Study the Character to Best Portray Him

When an actor is cast in a role, it becomes his responsibility to study the character he is playing. The actor must not only deliver the lines from the script, but also the emotion and motivation that are behind those lines. My husband and son have just finished playing the parts of disciples in this season of a long-running Passion Play. They have been practicing for months for the performances of the last two weeks.

My husband, David, played the part of Thomas. Only a few verses are written in Scripture concerning Thomas. These verses state the fact that he was not with the other disciples when Jesus first appeared to them after the resurrection. Thomas refused to believe unless he saw Jesus and felt His wounds. This description of that one encounter has earned him the moniker “Doubting Thomas.” In order to properly play this role, David needed to consider the man behind the doubts.
Thomas was a man who was not in the right place when Christ reappeared after the resurrection. Even though the other disciples tried to tell him that Jesus had risen, Thomas needed visual and tactile proof as to Jesus’ resurrection. To understand Thomas, David considered how he must have felt being left out. He was upset, hurt and disillusioned. Could he have thought something was wrong with him that Jesus appeared to the others but not to him? Did he feel cheated that Jesus did not come in power to overthrow the Roman government and give him a seat of power in the new government Jesus set up? Did he simply feel that he had spent the last three years of his life believing in something that just really was not true? The anger, hurt, insecurity and reluctance to believe again were all rolled together to create David’s performance on stage. (He did a really good job at bringing all these out.)

“All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” William Shakespeare's words are often quoted. In many ways it is true about our Christian walk. The term Christian itself means “little Christ” and was given to followers of Jesus who were acting just like Him. “... For a whole year they assembled together with and were guests of the church and instructed a large number of people; and in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” (Acts 11:26 AMP) The difference in these disciples was apparent to those around. They were living the message that Paul and Barnabas were teaching. As followers of Christ, we also are living out a role before those around us. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:17 NLT) As ambassadors represent the country they are from, we also represent Jesus in all we do. “So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20 AMP) Do our actions make His appeal clear?

Many people know very little about Jesus Christ. They may have heard a few Bible stories. Unfortunately many have heard the name of Jesus Christ used more as a curse word, then the Son of the all-loving God who created this world and all that is in it. We must receive and give out the love of God in a manner that others will see the true nature of Jesus in our lives and wish to know more.

So how can we adequately become a representation of Jesus Christ to those we encounter every day? We need to consider and study His heart and motivation for all encounters with man. We know that love is not only behind the actions of Jesus, but is actually His very nature. The apostle John makes our role very clear concerning this. “He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love.” (1 John 4:8 AMP) We are to live our lives loving and giving, just as Jesus did. Forgiving, caring for the poor and downtrodden, and being full of thanks and praise are all pieces of the nature of Jesus Christ that is in and must come through us.

Jesus also considered each person He encountered in a manner that was unique to that person’s need. We need to take time to get to know the people we encounter. A host of emotions may have mixed to make Thomas the man he was on the day he refused to believe that Jesus had risen. There are experiences, backgrounds and beliefs that make each person respond a little differently when the gospel is told. We must take the time and put in the effort to get to know our audience. “…I have [in short] become all things to all men, that I might by all means (at all costs and in any and every way) save some [by winning them to faith in Jesus Christ].” (1 Corinthians 9:22 AMP) We do not compromise our portrayal of God’s truth and love, but rather we tailor it to the unique individual with which we are sharing.

As you walk onto the stage that today’s activity places you, portray the love of Christ to the best of your ability. Know the character of Jesus and present it well.