This Is Your Reality

I have borrowed ideas from reality shows, talk shows and game shows to put together a play that really talks about the judgment day and what determines where we spend eternity. At the end of the show, the book of life is opened, and only one of them gets in to Heaven. A final contestant is selected at random from the audience (a planted actor) to make members of the audience wonder what they would say if they had been picked.14 actors (7 male and 7 female with some extras – adjustable) No set changes, can be done very simply, with few props. About an hour. Videos can be filmed on location and shouldn’t be too hard.

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and Gentlemen! It’s time for THIS IS YOUR REALITY!
The reality show that asks the question, “Are you ready for your
eternal destination?” Our guests are unique in that they have not
asked to be on the show. There was no audition or testing, but they
are selected at a brief moment in time when life is taking a big
turn for them. As they walk onto our set, they do not even know what
has happened and why they are here. So, sit back and enjoy the show,
as we get ready for our first guest. But first, let’s put our hands
together and give a big welcome to the host of our show, Ed Turnity!
(Everyone claps as the host walks onto the stage. A man stands
near the front of the stage and holds a cue card that reads:
“applause”)ED: (Reading from cue cards and note cards he is holding.) Good
evening and welcome to “This is Your Reality.” Our first guest
tonight comes to us straight from a terrible accident. He stepped
off a curb on a busy street and was struck down before he even knew
what hit him. Let’s bring him out here onto the stage. (Joe walks
slowly onto the stage, looking around at the audience and at Ed.)
There he is! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Joe Average.
Come on over here, Joe.

JOE: How did I get here? (Cue card man holds up “laugh”)

ED: Well, Joe, I hate to be the one to have to tell you this, but
you just died.

JOE: What? That’s ridiculous!

ED: Tell me, Joe, what is the last thing that you remember?

JOE: Well, I was walking along the street talking to Bill and then
I stepped off the curb, and I heard loud screeching ….

ED: Yes, my friend. You were struck by a city bus. Awful mess!
It will be in all the papers and probably make the 10:00 news. But
that life as you knew it is all behind you now. We are here to find
out what happens to you next! For Joe, this is your reality! (Cue
card man holds up “clap and cheer”)

JOE: What are you talking about? This can’t be right!

ED: Joe, are those the clothes you were wearing before?

JOE: No. I’ve never seen these clothes before. How did I get in
them?

ED: Well, Joe, you can’t take anything with you when you die. You
wouldn’t have wanted those clothes anyway… bloody mess they were.
But we had to put you in something, because this is a family show.
Those are your judgment clothes.

JOE: Show? What do you mean this is a show? Why are all these
people here?

ED: Joe, you are on the reality show, “This is Your Reality!” Come
on up here and have a seat in the “hot seat” as we like to call it.
We have a few surprises for you. (Cue card man holds up “applause”)
See if you recognize this voice:

VOICE: Hey Joe! Remember me? We’ve been together for a long time!
Yessir… we go way back!

ED: Do you know who that is, Joe?

JOE: Well, the voice sounds vaguely familiar, but I just can’t place
it. It’s not any of my friends…

VOICE: Oh, we are more than just friends, Joe. Why, I have been
giving you advice and telling you what to do for most of your life.

JOE: That’s not my dad’s voice….and I had a coach once who gave me
lots of advice, but that was a long time ago…

VOICE: Ah, come on, Joe. Remember the time you stole that video
game from the department store? That was my idea! I told you to do
that.

JOE: How could he know about that? I never told anyone about that!

VOICE: And what about the date you went on with Melanie Make-out?

JOE: Melanie….?

ED: We changed her name to keep her identity safe.

VOICE: I gave you all those ideas of what to do that night. And I
was also the one who helped you develop that colorful language that you
use all the time.

JOE: Hey! Who is this guy? He’s just telling you about bad things
I’ve done.

VOICE: Oh… there were other voices speaking to you over the years,
but mine was the only one you really listened to. What a faithful
sucker you were! Like just a few minutes ago when…

JOE: Bring him out here! I want to see who this is!

ED: You would not recognize him if we did. He would have to wear a
disguise so as not to frighten our younger viewers. But you know
him well, Joe. He has been more like a father to you than your
earthly father. His name is Satan…Lucifer….the devil… Beelzebub… he
has many names. I think you probably know him better as Master,
Lord or Father. You have served him well all of your life.

JOE: I don’t think this is a very fun show. Why don’t you bring out
a neat guest who can tell you about all the good things I have done
in my life? Like the time I sent in all that money to help the poor
and starving children. Or the time I spent all day in the hospital
when my uncle was dying, and no one else wanted to. What about the
time I gave that homeless guy some money to buy food?

ED: I’m sorry, Joe. But none of those things showed up on the scan
that we ran on your life. You see, everything is tested by fire and
most of it burns up. Only the things you have done for Christ are
what last.

JOE: For Christ? But I don’t even believe in that stuff!

ED: I know. You were given many opportunities to believe and
receive Christ, but you kept turning your own way. Jesus said, “I am
the way, the truth and the life, No one comes to the Father, but by
Me.” You rejected that. The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you shall be saved.” But, you rejected that. Jesus
said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You rejected that. Also…“But as many as received Him… He gave the
power…” well, need I go on? There were many other opportunities, but
you rejected every one of them.

JOE: Are you saying that because I would not buy into the whole
Jesus thing, that now I don’t get to go to heaven?

ED: Yeah… that’s about the size of it. Not that you would want to
go there. Sounds like you were never interested in heaven in the
first place.

JOE: I never believed that it existed. I didn’t know.

ED: Ignorance is no excuse. The truth is you didn’t want to change
your life. You thought it would not be fun to be a Christian. You
just kept listening to the lies of the devil that it didn’t really
matter. Well, now you come to the crossroads, and a big decision
must be made.

JOE: So, I still have a chance to make things right?

ED: No… the decision is not yours. Well, not exactly. You really
made the decision already with your life. All we have left to do now
is check the book of life.

JOE: The book of life?

ED: That’s right. The Lamb’s Book of Life.

JOE: Does that tell about the good things I have done?

ED: Salvation is a free gift of grace, Joe. Not of works. Once
you have received that free gift and are born again… then your name
is written in the Book of Life.

JOE: So, if my name is in that book, I still have a chance?

ED: YES! So, right now we are going to send you back to a private
room. You will wait there until later on in our program when we
will bring you back out to see what your final and eternal
destination will be. (He exits.)

ANNOUNCER: For our guests whose names are found in the Book of Life,
they will be staying in a luxurious mansion built especially for
them…Where everything is the most beautiful that you have ever seen,
and the streets are literally paved with gold. There is no night
there and no need of the sun because the light of Christ illuminates
the place. There is no more pain and no more dying and no more
sickness and no more crying! It is really the most “out of this
world” spot that is actually not anywhere on the earth. Stay tuned
as we bring on our next guest.

Thank you so much. Our drama team is very excited about our new drama ministry. We started last year with our first production being “This is Your Reality”. Everything went great and we had 2 people rededicate their lives to Christ. Again, thank you and God bless.

Ana Pivaral, Tucson Baptist Temple, Tucson, AZ