During the medieval times, the Church is thought to be an influence on the growth of theatre. People were allowed to dramatise biblical stories as part of the liturgy. But the church later banned theatre to protect its morals. During the renaissance, there was a slow shift away from religious dramas toward non-religious subjects and with that dramas became more secular.
Drama is a very important and powerful tool that is used to teach the basic stories in the bible and to demonstrate church teachings and the path to salvation for easy assimilation, relatability and practicality for the congregants. Life itself is drama and yet there are dramas within the teachings of the Bible.
The Bible contains many scenes and stories and parables full of imagery and metaphors. Jesus demonstrated humility to his disciples who argued which of them would be the greatest using this short imagery and drama. “Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.”Luke 9:47-48
The world is witnessing drama not only repulsive but an aberration of what God wants taught as contained in the bible.
Christianity is becoming a joke and at the same time unrecognisable even as many people are enchanted with secularism. So much is happening that has left the people watching with confusion.
Is there still spirituality in the church or more dramas that questions if this is still the way of Christ?
In an attempt to apply imagery and drama just like Jesus, and the early church, dramas in the churches have become extreme which tend to lead people astray.
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We read with consternation how about 50 people were urged to starve to death in Kenya. They were made to believe they would go to heaven and meet Jesus if they starved themselves to death.
Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights and did not fast himself to death. Yet, he was tempted by Satan.
Sometime ago, news got out that a South African preacher told his congregation to eat grass in order to be closer to God. Another religious leader in South Africa also performed a “resurrection” miracle in which he supposedly raised a dead man.
There are so many theatrics employed in the name of imagery and metaphor and drama and attempting to imitate Jesus and at best play god.
Christianity is being abused with these theatrics and that calls to question the mental sanity of these church leaders and their followers. This is better explained as people feeding off the vulnerability of many people who are in search of miracles and spiritual connection with God.
Jesus in Mt 715-16 said, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them…”
If people are able to recognise good and bad trees by their fruits, they will not willingly submit their minds to such manipulations. But ‘one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.’ Yet, Jesus warns, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”
To stop these menace, Rwanda’s government once closed thousands of churches and dozens of mosques. President Paul Kagame was shocked by the high number of churches. He said, “700 churches in Kigali? Are these boreholes that give people water? I don’t think we have as many boreholes. Do we even have as many factories? This has been a mess!”
Even though Mr. Kagame’s expression was not solely about the menace of manipulation but the proposed legislation at the time aimed to regulate faith-based organisations that would require pastors to have a theology degree so that they teach correct doctrine.
These uneducated preachers who wake up and claim to receive calling, start a church and begin these dramas, to captivate, hypnotise, entertain and manipulate people for some economic purposes and otherwise. They contribute to the rising social decadence and lack of spirituality which leads to the growing distrust of Christianity.
Christianity as a religion condones a lot of these dramas. It should not be the time of leaving ‘weeds and the wheat grow together until the harvest time’ but like Jesus, ‘He made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.’ If this measure is not used, many souls would be lost than won.
The church is the hope for salvation and not for graphic, gory dramas filled with death.
Photo credit: youthjournalism.org