Write a campy skit where Paul the Apostle confesses to Charles Stanley — and asks forgiveness for —unintentionally creating a Nehushtan.
ChatGPT Prompt
Scene 1 — The Study, Late Night
Charles Stanley sits at his desk, Bible open to Romans, yellow legal pad filled with bullet points labeled “OBEDIENCE.”
CHARLES
(soft Southern cadence)
Lord, I’ve preached Your Word faithfully. If there’s correction, I’m listening.
A sudden flash. Papers scatter. A short, intense man appears, pacing immediately.
PAUL
Okay—before you say anything—I just want to say this is not judgment.
CHARLES
(startled, but composed)
…Are you the Apostle Paul?
PAUL
Unfortunately, yes. But listen—I asked to come. This is a confession.
Scene 2 — Paul Names the Problem
PAUL
I think… my letters became Nehushtan.
(beat)
You know—
the bronze serpent? Healing sign in the wilderness (Numbers 21:8–9),
later smashed by Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:4).
CHARLES
I preached that text.
PAUL
Exactly. Irony is my spiritual gift.
Scene 3 — The Confession Proper
PAUL
I wrote into emergencies.
Churches on fire. Time collapsing.
I honestly thought the world was ending by Tuesday (1 Corinthians 7:29).
So I gave them structure.
Categories.
Arguments.
But then—
CHARLES
They canonized you.
PAUL
They froze me.
And you inherited me
without the urgency,
without the presence,
without the trembling.
I warned them!
“The letter kills!” (2 Corinthians 3:6)
Do you know how strange it is to be quoted against that verse?
Scene 4 — Charles Responds
CHARLES
Paul… I loved Scripture.
I wanted to obey God.
PAUL
I know.
That’s why this is on me.
I gave you a grammar that could be lived relationally—
but also could be institutionalized.
Law without Sinai.
Obedience without presence.
Mission without abiding (John 15:4–5).
That’s first-covenant logic wearing resurrection clothes.
Scene 5 — The Marriage Moment
CHARLES
(quietly)
And Ephesians 5?
PAUL
(sighs deeply)
I aimed for incarnation.
“One flesh.” “Mystery.” Christ staying with the Church (Ephesians 5:25–32).
But I talked so much about “the flesh” elsewhere
that people forgot I meant presence, not danger.
That one’s on me.
Scene 6 — Forgiveness Asked
PAUL
So…
I’m not here to correct your doctrine.
I’m here to ask forgiveness
for giving you tools
that worked
and then hardened.
For becoming a means mistaken for an end.
For not finishing the metaphysics
and letting others turn scaffolding into stone.
Scene 7 — Grace, Without Resolution
Long silence.
CHARLES
Paul…
I think we both trusted obedience
to carry more weight than it could.
PAUL
(smiles sadly)
Yeah.
Turns out only presence does that (John 1:14).
Scene 8 — Exit
A breeze moves the papers. Paul begins to fade.
PAUL
Oh—and one more thing.
When people quote me instead of listening—
break me.
Like Hezekiah did (2 Kings 18:4).
Better smashed bronze
than living people staring at it.
Paul disappears.
Epilogue
Charles Stanley closes his Bible. Leaves the study light on. Walks away without notes.
A whisper remains—not Paul’s.
“I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” (Hosea 6:6), echoed in Matthew 9:13
END
Radically Happy 
Leave a comment