Jesus in Colorado Springs

While I was working in New Orleans, some of my colleagues were listening to a Mo Leverett live CD. Between spiritually laced folks songs, Mo argued that New Orleans was the kind of place where Jesus would hang out. I wish I remembered precisely what he said, but the gist was that Jesus was attracted to the “sinners” and the marginalized. Because of this, New Orleans is more of a place for Jesus than Colorado Springs, the "Vatican of the evangelical movement". I have been inclined to agree with him. 

The Civilians provided me (along with a few friends) some good food for thought, however. I had never heard of the Civilians before, but I love their concept of theater. They develop "original projects based on creative investigation of actual experience." As anyone who has darkened the sleek glass doors of a mega-church could attest to, they did this very well in This Beautiful City.

This Beautiful City explores the evangelical political movement in Colorado Springs, as well as those whom they rub up against, and those who feel left in the margins. If I understand it correctly, the characters in the play are Colorado Springs residents they met, interviewed, dined with and went to church with. It included Air Force cadets, church members, political activists, ministers, a transvestite and fallen pastors. One of the fallen pastors was none other than Ted Haggard. His scandal of homosexual prostitution and meth addiction broke during their visit, which, of course, gave a very public dose of reality to an already interesting backdrop.

The six of us who visited the play were all Christians, and I noticed we laughed more than many of those around us. They were knowing laughs. The stage was set up like a mega-church with two screens on either side of it - during one of the sequences, words to the songs appeared on them.  We laughed knowingly as songs, inspiring words, calls to stand and technological savvy attempted to create a space for spiritual experience. There was a Pentecostal church called RHOP whose members saw visions of demons in every corner and prophesied whatever seemed to come to their mind. They reminded me of some of the Pentecostals who were in New Orleans after Katrina, such as the preacher who excitedly promised that every one of the dilapidated houses would have a big screen TV. It is a strange disconnect - yet these were the people who were the first to risk life and health to recover the city. 

There were a few things that were foreign to me. Politics from the pulpit is something I rarely experience. Seeing this play, one would think that is the only thing that New Life Church preached (I wouldn't know). 

Yet, behind the politics, behind the very human stories of those who felt abandoned and judged by the church, behind the nervous apologetics of inarticulate evangelicals, there were some dim lights of Gospel. One of the most compelling characters was a mother and New Life Church member. She loved her father deeply, in spite of his homosexuality and his abandonment, in spite of protests from other family members. The Gospel of Christ seemed to encompass her, because of and in spite of the church community. The Gospel and church community helped her and her family overcome drug addiction, to work and provide for her children. As she did with her father, she was out to love those whom others rejected. She wanted to create a group in New Life about loving homosexuals, but only two people came. My biggest criticism of the play is that they did not explore this character further. Her scenes are all before the Haggard scandal broke; I was hoping to see her reaction. 

"This Beautiful City" showed that even in a city with so many churches and Christians per capita, there were still "sinners" left in the margins. I wonder if Mo Leverett was wrong. Jesus came and loved those in the margins. He healed diseases, forgave sins and changed lives. He was no stranger to religious authorities, often rebuking them and warning of hypocrisy. Judging by the play, he might feel right at home in Colorado Springs. But not necessarily in the parts one might expect.