Memorize your Script(ures)

In the fall, our pastor preached a sermon where he encouraged us to write “gospel scripts.” To him, a gospel script was a list of verses and stories of God’s faithfulness, meant to be memorized to the point of reflexive memory. For example, he wrote a gospel script about God as Provider, and memorizing it made truth-telling an automatic response when faced with financial crises. And he wouldn’t even feel stressed! 

I was so moved by this that I started writing gospel scripts. I based each one on a characteristic of God that I struggled to have confidence in, like God is Kind. 

Then I memorized it. Then I started memorizing more Scripture in general; I started memorizing James. And it has changed me. On a daily basis, sudden verses will come to mind, and I will know to show kindness or stop working or hold my tongue. 

Simultaneously, I’ve been auditioning as per usual. And the back-and-forth of memorizing verses in the morning and production scripts in the afternoon helped me to see how theater truths applied to our faith. And I’ve been reflecting on two things. 

First, scripts are essential guidelines. It tells you everything you need to know about the “who” you’re playing. Actors study how their character is described as well as what their character says, since dialogue reveals personality and voice. The script is full of information for the part you play.

Likewise, we study Scripture to know who we are — our shortcomings and the redeemed life we are meant to live. The Bible is a script for who we are and who we are becoming.

Second, actors have to memorize lines in order to act. If they don’t know the words, they can’t properly inhabit a character. They’ll get stuck just trying to conjure the right lines instead of being present. When the words are second nature, the actor is free to play – to amuse, to reason, to fight their way through a scene. Without memorization, there can be no acting.

Similarly, if God’s truth isn’t embedded in us, our brains just get stuck trying to remember. At best, we may remember a vague sense of a concept that is said somewhere in the Bible and may be applicable to our lives. But when we know God’s truth like second nature, it takes no time or effort to remember. We know. And we know how to act next.

The script is the foundation. The lines are essential. There can be no play without memorizing it.

What if we treated Scripture in the same way? What if we knew we couldn’t “be” or “act” without God’s truth as a guide? I think we would live transformed lives!

Maybe it’s time to write a gospel script. What attribute of God do you struggle to believe? What about Him do you need to commit to memory, so that you can be transformed?

Maybe God as Sovereign will remind you not to be anxious, or God as All-Powerful will help you slow down and rest. 

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is good! So let’s use the equipment we were given. Let’s make it reflexive; second nature. Memorize your script!