Playing The Part and Playing It Well

Most truly great actors spend a great deal of time preparing for the roles they play -- beyond just memorizing their lines. They seek to truly understand the character they are playing, whether it's an historical figure or a fictional one.

Some may meet with the real-life person they are portraying, some may study a certain profession or do some on-the-job training to gain insight into a fictional character. Tom Hanks met with one of his childhood heroes, Jim Lovell, before playing him in Apollo 13. Meryl Streep is known for being a perfectionist when it comes to preparing for a role, no matter how big or small the role or the film.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are called to live out the role of Christ in this world. We are called to be the hands and feet of our Savior, to be light in a dark world. That is a big role to play. It is the biggest and most demanding role that any of us will ever play in our lives. And as believers, we will play that role for the rest of our days until the Lord calls us home.

In order to play that role, we must know the person we are portraying. We must know Jesus Christ. I doubt that we could give a truly convincing performance if we only know about Him. We must go deeper than that. Much deeper. Who was He? How did he treat others? In those intimate, one-on-one moments with people He encountered, what did He do? How did He look? What did He say?

It can be so tempting to trust in our personal experiences to prepare us for the privilege of playing the role of Christ in this world. To trust in what we've seen others do, to trust in what we've heard others say, to trust in what we've read in books written by other men and women trying to play the same role we've been called to play.

Don't get me wrong -- there is absolute merit in learning from others. But ultimately, these are second-hand sources. The personal biases they bring to the performance may taint the accuracy to which they truly reflect the original character. Or, our personal biases may prevent us from discerning what is true to the original character and what is a reflection of the actor's own character.

In an interview with USA Today in 2002, Streep was asked if she were able to transform her life experiences into her work. "No," said the Academy Award-winning actor. "If I go and pull something up that's part of my own personal pain, I'm not in charge of where it takes me."

In The Real Deal, we will be studying the person of Jesus. As we study His character, we will become better prepared to be Him in the lives of those around us. An actor's worst fear may be that he or she become "typecast" -- the cinematic community and moviegoers in general cannot see him or her as any other type of character. What an honor it would be to be "typecast" as a reflection of Jesus Christ by the people in our lives -- believers and non-believers alike. What an honor it would be for people to see us or think of us and think of us in no other role than that of a follower of Him.

Now, that's what I call being the real deal.