the unlikeliest missionaries

The 15 member punk-rock marching band entered the Student Union in mismatched uniforms with individual loudspeakers strapped to their hats. They marched in front of the stage and then turned to face the audience; playing loudly. In a single broad line, they advanced toward the 70 or so students in attendance, who appeared to not know what to make of this spectacle. When they got to the edge of the "crowd" they didn't stop. They marched. Stepping up onto tables or anything that was in front of them and stomping their way into the audience while tactfully avoiding fingers and toes. Everyone laughed. The performer/audience barrier had been breached.
Being on the "sending" end of the missions experience for college students I am deeply aware that we need missionaries as badly as the people and countries we are sending teams to. Mother Theresa used to speak of the spiritual poverty of the West. Sometimes I see spiritual poverty at Messiah too. It manifests itself in insecurity and complacency among other things.

Mucca Pazza played at one of Messiah's Wednesday Night "B-Sides" concerts that showcase artists that haven't quite "made it." Its not hard to see why on one level. MP could have a unique appeal. I was at the Union talking with representatives from Food for the Hungry when they marched in. I only stayed for 10-15 minutes, but I was delighted with what I saw and heard. Here's what happened...

Mucca Pazza continued to play (loudly) and to intermittently march around the Union. They were always making music together, but sometimes they were literally together and sometimes members of the band would take off through the crowd on solo missions. One fellow was the "cheer-leader." He wasn't cross-dressing. He just had pom-poms. This guy would get in people's faces, shake his pom-poms, dance, and grin like a maniac. At one point he was standing on top of a wall, by himself, 15 feet up, shaking the pom poms like crazy (I heard about this later, I don't know how he got up there).

At first, 5-10 students moved to the front of the stage and sat down. Other students were texting and twittering away and the Union filled up. So did the area in front of the stage.
People were laughing and smiling.

NOW, you have to understand that at the few "B-Sides" I've been to (the concerts start at 10, so unless I'm on campus for a missions meeting... I'm out) the usual protocol seems to be 5 enthusiastic fans up next to the stage and everyone else hanging back. Their mouths are rigid horizontal lines. Their heads bob slightly in rhythm. It's like everyone is too cool to show that they are enjoying the music. Mucca Pazza blew that apart.

They were so fearless about what they were doing that students seemed to drop their own insecurities. By the end of the show (this is hearsay again) EVERYONE was on the floor in front of the stage, jumping up and down and dancing with enthusiasm. The whole spirit of the thing was positive, communal and free without being rebellious or hedonistic and Mucca Pazza set the tone for that. These crazy people were ROLE MODELS.

Christians need to be as fearless, uninhibited, joyful and encouraging as Mucca Pazza was that night. We need to break down the us-them barrier and involve people in the Christian life, even if they aren't "part of the band."

After they finished their second number, one of the band members got on the mike and said:
"Thank you Messiah College, for inviting us and having us here. We really like you. And thanks for being SO into us!"

I shouted back: "NO! Thank YOU!" and walked out of the building.

Come back any time Mucca Pazza, you were the unlikeliest missionaries, but I was blessed by your coming and by what I saw happen in the student body.