Leading by Example
by Craig Castleberry
Scripture: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” I Corinthians 11: 1
Theme: As parents, we should always lead by example as Jesus Christ did.
Opening Scene: A mother is seen doing laundry, cooking, or any kind of household chore. The set should match what the mother is doing around the house.
SCENE I
(As mother is busy working at home, her child walks in with hair all messed up and maybe a black eye with make-up and they begin to talk)
Mother: (Looking shocked at her child’s hair) What happened? Did you get in some kind of fight? Look at your hair...and your eye!
Child: (Bows head down and begins to figure out a lie) Well, I was going outside to play and there were some robbers who were trying to get into our home, so I fought with them until they ran away.
Mother: Now where did you learn to lie like that? I will not listen to such lies. You are punished for a week and you can not play with any friends.
Child: But... (Mother interrupts)
Mother: I will not listen to another word until you are ready to tell the truth. Now go to bed right now and I will tell you when it is time for supper.
Child: But, the sun is still out!
Mother: Yes, and the sun is very disappointed, now go to bed!
Child: (Leaves upset and can either begin crying, stomp their feet, or anything else that will show anger)
Mother: (Starts back to her work when her cellular phone rings) Hello? Oh, hi Cheryl! What are you doing? (Pause) Well good. What am I doing? Well....I am at the (Pausing to make up something) grocery store(Pause). Which grocery store? (Pausing to think up another lie) I’m not sure. I walked in so fast I didn’t even see the sign. Will you look at these prices! This place is soooo expensive! Well, at least the meat is on sale (As she picks up an item in the house that is not meat but pretends like it is like maybe a hat or clock) Well, I better go because I don’t want my food to spoil. Great talking to you. (She closes her phone and talks out loud to herself). Why did she call and want to do something today? I have to make up something every week! I better go check and make sure (Name of Child) is in bed for telling those lies. (Mother exits the room)
Narrator: You get the feeling that the mother should have been put to bed as well. She didn’t want to do anything with her friend, so she just decided to lie. I really do wish she could have at least told us what store she was shopping at. Anyway, in this next scene, some bad words have been removed and replaced with the word “blankety blank” so that they can be heard in public. (A different culture might have a better replacement foul word such as blankety blank that would make more sense)
SCENE II
(Scene II opens with two chairs side by side and two more behind it to look like the seats of a car. If you have something that looks like a steering wheel or even real car seats, anything could enhance this scene. Two men are in the front and the father is driving while his son is sitting in the back seat. Another humorous approach might be to allow an adult to pretend to be a child as Ned.)
Craig: Thanks for driving, Scott. I love concerts! That was the best blankety blank band I have ever heard!!
Scott: (Holding a steering wheel and driving) I know it! And that blankety blank drummer was really incredible.
Craig: If I hear about another one of their blankety blank concerts, I will be there!
Scott: Alright Craig, but you are driving us in your blankety blank car next time.
Craig: I would be more than happy to next time, you blankety blank.
Scott: (Looking at his son in the back seat) Ned, what did you think of the concert?
Ned: They were really good, dad. I want to go again, too!
Scott: We’ll see. Alright, here we are.
Craig: Hey, thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow at work. (Craig pretends to open the door and waves as he gets out of the car)
Ned: Goodbye, Craig! Dad, can I ride up front?
Scott: Sure, son.
Ned: (Pretends to open the door, get out of the car, and then gets in where Craig was sitting and closes the door. For the sake of humor, you might want Ned to forget to close the door and then have is father remind him to close it)
Scott: Ned.
Ned: Yes, dad?
Scott: You forgot to close the door.
Ned: Ooops! (He reaches over and closes the door and Scott begins to drive again.
Scott: Well, I wonder if your mom will be awake when we get home.
Ned: I don’t think so, dad. It is pretty blankety blank late.
Scott: (Looking very shocked at his son’s foul words) Ned! You know better than to use that kind of language! Where in this world did you learn to talk like that? Wait until we get home and I tell your mother!
Ned: But, dad you... (Father interrupts)
Scott: Not another word until we get home and you will be sent to bed.
Ned: (Ned lowers his head in shame)
Narrator: It seems that Ned’s father is accustomed to using foul language at work, but is not aware that he does so in front of his son. Scott really needs to watch his blankety blank language around his son and everyone. What kind of problem do you have with your blankety blank language? We live by example. In this final scene, you will see a family watching television together in the comfort of their home.
SCENE III
(Scene III opens with a mother and father watching television together in their living room. The TV is not facing the audience so they can pretend to be watching a movie. The family can sit on chairs, a couch, or the children can even sit on the floor as some families do.)
Father: Did you see that? How did he get out of that one?
Mother: That was unbelievable!
Boy: I can’t believe that!
Girl: This movie has so much action! It is hard to keep up.
Father: Wait! Here comes another good part of the movie.
Boy: Who expected that?
Mother: This movie must have taken years to film.
Father: And millions and millions, too.
Boy: If I had millions, I wouldn’t make a movie.
Mother: What would you do with it all?
Boy: I’d buy a nice car.
Girl: You can’t even drive!
Father: Well, we could keep it safe until you can drive. Or even better, I could keep it running well and drive it everywhere until you were old enough.
Boy: (Sarcastically) Thanks, dad.
Mother: Well, the ending was sort of boring.
Girl: It’s probably because nothing exploded!
Father: Alright, the movie is over. It is bath time. That was a great movie!
Boy: It was, but didn’t the good guys kill people?
Father: Well, they did...but maybe they deserved it.
Girl: And they used those blankety blank words all of the time.
Mother: Well, I suppose they wanted to make sure everyone knew how excited they were.
Boy: Were those people who were hugging and kissing and loving on each other married?
Father: Well, maybe they were trying to see if it would work out like testing out a new car.
Girl: And why were they making fun of people who were poor?
Mother: Well...(Father interrupts)
Father: Alright, that’s enough! You two have ruined a perfectly good movie by asking too many questions. If you can’t watch a violent movie with good family values without asking a lot of questions, then we will just not let you watch them with us.
Mother: Alright kids, go get ready for a bath and then you will go to bed for ruining our good movie.
Boy/Girl: (They look at each other confused) What? I don’t understand!
Father: That was a great family movie, I don’t care what anyone says.
Narrator: These parents are not too concerned about what their children learn. It seems that the children could teach the parents what is right and what is wrong. If something exploded in their house, would they get excited? I doubt it. Are we ready to lead by example? Are we ready to live what we teach? If you want to see something explode, just look behind you. Just kidding.
THE END
Bible Study
In scripture, when do we tell people to follow our example?
It is only as we follow the example of Christ.
Can you name some bad examples in the news? That you have seen in town?
What are we willing to overlook and is it a good example?
© 2007 by Craig Castleberry