Rent, the Musical.....A Christian's point of view....

I probably should have made this post part 2 of a post I published a few months ago, but chose not to.  It may also be one of my least well written (English wise).  Now, let me ask you a question.  Have you ever seen the play or the movie, Rent?  I have always wanted to see it, not having a clue about the storyline. 

A few months ago my youngest son said, "Mom, I am auditioning for the musical Rent at our local playhouse in the park."  I was thrilled.  He came to me one evening about a week later and said, "Sit down.  I am going to show you the play."  And that he did.  We had several interruptions and I didn't actually watch it all, but was left with a terribly uneasy feeling after watching it.  I just couldn't quite figure out why.  

I have since watched the movie and things which might have been unclear were better understood, but knew by then why the uneasiness.  My knot in the stomach was due to the seemingly hopeless feeling the characters seem to portray. 

As I write this post, the play only has three days left to view for our community.  Last week, just before opening night, my son asked me to come by and see a little of their run-through.  I was greatly impressed with the talent found in a small town! 

Now, why would I talk about this musical in a Christian blog post?  If you have seen the musical and read most of my previous posts.....you probably understand.  The musical puts Christianity to shame.  Now, at first glance, many Christians would proclaim the musical to be absolutely sacrilegious, BUT WAIT!

The main characters of the musical are: a gay couple, a lesbian couple, a stripper, drug abusers, homeless and oh yeah, almost all of the characters have HIV.  The musical also has a priest (or liturgical pastor) and multiple people who are doing well financially, but those people turn their nose up at the main characters.  (After an HIV death the priest won't allow the funeral in the church, because they can't pay for it.)

For me, the really bad part of this situation is that these events surround.....Christmas!  The time of year when Christians are celebrating the birth of our savior, Jesus,.....you know the man who LOVED all men?  He loved so much that He died for everyone. 

Christmas.  A time for gift giving and loving our fellow man.  So how can we, as God's children, just cast the homeless, the hungry, the disease ridden, hurting people of our society away?  Shouldn't Christians be THE VERY FIRST people to reach out to all people, especially the ones who need it the most?  We, as Christians, should be the ones who see everyone through the eyes of God!

If you live in Calloway county and have the time, please check out this musical tomorrow, Friday or Saturday, (April 23-25, 2015) at the Playhouse in the Park, 8 p.m. each evening.  I URGE Christians to attend and let God speak to your heart about how YOU can make a difference in the lives of ALL people around you daily.  Do not look at the outward appearance of a person, but get to know their heart.  Do not let your fellow human beings go through another day without hope and feeling unloved.  We are the hands and feet of our God.....so GO and DO!  Shalom!