Weekend Worship— Don’t be Afraid of Red on White

“Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?” Luke 14:34

This weekend I’ve been privileged to be on staff at the first annual Lightning Bug Literary Festival in Canton, Mississippi. This has been an amazing experience in many ways, but one of the highlights has been the faculty I’ve gotten to serve with. I’ve known several of them for years, but others are now new friends. I had time to sneak into a few of their workshops and have come away refreshed and reenergized by what I’ve heard. I was particularly impacted by the insights of filmmaker Brian Bird.

Today Brian shared how to create likeable characters, and one of the things he emphasized was how vital it is to create characters with flaws. He gave this analogy; if you have a white screen, and you throw beige paint on it, there’s not much that stands out. But if you take the same white screen and throw red paint on it, things get interesting. Painting a character beige is easier, but also leaves the reader with forgettable stories.

As he continued this teaching point, it was like God reached down and tapped me on the shoulder. I could almost hear His voice whisper into my soul. Protect against blending in, instead be bold and let your faith stand out.

I immediately began to revisit the things that have recently come up in my life; looking for areas I’d chosen comfort instead of contrast. I’m sorry to say I’ve let beige slip into my life, choosing to blend in at times when I should have been standing strong.  But I intend to take this lesson to heart, making a conscious effort to be bold, and never allowing what God has done become forgettable.