| |
September 2003 Table of Contents
Special Feature: Drama
I've Known Jesus, Now I Know Him Better
By Mac McConnell
Catching just a hint of the Almighty during a performance sends a chill down my back and gives me "Jesus bumps" every time. A precursor started really when I was but a preteen. Remembering times at the movies when there was a real sense of a character and actually I would feel like, I felt like, they felt. (Sorry for that sentence structure, try it again and it will make sense eventually.) Even then, there would be a goofy feeling that I was that character. It did not dawn on me, how very important that concept would be to a man called by God to imitate great men of faith. Then, what could only be deemed a fluke, a holy fluke one could say, was that first step on stage in front of 3,000 patrons, and into the role of narrator in a gigantic Christmas Pageant. Life was in for an upheaval.
Truly wanting the call of God, I prayed for God to "show me the way." But inside, I felt past my prime at 50, and a touch of arrogance to think God could use the likes of me. So, the petitions for God's call were more obligatory than faith based. Was God listening? Did God have a moment to hear MY prayers? More importantly, apparently to God, would there ever be real openness to hear His call, and still know it was God? Listening to more than one sermon entitled: "a still small voice", the thought occurred that I would, or already had, missed it. Honestly, isn't hearing from God reserved for the elect, (not THE elect), or select spirit-filled few? With the pride vs. humility battle raging 24/7 I knew pride won out way too many times to be a serious contender for Kingdom business.
The biggest hurdle was the adage, "God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called." So, let's see, that pretty much means, IF there is a call from God, it will be something I don't know how to do, do not expect, and apparently WAY out of the comfort zone. This surely sounds like a masochistic approach to a sanctified partnership with THE Man. And, tends to make seeking God's will a scary adventure. Undaunted, or too lazy to try a different approach, I made seeking God's plan a prayer priority.
That first Christmas Pageant survived this neophyte somehow, and the whole experience was mesmerizing. "Enchanting" might even be a better word. Our pageant set-biblical garb, special effects and a "Jesus" persona so real you wanted to bow each time he entered the room-made for an easy escape into first century Jerusalem. And escape I did-to "become" Simon Peter. I felt like him; talked like him; walked like him; shouted like him; cried like him; was distraught like him; even yelled Hallelujah just like him as far as I was concerned. The audience must have bought it as well, for many times after a performance while still in costume, someone would ask, "Hey Simon Peter, have you seen Jesus?" I'd reply with a cheek-breaking grin, "sure have, he's over there, c'mon I'll lead you right to Him." Did you hear that? "He's over there, I'll lead you right to him." I knew that was IT: pointing and ushering folks to Jesus.
What then began naively as writing scripts, fantasizing and performing, I would fain to have a 30-minute time slot and present the one act entitled "What About You?" (The Gospel according to Simon Peter). Remembering the command from the Dale Carnegie Course taken 20 years earlier, "seize every opportunity to get in front of an audience." Unwittingly, this was training-training that actually started 20 years earlier-training for God's perfect call until His perfect timing. Even becoming a God chaser there was suspicion He would call me out to some forsaken destiny to do something ill equipped for. But a special mentor, David Hamilton said, "That's absurd, God wants to give you the desires of your heart, as you delight yourself in Him." I just remembered, I had even taken several semesters of EE that would prove vital to the eventual call of "drama evangelist."
God called. More like a shout came one morning whilst on my face, (a very appropriate position to listen). He used 1 Kings 18:21, "How long will you waiver between two opinions." BAM, a ton of bricks fell. Of course that's what it would take. I knew that I knew, and the rest is...you know.
In many ways my life is fantasy. Eight years of pretending to be Simon Peter, Nicodemus, Zacchaeus, Joseph, Pastor Henry Maxwell, or Paul, and feeling a little schizophrenic. After some 400 performances to over a half-million folks and thousands of decisions for Christ, it still sends chills down my back and creates Jesus bumps every time. But more importantly the better the effort at portraying these characters the better the audience suspends their disbelief and joins in the journey.
A treasured response after one performance is: "I've known Jesus, now I know Him better."
Does God equip the called? Yep, sure does. Does God call the equipped? Yep, sure does. Does God call whomever He desires...Safe to say. Will He wait 'till you are 50; (Moses was 80)? That is uniquely His business. But, if you become a God chaser, He is waiting to be caught and in the process you will know Him better.
Mac McConnell was called into full time ministry in 1995 by 1 Kings 18:21, "How long will you waiver between two opinions." He sold his business of 21 years to form One Way Productions, dedicated to Spreading THE Good News Dramatically.
Mac was born again, Ft. Lauderdale, FL July 15, 1976. He is married to Linda, his wife of more than 30 years, and resides in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Ministry verse: 1 Corinthians 19:6 "Yet when I proclaim the Good News, I dare not boast. For God Himself has constrained me to announce the Good News, woe unto me if I do not do what I am told."
Back to Top
|
|
