Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Last week, we began to look at the life of Joseph and saw that his father had blessed him with a special gift, one that caused his brothers to envy and hate Joseph all the more:

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate robe for him (Genesis 37:3).

Later, Joseph's brothers stripped him of the coat, soaked it in animal blood, and presented it to their father to cover their dirty deed of selling their brother into slavery.

The title of this study is not an original title. In fact, it is the title of a musical comedy with lyrics and music written by the famous Broadway team of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. In 1972, Rice and Webber premiered their show based on the story of Joseph from Genesis and it became a hit. Estimates are that more than 20,000 schools have presented their version of the production since then and that was after the show had a successful run in New York and London. It is fascinating that Rice and Webber produced a show based on a Bible story and never mentioned God's name in the music or dialogue, but that is not the point of this study.

The point is that Rice and Webber had a creative idea and they acted on it. They produced something that became known the world over, a show that is still being staged in many places. The show was made into a movie and the musical has experienced numerous revivals where it first played.

Rice and Webber did not invent the Joseph story; they did not invent the musical or comedy; they did introduce the world to stage productions. They simply acted on a creative impulse, did creatively adapt the story for modern, mass consumption, wrote the music, and found the investors. The result was something that thousands enjoyed, perhaps not realizing they were being presented with one of the most captivating stories in all of Scripture.

Do you have any creative ideas? Do you think they have to be ideas or concepts that the world has never seen or heard? Do you have a dream to present the word of God to others through a creative expression like this show did? The only difference between you and the Rice/Webber team is they acted on their ideas, but you have not.

It's time for you to stop talking yourself out of your ideas and to start taking steps to make them happen. There is no promise that your ideas will become as big as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcost did, but who's to say it won't? The only way to find out is to do it. The rest is up to Lord, but it all starts with you creating something God can use to touch the lives of others.