A few years ago several of us in the church in Mineral Wells, Texas traveled to nearby Glen Rose to see The Promise, the musical telling of the life of Jesus. By and large it was a great production. The sights, sets and sounds were first rate.

 

            However I did notice one glaring change that had been made from the original telling of the story. The scene is that of Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night. Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born again. Nicodemus asks how that is possible. Shall he enter a second time into his mother's womb? If you've read the Book before you've seen the play maybe you remember Jesus' answer, "Unless one is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). But the Jesus character in the play says, "Unless one is born of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Why the difference? Did the actor forget part of his line? I doubt it. More likely the statement was altered from the original because, well, people might get the "wrong" impression. Up to this point in the play the audience has seen quite vividly "John the Baptist" plunging folks under the water when they believed his message. Couple that with the possibility that some folks read what the Bible says and they might come away with the notion that there's water in the plan. They might read that Jesus said, "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned" (Mark 16:16). Or others like, "Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38)… "Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name" (Acts 22:16)…"For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Galatians 3:27)…"Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you-not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience-through the resurrection of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:21). Get the picture? Baptism is part of our required response so that we can be saved, not an addition to it at the time of one's choosing.

 

            It should come as no surprise that people take liberalities with the text of Scripture under the guise of poetic or literary license. It’s not right but it’s been done for years in dramatic productions. Sometimes the writers may claim it was necessary for the flow of the story. But in the instance related above this was about doctrine. The doctrine of the New Testament did not flow with the doctrine of those putting on the production. So some critical words of Jesus end up on the cutting room floor.

            Just before Jesus went to the cross he prayed to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Truth says that a thing is or it is not. It says there are absolutes. It says that some beliefs and behaviors are absolutely right and some are absolutely wrong. Truth says some things are timeless and unchanged. You don’t get to mess with them. And that's just not very palatable to an "enlightened" culture or a modern church whose system of doctrine or code of ethics most resembles Israel of old when, "Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25).

            Authors often get irritated when people mess with their scripts. That's even more true when that author is God and when the script is the Scriptures.

 

God bless you,

Brad Fry