BACK PRIDE 5'?m2f Discipleship, The cure for pride: ministry LIZ -- (enters carrying suitcase, crosses to C, looks around, shouts) Amy?! AMY -- (enters opposite carrying clipboard) Elizabeth! I'm almost surprised to see you. I thought you might chicken out. LIZ -- I almost did. But I gathered up my courage and decided to go through with it. I'm going to conquer my prideful behavior once and for all. AMY -- You know it won't be easy conquering your pride. LIZ -- (sighs) I know. But my pride has been keeping me from being useful to God. But not anymore. I am absolutely determined to rid myself of pride, no matter what it takes! AMY -- Excellent! So, what's in the suitcase? LIZ -- I'm all packed and ready to go. AMY -- Ready to go... where? LIZ -- Well, I assumed that you were going to send me to a cloistered convent. AMY -- A cloistered convent. LIZ -- Yes, you know, where they don't let you communicate with one another? AMY -- I know what a cloistered convent is. But that's not what I had in mind for you. LIZ -- Well, of course it is! Where else will I be able to concentrate full time on making myself a better person? AMY -- Well, actually, of all places I could send you to solve your pride problem, a cloistered convent would be the last. LIZ -- You're kidding. AMY -- No. LIZ -- Where are you going to send me? To a retreat? AMY -- No. Isolation is the last thing a prideful person should use to correct his problem. LIZ -- I don't understand. AMY -- The sin of pride is the overemphasis on yourself. Isolating yourself will allow you to concentrate on nothing but yourself. Doesn't that sound a little counterproductive? LIZ -- Oh. I never thought of that. Well, where are you sending me, then? AMY -- (reads clipboard, points) Well, first, I'm sending you to Mrs. Babbage's house. LIZ -- Mrs. Babbage?! You mean old lady Babbage?! AMY -- Yes. LIZ -- She's a cripple! AMY -- Yes. She is an invalid. LIZ -- How on earth am I going to cure my pride problem at the home of an invalid?! AMY -- (reads, points) I have you scheduled to clean her bathroom, change the sheets on her bed and do her laundry. LIZ -- You're kidding! AMY -- No. Then, (reads, points) I have you scheduled to do the dishes and clean the kitchen at Mr Carmichael's house. He's got almost a whole weeks worth of dishes in the sink. LIZ -- (drops suitcase) AMY -- Is something wrong? LIZ -- I came here to cure my pride problem! AMY -- Yes. LIZ -- How is cleaning toilets and scrubbing floors going to cure my pride problem?! AMY -- (scratches head) Actually, I'm not sure how it works. I just know that it works. LIZ -- I don't see any connection between doing grunt work and being less prideful. Am I missing something here?! AMY -- All I know is that the more Christians serve one another, the less prideful they become. LIZ -- So, in order to solve my pride problem, I have to turn into a scullery maid from a Dickens novel! AMY -- The idea is not to lower yourself, but to raise the value of others. By cleaning their surroundings, you make Mrs Babbage and Mr Carmichael feel better about themselves. By lifting their burden, you lift them. LIZ -- And by lifting them, I get blisters on my fingers and callouses on my knees. That's humbling?! AMY -- Well, you're a Christian. You have a choice. LIZ -- A choice. AMY -- You can humble yourself the easy way.... LIZ -- Working like a dog is the easy way?! AMY -- OR God will humble you the hard way. LIZ -- The hard way. AMY -- Humbling from others is called humiliation. Do you know how prideful people accept humiliation? LIZ -- Not very gracefully. Alright. I'll do it. I'll clean Mrs Babbage's bathroom and laundry and I'll clean Mr Carmichael's kitchen. But just how long do I have to keep this humbling stuff going? AMY -- For the rest of your life. LIZ -- For the rest of my life?! AMY -- Have you ever wondered why the Lord doesn't use you more? LIZ -- Well, sure. He doesn't seem to use me at all. AMY -- The Lord can't use you if he's competing against you. LIZ -- Oh, that hurts! That really hurts! AMY -- It hurts. But is it untrue? LIZ -- (sighs) No. That's what pride is, isn't it? It's competing with God. I suppose that if God let people see that He was blessing me, they would think that it's okay to be self-involved and prideful. AMY -- Can you see how being a scullery maid from a Dickens novel will help? LIZ -- Of course! It's not going to be easy being prideful on my hands and knees. (picks up suitcase, exits) I suppose that while I'm on my knees I could pray a little too, huh? AMY -- (follows) In that case, I'll cancel your reservation at the convent. ©2008 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it. Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances. You may reproduce and distribute this script freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org email: bob@bobsnook.org BACK |