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Who Is This Really About?

I have a cousin who was once an extra for a big movie. Let me re-state that. I have a friend whose cousin's sister's best friend was once an extra in a made-for-TV movie. Yeah, that's right. I have connections to Hollywood. You may now commence admiring me.

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone like that? They know someone who knows someone who landed a spot in a big crowded scene of a movie. "Yeah, I was the third person to the left of the truck in the way back when (insert real star here) went walking by. You have to look real close and be sure not to blink, but I'm there."

It's not exactly the 'big break' that we make it out to be, is it? And yet we'll talk for years about that one scene, especially if it was us in the scene. Then maybe we'll talk about it for a lifetime. Thinking about this led me to this question;

Have you ever watched a movie and hoped it was about one of the extras? Of course not. It would be sheer madness to go to a movie and then be upset when they did not show enough about the extras.I really wanted to know more about taxi driver #3.

So why do we do that in life? We make life to be about us, when it's not. We become exceedingly frustrated when we do not see enough time and energy spent on ourselves. But we rarely see that the frustration stems from a plot that has been stolen and made to be about a stage hand or a stuntman or yes...an extra.

Because, after all, this story is not about us. I hate to be the one to break it to everyone, but...we are the extras. Hi, I'm random guy #5,397,427.

One of my favorite verses is found in Paul's letter to the Colossians.

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. ~Colossians 2:16-17
The reality is Jesus Christ! He is the mega-star that this whole story is about. Up to this verse, Paul has been going over how we need to live our lives in Jesus. We need to not be fooled by other 'extras' who try to divert our attention. After all, it's not about them either. Who is this really about?

It should be enough to us that we are even allowed in the same story. But we should never become confused and think that we are co-stars. We are the extras. Our significance is found in Christ.
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