Red Jacket Gang - Gospel magic, Fun and Games

In 4th and 5th grade, I always wore my bright red jacket to the Presbyterian Church I attended with my family. We lived in Bethesda, Maryland, where my Dad was an Army officer stationed in nearby Washington, D.C. My red jacket with military insignia perfectly matched the color of the Field Artillery Unit he was associated with. I actually don’t know why my three buddies the same age also wore red blazers - but before long we were dubbed “The Red Jacket Gang.” And it wasn’t necessarily complementary. This gang was not very interested in spiritual things, but rather in how much we could annoy people by running around, constantly playing the games boys love to play. 

To this day, I still feel sorry for our Sunday School teacher. I am sure she was a devout believer who wanted nothing more than to see the Gospel passed on to these lovely children. But this was lost on the Red Jacket Gang. Our goal was to move one seat over every time the teacher turned her back. We “won” if we circumnavigated the room before class was over.

Forever Changed by “Big Church”

One Sunday, our teacher got a break - the “Gang” was going to Adult Church for a special presentation. I was skeptical about not falling asleep as I always did whenever I went to “Big Church,” but as I sat down, my eyes were immediately drawn to a big block of clay in the center of the stage. This was definitely not normal. Soon, a man came out and started to cut and slash away at this block and eventually even squirted red paint on it. A skilled sculptor, I knew that he was telling the story of the crucifixion. My usually scattered attention was laser-focused on every move and word that this man spoke. Finally, when I saw the image of Jesus’ face in the clay, disfigured from the torture, and heard the message of the Gospel, I turned to my mom and told her that I was changed forever.

 Forever was considerably shorter than normal, because a week later I had forgotten all about the dramatic presentation and was back to my boyish games and fun. But had I forgotten it? Years later, I was in my senior year in college with a major in philosophy. I was out in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, and suddenly, this agnostic college student, who had long ago abandoned the faith, had an experience with God. I knew immediately who this God was. It was not Buddha or any of the multitude of gods I had studied in my classes. It was Jesus, the One I encountered as a boy. Overwhelmed by His presence and deeply convicted of my sins I felt I was welcoming back an old friend. 

 It’s been many years since that day in the mountains. But from my vantage point of decades now, I see how God used the creative and the dramatic art of a sculptor to break into the soul of a distracted boy who was interested in other things. And later, as a college student in the mountains, God reminded me of that almost forgotten day to bring me back to Himself.

A Creative Calling

Those two experiences were deeply embedded into my life and affect me to this day. In 1992 God called me to use my own creative tools - with puppets, Gospel magic, and fun and games  - to break into the souls of children and share the Good News of Jesus with them. But even as I practice my puppets and prepare for another show to reach kids, (and even their parents), I know I am simply carrying on the tradition that God started with me when I was a part of the Red Jacket Gang.