Church, Naked pictures and Poor Planning

There are times when our best attempts to present a polished look at God fail in tremendous and hilarious ways. Yesterday was one of those times.

Our church is beginning a series called, DNA of Grace: uncovering the genealogy of Jesus. To kick off the series, we decided to present the first lesson with a drama based loosely on Mark Twain’s, Diary of Adam and Eve.

Up on the stage, Toby, Nate Nicholls, and I sat on black stools facing the church, ready to begin this depiction of the interactions between God, Adam, and Eve. We began the piece with hilarious moments when Adam and Eve discover each other and try to determine each other’s animal type, moving toward their exploration of the garden and creation. As we were speaking, I began to notice that people weren’t necessarily watching us, but were keeping an eye on the projector screen behind us at the back of the stage. Quickly glancing back, I noticed a picture of a beautiful green landscape and gave a quick thought of appreciation to my friend, Margie, for creating an Eden-esque backdrop for our drama.

As we progressed through the skit, I began to get concerned when people seemed to giggle when God was reprimanding Adam, or look embarrassed at the ground when Eve was cracking a joke; I wondered if the piece wasn’t as well written as we thought.

Finally, the sketch ended and Toby gave his conclusion, trying to salvage what remained from an obviously confused and amused audience. It wasn’t until afterward, that we learned the cause of the congregation’s diverted attention.

Soon into the start of the sketch, the laptop that had been used earlier to display songs and announcements, fell into the screen saver mode and began to share pictures from Margie’s personal photo album. Because the show began with a few pictures of landscape, people assumed this was part of the presentation. Quickly, however, the images shifted to a series of Adam and Eve portraits that had been turned down because of their semi-nude depictions. From there, the computer pulled up a folder of her “rejected family photos”, and began sharing them with the world. There were photos of her mimicking a Buddha in Hong Kong, playing with her family, making faces in a foreign graveyard, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, and other decidedly embarrassing, captured moments. To make matters worse, random pictures were thrown in, including cartoons, a portrait of MC Hammer, and a woman in purple spandex that people mistakenly thought was me! Apparently, the montage continued for quite some time before ending when the computer went into sleep mode and relieved the audience with a blank screen.

Hysterically laughing at the thought of seriously sharing a Bible Story with a spontaneous slide show in the background, Toby and I debriefed some friends at church. Katie said, “I just assumed that it was supposed to be a part of the skit. I keep thinking, ‘Okay… this picture of Margie’s dad represents the many people who have come from Adam and Eve… and this picture of a bikini-clad, praying African woman are the various cultures that have emerged.’ But, I was confused when the picture of someone’s laundry hanging out to dry came up.”

Her husband responded, “I agree. I was following along until the shot of the four grandmas in their bathing suits. As the camera panned down their wrinkled legs, I couldn’t find the connection. Then, when the show ended I thought, ‘Wow, they ran out of pictures before the skit finished. Now, that’s poor planning.’”