he wouldn’t have performed such a blatant act of rebellion against the law of the land. That just isn’t in his teachings. Quite the opposite I believe. So just who was glorified in this act of defiance? Well, it would have to be the stage actors themselves I guess. So, was this then the act of Christians glorifying the Lord? No I guess not. So that means it was simply an act of rebellion against the suit brought against the school board, school and it’s faculty by the those students represented by the ACLU, (which they won by the way) and the ruling of the federal court. This was an act otherwise known as an act of disobedience.
I suppose maybe I misunderstood the bible years ago, (back when I still called myself a Christian) during the course of all my studies in it. I was always of the understanding that God wants personal and private relationships with his followers. I understood that it was his desire that when I would speak to him he wanted it to be a private matter, just between him and me. Thus, “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”(Matthew 6: 6) Not the public stage type thing! Thus, “And when you pray, you are not to be as the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners, in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you they have their reward in full.” (Matthew 6:5) This is what it sounds like happened that evening at Pace High School in the football stadium. You had a group of people stand “on stage” before and audience and perform the “Lord’s Prayer”. Sorry, they weren’t glorifying God, they were glorifying themselves. So, not only were they defying the law of the land, they were also defying the teachings of Jesus himself. So now I ask you, is this what it means to be a Christian today? It sounds like someone who is a Christian in name only. They are missing something within themselves; there is no Christ in them it would seem. He wouldn’t have been there, nor would he have taken part in their little show.
The Jesus I came to know by reading the bible was a considerably different person than that I see being put forth in the actions of those who now call themselves Christians. The Jesus I came to know didn’t go around endorsing violating the law of the land. I also don’t believe that if he disagreed with some particular law that he would advocate violating it to show your objections to it. I believe he would instead suggest that you go about seeking the change that you desired in that law, by using the procedures provided to do so, in a lawful manner. Jesus was not a militant man as best I can tell, seems to me that before he began his ministry he was a carpenter. He was a constructive man, not a destructive man. He was a peaceful, constructive law abiding man. He wasn’t concerned with whether or not you could stand and make a public spectacle of yourself by praying before an audience. He didn’t try to force a captive audience into listening to his teachings. He wanted, or wants personal and private relationships with his willing followers. He traveled around the country side teaching any who wanted to come to him and listen. This is the way he instructed his apostles as well. No captive audiences there like you have in a public school setting. You only had willing people interested in and desiring to hear their teachings. And these teachings were being held in a lawful manner and place.
Well, I hope that I have given people something to think about here today. Only time will tell.