Improv Jesus: Representing Christ in Everyday Moments

Improv Jesus

When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," He was inviting them to pray for something radical in the ordinary, the life of Heaven breaking into the ordinary moments of our everyday lives.  

I would pray that prayer before my son's youth baseball games where I was the coach. "Father, your kingdom come on earth, in my coaching, as it is in heaven." It was my way of acknowledging that all of life, even youth baseball, belongs to Jesus.

Arguing with an umpire 

Later in that game, I called timeout and walked out to question the umpire on a call I thought he missed. As I approached the teenage boy behind the plate, I could see the stress on his face. Parents in the stands were letting him have it. I felt compassion. I smiled and said, "You're doing a great job." He looked confused but relieved. "Parents don't realize how hard this is." We both kind of laughed as we could hear the yelling from the stands. I told him if he was confident in his call, I trusted him. If not, would he mind checking with the other umpire? He checked. They kept the original call. I gave him a thumbs up and said, "Thanks for asking!"

Nobody in the bleachers was thinking that heaven came down to earth in that moment. But for me, it was an answer to prayer. It was kingdom-baseball, anger and anxiety turned to peace and joy through obeying Jesus's command to love your umpire as yourself.

Here's the thing: I've never seen Jesus argue with an umpire. But I know enough about Him to have an idea of how it would go down. In that moment, I felt confident I could faithfully improv Jesus.

Improv 

Have you ever played improv? You're given a character and a situation, and the challenge is to act out the scene based on what you know about that character. I remember doing this with students during my time in youth ministry. The character: Captain Jack Sparrow. The situation: visiting our youth group for the first time. The improv was hilarious and surprisingly accurate! Even though none of us had ever watched Jack Sparrow walk into a youth group, the student's knowledge of the character made a faithful improv possible.

I think that's a helpful picture for how we're called to live as disciples of Jesus. Every day we walk into situations like, tense conversations at the dinner table, frustrated customers on the phone, an email to our kid's teacher, small talk with the checkout person at Fry's, and the Christ who lives in us gives us everything we need to faithfully represent Him in those moments. Paul reminds us that we are the temple of God, that His Spirit dwells in us. Jesus isn't watching from the sidelines while we figure it out alone. He's with us, guiding us, empowering us, producing His character in us through His Spirit.

Who are you improvising?

But here's the question we have to ask ourselves honestly: Who are you improvising? Sometimes, without realizing it, we're not actually improvising Jesus. We're improvising a boss we admire, a parent who shaped us, a cultural figure we're influenced by, or a version of ourselves we're trying to protect. We show up in the world as an image of someone other than the image of God. The better we know Jesus, not just facts about Him, but His grace, truth, compassion, courage and humility the more faithfully we can represent Him when it matters.

That's why we soak in the gospels. That's why we process life in community with other disciples. That's why we learn to be led by the Spirit through spiritual disciplines. So that when the moment comes, we're ready.

Planting his flag in the ground

We sometimes say at Redemption that our next big event is Monday, when the people of God scatter into every area of ordinary life and represent Jesus to a world that needs Him. I want to challenge you to see your ordinary Monday that way. Every conversation. Every decision. Every interaction. An opportunity for the kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.

And in every moment where Jesus is faithfully represented, whether it's on a pitcher's mound with a teenage umpire or in a hard conversation with someone you love, picture yourself planting a flag in the ground and proclaiming: Jesus reigns here!