Controlled Chaos

Controlled Chaos:
“A state or situation that appears to be completely disorganized, but where some things are under control.”

https://www.onelook.com/thesaurus

Last night Kasin picked me up and we headed to the Des Moines skatepark near Wells Fargo Arena to share the gospel to the youth down there. This was only my second time testing these waters; the first time was so cold that I couldn’t stop shivering and thought I was going to break a tooth trying to talk. But, tonight the weather was clear, decent, and not too cold.

The park was pretty filled with people of all ages riding all kinds of wheeled things doing crazy flips and tricks in the air to impress those watching. I was astounded by the things people were doing, and even in my best youthful shape, I would never have attempted them. How in the world do these kids do these things without killing themselves.

Kasin brought his bike as to blend in with the crowd, and I stood out like a sore thumb as usual. As soon as we got to the park, Kasin dropped the bike and started talking with a man from Laos named, Sam, who was about my age. A bit of a language barrier, but I think he understood more than he led on to believe because as we shared the gospel to him, he took off his sunglasses and you could see concern in his eyes. Not only that, but desperately proclaiming his own goodness in light of God’s Law written on his heart that he knows was wrong (Proverbs 20:6; 2 Corinthians 3:3). Pray for Sam that a Laos Christian can read him the tract we gave him so he can understand what we were trying to tell him. Hopefully they can finish the conversation and fill in the gaps that were lost.

Next, I tried to get into a conversation with a boy who couldn’t have been twelve years old wearing a t-shirt that said, “I love MILFs.” I kid you not. I asked him if he knew what it meant, and he did, after explaining it all, and more than I really wanted to know. I gave him and his two siblings gospel tracts. They took them, but were not interested at all in having a conversation. Not for a lack of trying.

The conversations we had with the teens down there were as chaotic as what was going on around us. One 17-year-old young man we talked with has a Muslim father and Christian mother, and was really confused about the spiritual dynamic in his home. You think? Some of them were into what we were saying, others were curious, but for the most part they all listened and even had questions. Very little of them knew the gospel, and some had never even heard of Jesus Christ.

While we were down there, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the friends of Zacheus who were invited to have a meal with Jesus. The faint smell of cannabis wafting through the air, while one guy pulls a flask out of his back pocket and takes a drink asking questions about heaven. Adults we talked to weren’t bothered by our presence, and even took tracts from us, maybe thinking we could be giving them way more stranger things than Bible verses. Even those who rejected the message came back and sat with us wanting to hear more; the wheels of their minds spinning like those of their skateboards. We talked to many teens here this evening, and were very blessed.

My friend, Kasin, found something special in this place. An untapped well of those who had a curiosity about us two middle-aged guys who didn’t fit in at all, that carried a message of hope. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was how the Jesus Movement started in the ’60’s and ’70’s with Chuck Smith, a 41-year-old worn out Christian pastor of a dying church who had a reluctant heart for the counterculture of his day that ultimately grew into thousands of Calvary Chapels worldwide. I often thought the LBGTQ+ people were the hippies of today; now I am questioning that.