This is the house that [Pride] built.

This is the house that Pride built. 

This is the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the world

That taught the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the sin

That lives in the world

That taught the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the heart with judgmental eyes,

That wakened the sin

That lives in the world

That taught the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the mouth that delights in lies,

That encouraged the heart with judgmental eyes

That wakened the sin

That lives in the world

That taught the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the mind that carries despise,

That instructed the mouth to delight in lies

That encouraged the heart with judgmental eyes

That wakened the sin

That lives in the world

That taught the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the plague that spread demise,

That corrupted the mind that carries despise,

That instructed the mouth to delight in lies

That encouraged the heart with judgmental eyes

That wakened the sin

That lives in the world

That taught the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the kid who was cast aside,

That was stricken by plagues that spread demise,

That corrupted the mind that carries despise

That instructed the mouth to delight in lies

That encouraged the heart with judgmental eyes

That wakened the sin

That lives in the world

That taught the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

This is the "Christian" who's hypocrisy tries,

To snub the kid who was cast aside

That was stricken by plagues that spread demise

That corrupted the mind that carries despise

That instructed the mouth to delight in lies

That encouraged the heart with judgmental eyes

That wakened the sin

That lives in the world

That taught the girl

That made the fault

That lay in the house that Pride built. 

Act I, Scene 2, Take [the rest of my life]

Grins mischievously into her face. "I'm not going to believe something just because. How do I know your faith [your God] is for real? I'm going to challenge you."

Good. I probably need it. 

More serious. "That's another reason I don't just say 'oh, I'm a Christian', because so many people do a bunch of [crap] and say it's ok because they're 'Christians.' I'm not like that, I know I sin. But I'm not going to just jump onto the Christian bandwagon. I don't know what I believe. Like I know there's a God, I guess, but I don't know if I'm into it like that."

You're always going to have hypocrites. It doesn't matter if you're Christian or Buddhist or whatever. Just keep that in mind. 

Flashback to the beginning of class. Student 1 already at desk, student 2 slides into the seat next to her, almost late. 

Grins. "Sup yo!"

Ha. Hey Sly. 

"Man, I'm ready to talk about some Jesus today!" Laughs like it's the best joke ever. 

Raises eyebrow. Really. 

Teacher asks students to open workbooks and begin activity ten. 

So what did you do this weekend? 

Sings "Because I'm not the old me, the old me is gone...!"

What?

"Dude, that's like my favorite song. I decided this weekend that I'm a different person." Falls into long tale about skipping school with girlfriend, getting caught, etc. 

And this makes you a different person how? 

Sincere. "Because we skipped and I felt really bad about it; like I hate lying. I don't know, it just felt wrong, so I apologized to her mom and all."

That's good. 

"Yeah. And I decided that me and [girlfriend] aren't going to have sex anymore."

Surprised and caught off-guard. Really? How did this happen? 

Explains almost eagerly. "Well like, she was telling me about how her sister cried on her honeymoon when she got married because her and her husband had done it so much before they were married, it was like it wasn't even special or whatever, and I don't want it to be like that for us if we, you know, end up together...." 

Ah. What does she think of this?

"I haven't talked to her about it yet." Laughs. 

To audience Why is he laughing? To companion And so is this what makes you a different person? 

Incredulous "Uh, yeah?" Starts singing again "It's a brand new me, I'm not who I was...!"

She takes out a sheet of paper and draws a tree. It's a bad drawing (she can't draw) and depicts a thick tree, the ground, and underneath, a few fat roots, on which she writes "Sex", "Lying", "Cheating", and such. 

Shows it to companion. Ok, I'm going to make an analogy of what you just told me. 

"Oh great. Are you going to pull out the Bible?"

Laughs No, it's still sitting under my lunch box. But look, here's the tree, right? Writes "Sly" on the trunk of the tree.

"That's me?"

Yeah. And here are all of your 'roots' that you stand on; everything that you held on to in what you say was your 'old life.' Points to the root labeled "Sex." Get it?

Sighs and looks wary. "Yeah." 

Ok, so I'm going to erase this root. Erases root. Now, you say you've gotten rid of sex. But what about all of the other stuff? Has erasing that one root made you a new tree?... No. You're still the same tree, you just plucked off a symptom of the real problem. 

Stares at picture for several seconds. "You just ruined my favorite song." 

The discussion resumes after some silence, and lunch passes. Finally, it's the end of class. 

"...I don't know if I'm into it like that." 

You're always going to have hypocrites. It doesn't matter if you're Christian or Buddhist or whatever. Just keep that in mind. 

"I can't see it. I can't feel it. I need proof. If He touched me, I might believe more." 

Taps him on shoulder. There. He just touched you. 

He gives her a weird look. 

Grins He lives in me. I just touched you, so.... 

The bell rings. 

"Cut!" 

Lights. Camera. [Action?]

Lights on. 

"Round it up! Places, please, places....." 

Scurry. Classroom scene, hard tables lined not quite symmetrically across the stage. One table center stage occupied by two students with lights focused. Others scattered randomly, mouths move silently. 

"Ok, let's get this thing done. Ready? Act I, Scene I, take 17.... rolling!" 

Zoom in on center table. 

Picks up book and flips through. "I don't get it."

Deep breath, as if expected. Get what?

"This says 'I find it easier to share when I think of what he gave up for me'. What did he give up for me?"

Aside to audience. (Oh man. The big question.) To partner. Everything. He gave His one and only Son for you. Because He loves you. 

"He gave his son? I thought they were the same person."

He gave Himself. To audience. (Was that right?) To partner. He gave Himself so that He could direct your life into something more than you could make it on your own. He can give you so much more than what you think you have now. 

Lifts eyebrow. "What do you mean? What can God give me that I don't already have? What can he give me more than money?" Laughs.

Girl blinks and pauses. Freedom. From sin, I mean. Like, we're controlled by our sinful nature, and He frees us from that. 

"Everyone sins." 

Of course. But when we accept Him we aren't bound by that sin anymore. He gives us freedom from death. You know, that verse 'for the wages of sin is death.' Through His freedom He gives us eternal life, beyond death, when we choose Him.  

"Well we're going to die anyway."

Ha, true. But more than that. It's eternity in heaven, which is more than we could ever imagine, versus eternity in hell. 

Thinking. "Yeah, but here's what I don't get. What about all of those people who haven't heard about him and they die? Like not everyone in the world has heard of Jesus, so what happens to those people? What kind of God would send them to hell for something they'd never heard of?"

Longer pause. Honestly, I'm not sure. I can tell you all of the theological ideas about it, but I really don't like theology because it's tricky. I personally think God always reveals Himself to us, through multiple ways. It doesn't just have to be someone physically telling you about the Gospel. We're suppose to live out our faith, too. 

Nods. "I guess. Like I know for me, maybe I never got into the whole Christian thing because I never knew about it. I mean my family believes in God and all but my parents never talk to me about it or taught me anything. Sometimes we go to church but I don't know, I just can't get into it. It's like I never went enough so no one ever taught me about him."

You have to be careful about chur—

Someone claps their hands. 

"Cut! Save the church stuff for the next scene, that's too far into the script. Ok, enough for the day! Let's take a break, people." 

Lights off.