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Supporting Cast
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Supporting Cast
“The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.” (1 Corinthians 12:22 ESV)
The Power of A Supporting Cast
Don’t you love a good supporting cast? You can see their face right now—that man or woman whose name isn’t always immediately on our lips, but they just seem to be in the background for every major movie. You know what I’m talking about right? Before they were A-listers, or even while A-listers, they could take a minor role and carry the movie.
Amy Adams. Samuel L. Jackson. Anne Hathaway. Robert Duvall. Shelly Winters. Mark Ruffalo. Dianne Wiest. In earlier days, it was Karl Malden or Thelma Ritter. If you are thinking British, it’s either Michael Kaine, or Dame Maggie Smith or Judi Dench.
The lifetime achievement award for “Mr. Supporting Actor” goes to Walter Brennan. He was the first winner in 1936 for his role in “Come and Get It.” But that isn’t the only reason. He is also tied for the record for the most nominations, and holds the award for the most wins—getting the nod 3 times, every other year for the first 5 years the award was given.
Supporting actors are needed. And Paul says that applies to the church as well. We are all supporting actors, and we all have a role to play.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body (1 Cor 12:12-20 ESV)
Bit Players
But there is something even lower than a “supporting actor.” That is a “bit player.” If you are an actor, you would call it a “5 or less,” because it means there is no interaction with the main star and you get no more than 5 lines of dialogue. In some cases, you don’t even count as part of the supporting cast. Can anyone shine in a role like that?
Paul seems to think so.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable… (1 Cor 12:21-22 ESV)
Read that line again. “The parts of the body that seem to be weaker…are…indispensable.
Dabbs Greer was a bit actor all his life, grabbing just a few recurring roles large enough to count. He is known best for playing the Rev. Robert Alden who ran Walnut Grove Church on “Little House on the Prairie.” You might recognize him as the storekeeper Mr. Jonus on Gunsmoke. But you probably saw him many, many more times than that. He appeared in 100 films and 600 TV episodes—almost always in a very small role, building a career mainly on supporting parts. He was rescued by the Man of Steel in the 1952 pilot episode of Superman. He was the minister who married Mike and Carol Brady in a 1969 episode of the Brady Bunch.
Think of that—a whole career with mainly bit parts. What was his mindset through all of this? Let him tell it. When he was interviewed near the end of his life, Dabbs Greer had this memorable line to share: “Every character, in their own little sphere, is the lead.”
If we think real hard, we can think of lots of bit players in our lives who, in their own little sphere, played a leading role for us.
Who was your third grade Sunday school teacher? Odds are you won’t find her own Wikipedia page. She won’t be mentioned in the history books. But I bet you remember. And I bet she left a memorable, lasting legacy in you.
It’s easy to look up the name and picture of the CEO for any company on earth. But when your new machine doesn’t work, the only person that matters to you is the help desk operator on the other side of the line. She may be a nameless, faceless person. But in that moment, what she does represents the whole company to you. On this day, she’s the lead.
Many of you underwent invasive surgery. You know the name of your doctor. But what about the cadre of nurses in the room who handed the doctors the right tool at the right time, without which your story would have ended differently?
I don’t know the name of my American Airlines pilot who flew our plane a few weeks ago. They announced it but I didn’t listen. But I’m grateful to him. And especially to the guy who put my baggage on the right plane.
Question #1: Renown or Significance?
I believe this sets up the first of two very important questions for all of us—(two questions Chuck Swindoll asks at the beginning of this book): would you rather be a person of renown or a person of significance?
In the 2002 film “The Emperors Club,” Kevin Kline plays the role of William Hundert, a teacher at a small but austere prep school tasked with explaining the importance of reading and studying the Classics. So he opens his first class with this little illustration:
Picking out one new student, Mr. Hundert says “You, sir. Will you do me a favor and walk to the back of this classroom and read for us the plaque which you see hanging over that door?”
The boy walks to the back and reads these words: “I am Sh-Shutruk-Nahhunte, King of Ansham an Susa, sovereign of the land of Elam. I destroyed Sippar and took the stele of Haram-Sin and brought it back to Elam, where I erected it as an offering to my god. Shutruk-Nahhunte, 1158 BC.”
“Is anyone familiar with this guy?,” asked the teacher to the class. “Shutruk-Nahhunte! King! Soverign of the land of Elam! Destroyer of Sippar! Behold, his accomplishments cannot be found in any history book. Why do you think that is?”
The students sit in dumbstruck wonder.
“Because,” continued Mr. Hundert, “great ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance.”
The students just breathe as they take it all in. History is littered with people who came to power and fame for 15 minutes, but who made no difference that would make their time on this earth worth sharing, because they divested others but invested in no one but themselves.
And then there are people of significance. Paul is in jail cell when he lists the people who made a difference in his life. Think of Paul’s lists at the end of some of his letters. To the Colossians, he mentions his cellmate Aristarchus, and his doctor Luke. And then he mentions a fellow Colossian by the name of Epaphras. He gets two verses—two glorious verses—that offer a description that would become a legacy chiseled in stone. Of all the things you do regularly, which of them would you want to be listed and known forever to define you? This one is pretty good. “He is always wrestling in prayer for you” or “struggling on your behalf in his prayers” (Col 4:12).
There it is. What he considered to be his quiet time with God suddenly becomes his by-line for all eternity: “Prayer Warrior!”
Remember that line from Dab Greer? In their own little sphere, they are the lead.
Take some encouragement from Hebrews 6:10: “God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown towards His name.”
Question #2: Size of Role or Depth of Impact?
So I have a second question for you: which matters more to you—the size of your role in the world, or the depth of your impact within it?
One of my favorite movies is Miracle on 34th Street (the original version). It features an old man who thinks he is Santa Claus. At the end of the movie, Kris Kringle is on trial. The judge is up for re-election and has to decide: how can I condemn or exonerate? This is crucial—perhaps the crucial moment in the film. Somethings gotta give.
Enter bit actor Jack Albertson, playing the role of “Al.” He has one scene. He’s a mail sorter in a mail room basement. All these letters addressed to Santa Claus are cluttering up the corner of the room. And then he gets the bright idea of where to send them.
Al : [finding Susan's letter to Kris] Hey, Lou! C'mere!
Lou : Yeah?
Al : Hey, here's a new one! I seen 'em write to Santa Claus North Pole, South Pole and every other place, here's a kid writes 'Kris Kringle New York County Courthouse,' can you beat that?
Lou : The kid's right.
Al : Yeah?
Lou : They got him on trial down there. He claims that he's Santy Claus and the D.A. claims that he's nuts.
[holds out paper]
Lou : Here, read it for yourself, right on the front page.
Al : [getting an idea] Hey, uh... hey Lou, how many Santy Claus letters we got down at the dead letter office?
Lou : I dunno, there must be about fifty thousand of 'em, bags and bags all over the joint and there's more coming in every day.
Al : Yeah. Hey uh, hey Lou...
Lou : Yeah?
Al : Uh, it'd be kinda nice to get rid of 'em, wouldn't it huh?
Lou : Yeah but... hey, that's a wonderful idea...
Al : I mean after all, why should we be bothered with all that stuff, huh? Why don't ya get a couple of trucks up here, big ones, right away! Load 'em with all that Santa Claus mail and deliver 'em to Mr. Kringle down at the Courthouse!
That’s it. That one scene—that one decision—becomes the turning point in the movie. The mail bags arrive at the courthouse. The letters—in their tons—land on the judge’s desk, addressed to Kris Kringle, and intended for the defendant. It all sets up the judge’s concluding line: “Since the United States government declares this man to be Santa Claus…this court will not dispute it. Case dismissed.”
Kind of like the little boy who, at just the right time, brings 5 loaves and 2 small fish.
Or the donkey carrying Balaam, who, in a miracle moment, is divinely given one line.
Or the unknown and unnamed man carrying a pitcher of water who led Peter and John to the upper room for the last supper.
Or the widow with two mites.
All unnamed. All object lessons.
We are trained to think the most important people are the ones out front, the ones who stand out, the ones whose name appears in the lead. But that is not true. It’s almost never true.
Scripture goes out of its way to tell us from the very beginning, God has chosen the lesser, the minor, the second-born, the outcast and outsider, to be the chosen one. And even the chosen one needed help all around. And when God shows up, it is rarely in the earthquake or the fire, but much more often in the still, small voice.
Konstantin Stanislavski once said “There are no small parts; only small actors.”
The story is told of an old man walking down to the seashore. Hundreds, maybe thousands of starfish lay washed ashore by the tide, needing to be returned in order to survive. The old man reaches down and picks one up, throwing it into the sea. As he starts to bend down for another one, he hears a young voice. “Hey mister! You can’t possibly throw all of those back into the sea. What does it matter?” Turning to the young voice, the old man gives a simple answer: “It matters to this one.”
God has placed you somewhere. You have a role to play. It matters to someone. And “every character, in their own little sphere, is the lead.”
This is a sermon preached on July 21, 2024 at the West Side Church of Christ (Searcy, AR) entitled “The Power of a Supporting Cast.” This lesson is available to watch or listen, and appears on the Life on the West Side podcast (Season 3, Episode 61). Available on all podcast platforms.
Upcoming Series: “City Lights”
Paul’s powerful and challenging First Letter to the Corinthians addresses ancient problems that feel remarkably contemporary. It is easy to read the book as a bit of internal dialogue, but Paul’s end-goal is for the church to shine as a light in the midst of a dark world. In this series, we will examine each chapter of this remarkable book, read through the prism of Paul’s “7 ones” that serve as his theological foundation stones. Then, we will ask how shaping our church culture around these 7 ones can help our witness in the world, providing an alternative narrative to the voices clamoring for our attention.
The series begins August 18 and will continue through the rest of the year.
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My name is Nathan Guy. I serve full-time as the preaching minister for the West Side Church of Christ in Searcy, Arkansas, run a new ethics initiative (more to come), and serve in a part-time role as associate professor of philosophy, theology, and ethics at Harding University. I also serve as chairman of the board for the Center for Christian Studies. I am happily married to Katie and am the proud father of Grace (who is 3) and Henry (who is wee). You can find more resources on my website over at nathanguy.com. You can follow me on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (X), Threads, and YouTube.