The Preaching Life: Shepherds, Angels, Cows . . . Oh My!

by Rob Prince

Christmas time and special dramatic programs seem go together like egg and nog, jingle and bells. We sure seem to love it when the preacher doesn’t preach, and the kids, teens, or choir members dress in their bathrobes, pretending to be shepherds. There’s nothing like a children’s program to bring out the grandparents and video cameras.

While less preaching may bring shouts of “glory” from some bored congregations, and pews full of those watching the junior thespians is certainly good for the year-end denominational pastor’s report, it might not always be a welcome excursion for the preacher. There are dangers, especially if the preacher has children.

In a children’s program several years ago, my youngest cherub, Ben, was experiencing his very first Christmas program at our brand new church. That year the four-year-olds were dressed as animals and angels for the nativity scene: no lines to memorize, no songs to sing. Standing around and looking cute was the extent of the required acting skills.

The director knew Ben was no angel. She made him dress as a cow. He was a cute cow, a fine cow, a rambunctious cow. Maybe he should have been a sheep. About midway through the performance, Ben and a fellow cow decided the horns on their costumes were there for a reason. In a very cow-like manner, they began to ram each other. Upon noticing the cows were butting heads, a shepherd, in a very shepherd-like manner, took exception and tried to stop them. What followed was nothing short of a barnyard brawl. Cows were running, sheep were crying, and the shepherds—pretending that their staffs were AK-47s—were attempting to put down the rebellious uprising in a fury of make-believe bullets and not so make-believe noises. The angels no longer were sweetly singing o’er the plains.

Our quiet, quaint little nativity scene never recovered. The director was horrified. The congregation was confirmed in their pre-conceived notions of dreaded preachers’ kids. And, while the preacher in me wished the brouhaha was started by a layman’s kid, the parent in me thought it was the funniest nativity scene ever. One fine layman, a farmer by trade, tried to encourage me on his way out of the service, “Don’t worry pastor, I’ve had some rowdy cows just like your boy. Come to think of it, I’d say that was the most realistic nativity scene I’ve ever seen (except for the Rambo shepherds).”

Of course, a preacher-parent could avoid such calamities by simply not handing the services over to the elf-sized congregants and their video-taping family members. If the people must see acting, then let the preacher dress in a bathrobe and portray a shepherd. I know one preacher who does just that. Unfortunately (or fortunately), he was at his last church for so long that he did every imaginable Christmas character, and then some. Since I know this preacher well (truth be told it’s my big brother), in fine little brother fashion, I have informed him that the only character he hasn’t done is the one he’s most qualified to perform—Mary’s “ride” to Bethlehem. To which he responded: “Hee haw!” Obviously, farm animal impersonators run in my family.

If your acting repertoire doesn’t include shepherds, wise men, or farm animals, then my advice is simple: stick to preaching. You weren’t called to be the next Billy Bob Thornton, but you might have been called to be the next Billy Graham. So preach. If your church must have children’s programs, teen plays, and choir musicals then smile, nod, sing and when given the opportunity to preach—give it all you got! Even with all the special programs, there will still be a couple of Sundays to proclaim the Great News that Jesus Christ is born. Thankfully, you don’t have to be dressed in your bathrobe to do it.

Rob Prince is the senior pastor of Central Church of the Nazarene in Lenexa, Kansas.