In our family, we have had a Christmas-time tradition of attending a show. One of the most memorable was the (first) time that we had watched the musical Wicked.

My family has delighted in the songs of Defying Gravity, Popular,  Dancing Through Life, One Short Day, and, of course, For Good. This story is doing what so many retellings of popular myth recently have done- retold the story, in this case The Wizard of Oz, from a different perspective. 

In a recent YouthWorker on-line article, Benjamin Kerns reminds us that in Retelling a Lost Story such as Wicked, we can not longer assume but must assure that the audience can connect to the original story. 

And the youth ministry connection here? “Without a clear understanding of the original gospel story, those Kingdom principles and works of compassion and justice just become elements of a nice story that has no real value—just as Wicked is a great play on its own merits; but what makes the play truly amazing is the original story of The Wizard of Oz. As our culture loses connection to the original gospel story, maybe it is time to revisit how we tell our story so the redemptive message becomes the center of our focus once again.”

And, if we can accomplish that, then “I’ll stand there with the Wizard, Feeling things I’ve never felt. And though I’d never show it, I’ll be so happy, I could melt!”