by Andre Harden
Four youth leaders meet to plan their evangelism drive, but find it hard to get on the same wave length.
Gary
Jack
Jane
Bill
GARY
Well, as you know we have our
evangelism week coming up and we
need to co-ordinate our efforts and
make this the best evangelism week
ever.
JACK
Yeah, um, didn't we agree we'd call
it discipleship week this year? Um,
just to, you know clarify, exactly
what it is we're all about.
GARY
Yeah, um, I don't remember that we
agreed. Discipleship sounds so ...
cultish and evangelism does mean
"good news" - and it's pretty
evangelical.
JANE
It's neither here nor there gentlemen;
call it what you will; the fact of
the matter is that this is "Get Them"
week, and we are going to "Get Them",
every last one of them.
GARY
That's a good point, Jane. Yup. I
think that's a good attitude to have,
now I was thinking, trying to come
up with some sort of stunt to, uh
kick the whole thing off, you know.
Uh, some sort of big thing that says -
"Hey good news!" and then ... uh
whatever we follow that up with.
JACK
Yeah, um ... I was kind of thinking
we could get a little tough this
year. There's lots of people, lots
of young people, reaping what they
sow - all they need is a little nudge
a little point to the error of their
ways and - bang - they could see a
little wisdom in changing their
lifestyle.
JANE
My youth group is prepared to
lead the first wave. We've got ten
boxes of Chick tracts - and you should
see these babies. Yay big - little
comic books more entertaining than
Seinfeld - occult, fornication,
alcaholism, homsexuality - you name
it - they bash it and bash it good.
End times are coming and people got
to know - judgement day - everybody's
gonna see everything they ever did.
Bad, bad. Gotta get out the Chick
tracts.
A beat.
GARY
Okay, now ... that sounds, um ...
pretty intense and uh, I'm not too
sure how that's going to go over. I
mean, I know these kids, and uh,
they're some of them pretty
opinionated and uh, I don't know
they'd like that kind of approach.
JACK
Yeah, that's pretty bent, Jane --
and I say that in love. But to get
back to what I was talking about
with the nudges - our kids have such
great testimonies about all the stuff
they used to be doing, and now they're
clean and they feel better - and uh,
everybody wants to feel better, right,
and the "good news" Gary, is that we
can - if we discipline oursleves to
God's commandments.
GARY
Okay, I like the feel better, I think
that's a keeper - but uh ... I know
some of our kids they're uh, well,
they uh still got some struggles you
know and uh, they're not so clean as
we all might like. I don't know if
they could really point to where
they're at as the place to come be.
And, and, I'm not just talking about
the blah, blah stuff we all conceal
from each other, I'm talking about
some visible failings.
JANE
These are ... kids in your youth group?
GARY
Yeah ... nice kids but ...
JANE
There is a film you should play for
them. It so clearly portrays the
nefarious schemes of the antichrist;
it is a decision maker! No one wants
to be left behind, gentlemen. We
play it once a month just to encourage
obedience.
JACK
I'm sorry - but the day I would scare
my youth group - is far away. These
kids need an honest choice - not the
freakshow sincerity you're offering.
Believe "this" or else. You're
appealing to fear, not reason, and I
do love you, Jane. But what kids
need is the simple truth, you're
feeling bad, feeling down, snap out
of it! God loves you, stop being
such an ingrate. Open your eyes,
look at what you've been doing to
yourself, accept the blame, give it
to Christ, and dooo better.
GARY
Okay ... um ...
(Bill enters.)
BILL
Hi all. Sorry I'm late.
GARY
Hey Bill, how you doing?
JACK
Bill.
JANE
Bill.
BILL
Jack. Jane.
JANE
We waited ten minutes for you before
starting. A phone call would have
been nice.
BILL
I'm sorry. I was talking to one of my
youth leaders.
(beat)
What does it take for them to realise
that you can't sleep around when
you're a member of the youth ministry
team?
A beat.
GARY
Uh ... hmm. Uh. We were just talking
about evangelis--
JACK
Discipleship week.
JANE
We got a bunch of great tracts.
BILL
Kids just want to be loved so bad
they don't think ahead and see what
might be out there. I mean, this
kid has been in the youth group for
three years, I would have said she
was the strongest Christian in the
group. I mean, uh, her and her
boyfriend have been together for two
years. They love each other and
just ... decided to do it. And ...
I can totally relate to the problem
as she described it. Sometimes you
just don't feel loved and you need
to create the feeling in whatever
way you can.
(beat)
She comes from a lousy home. Her
parents do not love her. And, I
guess, she came to feel that nobody
really loved her. I mean, in her
head she knew we loved her but that
didn't make her "feel" loved. And
everybody wants to feel loved.
GARY
Yeah, uh ... I don't want to shift
gears too quick here, Bill, but uh,
we're trying to think of some big
event, some big - I don't know -
some big stunt or something that we
could do to kick off the whole shabang.
You got any ideas there?
BILL
I don't know. Walk down the street
naked?
JACK
Bill, if you can't be serious, maybe
you should just pray quietly.
JANE
Isaiah did that.
JACK
What?
JANE
Isaiah, the prophet, he walked down
the street naked for three years.
JACK
What? So Isaiah's your role model?
He didn't convert anybody. Whole
country went to Babylon, so let's
just stay in the New Testament, okay?
JANE
I didn't say old testament, he did.
I think we should preach Revelation,
all the way!
JACK
Peter is the man. Or Paul. Paul
said, imitate me. So let's do it,
and preach repentance and conversion.
GARY
Can't we just be more accepting here -
I mean, where do we draw the line
between who's repented and who hasn't
and how do we maintain relationships
if we dropping ultimatums? I'm just
speaking theoretically. I mean,
what do we need from these people?
JACK
We should have the same criteria.
JANE
That would be very helpful if we're
really going to work together here.
BILL
When I feel alone, I need someone to
be with me. When I feel guilty, I
need someone to forgive me. When
I'm suffering, I need comfort. When
I'm sad, I need joy.
(beat)
Maybe we should call this thing Love
Week.
A beat.
JACK
Well ... wasn't your whole thing
about the girl about how nobody even
really knows what Love is anymore?
I think if we're going to name this
thing we better call it something
that everybody can get a handle on -
We got to be on the same page here
Bill, or uh, everybody's gonna be
running around, pel mel, doing
whatever the spirit leads. And we're
accountable for it! We got to keep
control of these guys and discipline
is the very thing for that.
JANE
Fear gives you control, gentlemen.
And everyone's afraid of something!
Fear Week, Repent or Burn Week.
Open the gates and herd them in.
These tracts I got are soul magnets!
GARY
But what about our relationships!
What are willing to risk here! I
mean, really, we want to save these
folks, sure, but us, what are we
willing to risk here! And uh, who's
gonna have to pick up the pieces if
we fail!?
Freeze
The End
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