1/23/20 Justin (to see video, click HERE)Can clowns save the world?
Young people are expected to explore
the outer reaches of their creativity and the possibilities of who they
can be as independent adults, and this is very much part of the program
at Chicago’s School of the Art Institute.
I had an interesting
conversation with one of its very passionate students – Justin –
recently as I happened upon him on a cold sidewalk. Justin became so
animated and engaged in sharing his ideas about life and the purpose of
human existence that he scarcely noticed the cold, while I was freezing
and needed to cut our conversation short even though I’m from Minnesota
and was better dressed for the weather than he was.
What really
warmed him from within out there in the cold was talking about his
passion for acting and dressing like a clown, and the sense of freedom
from normal human constraints and expectations it gave him. I found
myself reacting like the old fuddy-duds in a commercial I’ve seen
recently – “Yes, but what will you do for a living?”
Justin
shared a lot of ideas about how he can help change the world through
teaching people to live in the moment with the innocence of a clown. It
all seemed very theoretical and idealistic, and I wondered what that
would look like on a practical, daily basis?
Trying out new
ideas, coloring outside the lines, experimenting with a different
persona – it all might be acceptable among like-minded young people in
an idealistic school environment created and paid for by others (or by
future debt), but what will it look like in the more practical adult
working world?
Since my purpose was to stop and initiate
conversations about the Gospel on my way home from work, maybe I need to
ask myself some of the same questions. Is Christianity practical on a
daily basis? Does it help pay the rent, not to mention help change the
world? Am I accomplishing anything by being a “clown” – what Paul
referred to as being a “fool for Christ”, or is it all a futile activity
only well-to-do people can afford?
I think many young people
today are trying to find significance outside of religion because it is
increasingly seen as irrelevant, and they are turning to the narrative
so popular in the superhero cartoons they were raised with – somehow we
need to find a way to “save the world”. Justin had already tried the
“green” route – making a difference through various personal acts to
save the environment, and is now moving on to other ideas.
So can
"clowns" save the world? I told Justin about a church nearby with a
helpful motto hanging on its walls – “The Gospel changes people. People
change the world.” And that’s been my experience. The Gospel does
indeed change people, beginning with ourselves, and motivates us to go
out and change the world in an infinite variety of creative ways
depending on the individual set of gifts and talents God has given each
of us.
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells us how that change begins in us –
through God’s grace and not by our own efforts – and vs. 10 then
explains our purpose – “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ
Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Justin,
passionately creative and idealistic as you are, I’m sorry I let the
cold cut our conversation short, but I really would like to tell you
more about what it can mean to live in a right relationship with our
Creator, and to participate as a significant part of His handiwork.
Thanks Justin, for allowing me to record our
conversation! It can be seen at https://youtu.be/3kLLxUcRcso on my YouTube channel.
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