Who Writes Your Story?

I would imagine that many are quite familiar with 2nd Timothy chapter 1, verse 7 - but the following verses address our boldness in Christ. We can read these words in that chapter:
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
10 but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
11 to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

Today on The Meeting House, you will hear stories of people who have exhibited confidence in their lives, a confidence that is rooted in their relationship with Jesus Christ.  We can allow other people or the world to define us and begin to think less of ourselves than God intends.  Or we can allow Him to give us confidence - in our salvation and what it means, as well as how our Savior desires for us to live. He has given us a testimony and the boldness to share it. 

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Everybody's got a story, right? And, we have to make sure that we are crafting a story that brings honor to God and is a testimony to His faithfulness. We find an incident in the book of Luke chapter 8 that portrays a man who has been set free and how he responded:
36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.
37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.
38 Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

I would imagine it seemed like a good idea at the time - take a famous Broadway musical, stage it at a church, add some Christian lyrics, and viola - it's an effective outreach.

Except the presentation had some trouble making it out of the starting blocks.  After the first performance, the Door Christian Fellowship Ministries received a notice directing it to refrain any future presentations of the musical, Hamilton, according to The Christian Post. 

The article says that, "In a statement..., the team behind the musical said it "does not grant amateur or professional licenses for any stage productions and did not grant one to The Door Church."  The team stated:

"On Saturday, August 6, we were made aware of the unauthorized staging of HAMILTON by The Door Church in McAllen, TX that took place on Friday, August 5, and their plans for additional performances," the team continued.

"We issued a cease and desist letter for the unauthorized use of Hamilton's intellectual property, demanding the immediate removal of all videos and images from previous productions from the internet, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, their own website, and elsewhere."

But, at least someone at the church believed there was some sort of "license" to perform the revised musical, or told the pastor that one existed; the Post reported, "Senior Pastor Ramon Gutierrez said during a Sunday service that the church received a 'license' to perform the play. However, the team behind the play assured that licenses for the musical were not made available. Gutierrez acknowledged that the church was contacted by a lawyer from the 'Hamilton' team and instructed to remove the videos online."  He did say that they complied, and the attorney allowed them to go through with the Saturday performance.  No recording was allowed.

And, some changes were made by the church - and I would have hoped the language in the musical was cleaned up. The New York Times reported that "most" of the profanity was removed. The Christian Post story said:

A video of the performance posted online shows that the church made script changes to include references to Jesus Christ. According to video posted to social media, Hamilton is asked to pray and receive Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.

According to My San Antonio, Pastor Victor Lopez made an alter call after the play concluded in which he allegedly said that "maybe you struggle with alcohol, with drugs, with homosexuality, maybe you struggle with other things in life, your finances, whatever, God can help you tonight. He wants to forgive you for your sins."

Looks like the blogger known as the "Friendly Atheist" was loading clips to social media.  CBSNews.com reported:

Podcaster and author Hemant Mehta was the first to tweet video clips of the performance, which showed altered lyrics in one of the musical's original numbers, "The World Was Wide Enough."

In the original version of the song, the actor portraying Alexander Hamilton sings: "What is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see. I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me."

In the video snippet Mehta posted, however, Door McAllen changed the lyrics in its performance to: "What is a legacy? It's knowing that you repented and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ that sets men free. You sent your sinless son of man on Calvary to die for me!"

The New York Times also quoted from Mehta, who also highlighted changes made in the songs, "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story," and "That Would Be Enough."

But did Hamilton embrace Christianity?  Was Jesus indeed, as the "revised" version of the play the Savior of his life?  A God Reports article provides some evidence, including examples from the book, Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow, that inspired the musical. Chernow wrote, "Hamilton thought Christianity formed the basis of all law and morality ..."  The article continues:

In 1802, Alexander and his wife, Eliza, purchased a country home they called The Grange, which allowed Hamilton to spend more time with his children. On Sunday mornings they gathered in the garden to sing hymns and Hamilton read the Bible aloud to his family. He also spoke to his wife about his desire to build a chapel on the property.

“It is striking how religion preoccupied Hamilton during his final years,” Chernow noted in his book.

Following his duel with rival Aaron Burr, in which he was mortally wounded, Hamilton reached out to the clergy:

On his deathbed, Hamilton asked to receive communion from Rev. Benjamin Moore, the rector of Trinity Church, the Episcopal bishop of New York, and the president of Columbia College. Shockingly, Rev. Moore refused, because he hated the practice of dueling and because Hamilton had not been a regular churchgoer.

In misery and despair, Hamilton turned to a friend, Rev. John M. Mason, the pastor of Scotch Presbyterian Church. Astonishingly, he also declined the request, saying his church had a principle “never to administer the Lord’s Supper privately to any person under any circumstances.”

Then Dr. Mason explained that the Lord’s Supper is not a requirement for salvation and he clearly communicated God’s plan of salvation to the dying man. Hamilton said he had not requested the Lord’s Supper as a means of obtaining heaven, and then testified:

“I am a sinner. I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Interestingly enough, while the author of the Hamilton bio included elements of his religious faith, that seems to have been largely edited out of the musical.  So, who's actually guilty of revising the script?  Just a thought.

I do want to think about this question, who writes your story?  That's based on the title of one of the songs in the musical, in which the late Hamilton's wife, Eliza, reflects on her devotion to her husband and his work and legacy.  She is intent on controlling the narrative and carrying out the things he believed in.   We have to careful to control our own narrative, by giving people something to talk about, by leaving a legacy of faith and trustworthiness.  And, the central "act" of our personal story has to do with our allowing Jesus to come into our lives.

And, just an aside - a church doesn't have the right to use copyrighted material just because it thinks it ought to. That goes for song lyrics and for showing movies.  There are licenses, and those ensure that the people who contributed get the proper payment for their creative products.  We have to make sure we're not sloppy in doing the work of the Lord and make sure we are following the proper guidelines.