Summary: A couple has just returned from a church service where the pastor has spoken about a fund raising campaign that the church will be undertaking. The wife is very skeptical. She thinks churches should not ask for money. The husband has been comparing their financial choices (restaurants, recreation, etc.) to how much they have given to the church. Are they making the right choices? Keywords: Giving.
Style: Light to serious. Duration: 5min
Actors: 1M, 1F
Characters
Meg: wife
Jeff: husband
Script
(Scene opens with husband and wife coming home from church. Wife can drop her purse and church bulletin on the floor or a table.)
Meg: Well, at least you can’t say I didn’t warn you!
Jeff: Yeah, I guess.
Meg: You guess? What did the pastor speak about today, Jeff?
Jeff: Opportunity?
Meg: Yeah, right! Opportunity! Whose Opportunity? Ours or his? I told you before we even started going to this church that it wouldn’t be any different from our last church. They’re all the same.
Jeff: Don’t you think you’re being a little cynical, Meg.
Meg: Come on, Jeff, we’ve only been going there about two or three months and already the topic is money. Not only that but it’s a series on money. Then after that it’ll probably be mentioned every week or so because it’s a THREE YEAR DEAL!
Jeff: (Quietly) Seven months.
Meg: What?
Jeff: We’ve been at this church for seven months.
Meg: No way!
Jeff: Yes way. I’ve been keeping track. It was seven months last week. I knew sooner or later this subject would come up and I wanted to be sure of how long it would take.
Meg: I can’t believe that! Seven months?
Jeff: Yep. Now to be fair, Meg, churches do need money to keep going too. After all they have bills to pay as well as we do.
Meg: I know, but we don’t go around hounding other people to pay our bills for us.
Jeff: But it IS our church, isn’t it?
Meg: (Slowly) I guess so.
Jeff: Either it is or it isn’t, which is it?
Meg: (Reluctantly) It is, but maybe not until after this series is over.
Jeff: All right, if that’s the way you want it, but I happen to think if it is our church, we have an obligation to support it. After all we pay our taxes as our obligation too, don’t we?
Meg: Like we have a choice there.
Jeff: You’re right, there is no choice about taxes, but we do have a choice here. I just think we should choose wisely.
Meg: Now you’re starting to sound like your sister.
Jeff: Maybe she’s not so far off base as we used to think.
Meg: What are you saying? Do you honestly think we should tithe and give offerings like she and Frank do?
Jeff: I don’t know, Meg. Maybe it’s something we should think about, though. Maybe we should even pray about it.
Meg: You’re scaring me, Jeff. You sound like a religious fanatic. Besides we can hardly make our payments each month. How do you think we could possibly tithe and give offerings? I suppose you think I should get a second job. The only problem with that is our tithe would be even bigger and I’d be even more exhausted.
Jeff: Patty says she and Frank do their best and then trust God to provide for them.
Meg: (Sarcastically) Is that so? So your holier-than-thou sister is waiting on God to pay her bills. Is that it?
Jeff”: Come on now, Meg. You know Patty and Frank don’t act like that. She just meant they were trusting God, not that they’re better than us.
Meg: Well, did she say anything to you about her utility bill?
Jeff: No, what are you talking about?
Meg: She and Frank owe the FP&L $347.28.
Jeff: How do you know that? Did Patty tell you?
Meg: No.
Jeff: Then how do you know about their power bill?
Meg: Donna told me, in confidence of course.
Jeff: (Incredulous) Donna told you about my sister’s electric bill? She had no right to do that! She could get fired for that.
Meg: Donna’s the one who sends out the monthly bills for FP&L. She didn’t tell me to be gossipy. She was concerned about Patty and Frank. If they don’t pay their bill this week their electric is going to be shut off.
Jeff: Still, she shouldn’t have done that. That’s not right.
Meg: Ok, she probably shouldn’t have told me, but she did. So how does that figure into their financial plan? Do you really think it’s right to not pay your bills and give your money to the church instead?
Jeff: I don’t know, Meg. I can’t speak for Patty and Frank. I guess I can only talk about us. Do you think we should be giving more than we are? Maybe God is asking us to trust Him here, to move out of our comfort zone a little bit. After all, we do live pretty good. There are a lot of ways we could cut back on our spending to give more to the church.
Meg: (Disbelieving) Such as?
Jeff: Well, we could start with cutting back on eating out. As a matter of fact I kept track last month and we spent $240.73 on restaurants.
Meg: Really? That much?
Jeff: We also spent $57.95 on movies and snacks as well as $15.00 on iced coffees from Starbuck’s. That’s not to mention how much we spend each month for our cell phones, HBO, internet service and sports events.
Meg: So what are you saying, Jeff? That we should just quit living, stay home and give all our money to the church?
Jeff: No, Meg, of course not. I’m just wondering if we’re doing our part, that’s all. Do you know how much we gave to the church last month?
Meg: No, but I’m sure you’re going to tell me.
Jeff: $85.00. That’s about 1/3 of what we spent at restaurants. Is that right, Meg?
Meg: I don’t know, Jeff. How much is enough? Is it ever enough?
(The phone rings.)
Jeff: Hello. Oh, hi Patty. How’s it going? (pause) OK. (pause) Really? That’s great. I’m happy for you and Frank. Wait; tell me that again, would you? Thanks. Talk to you later. Bye.
Meg: What’s great?
Jeff: How much did you say Patty owed to FP&L?
Meg: $347.28. Why?
Jeff: They just got a settlement from that class action lawsuit that Frank’s company was involved in a few years ago. It was for $348.00.
Meg: Wow! Great timing!
Jeff: (Thoughtfully) Yeah, really great timing. And of course they had no idea it was coming. They weren’t even sure they’d ever get anything from that lawsuit! Meg, do you think God is trying to tell us something here?
Meg: I don’t know, Jeff, but maybe you’re right. Maybe we do need to pray about our giving.
Lights out.
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© Copyright Joanne Miller, all rights reserved. The script may not be reproduced, translated or copied in any medium, including books, CDs and on the Internet, without written permission of the author.
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