Now I don’t know if you’ve ever spent time with a teenager, but I’d estimate that the attention span of the species clocks in around three minutes. And at the end of that three minutes you’d better have something new and exciting if you wish to avoid seeing their backsides walking away from you.

As if narcoleptic independent film, professional dropping, facial lacerations through furniture, and mime (need I say more), were not enough, Dr. Gordon had one more act to perform – the stern lecture. You see, at some point, fairly early on in the performance, the natives had become restless, as teenagers often do, and they began talking quietly among themselves. It didn’t take long for this quiet whisper to become somewhat of a roar, and this was not part of “Gordon the Great’s” plan.

Sharing one’s faith in a public setting is a tricky thing. Any great evangelist will tell you that in order to effectively reach an audience you must capture their attention and gain their trust. The first is often achieved through dynamic speaking, humor and expression through the arts. Trust happens when an audience feels that you understand exactly whom you are communicating to/with.

Dr. Gordon had done neither of these things, yet when the time in his script that read “spiritual message” came up, he did not hesitate to charge straight through. I think it’s safe to say that he never once asked himself “have I gained their attention and earned their trust?” If he did (and was honest with himself) he would have seen that preaching at this particular time was probably going to be more than a little tough. Please don’t get me wrong, even Jesus preached to hostile crowds, and won them over, but it was very hard to tell where this guy was coming from, and it was about to get harder.

The lecture, or more appropriately “guilt trip” came in the middle of the doctor’s sermon, when he began speaking very loudly, and then, suddenly, he snapped. He turned to the young men and women of the audience, and with the tone and delivery of a substitute teacher, shouted out “Excuse me, this is MY time, and I’m going to wait until you can quiet down!” The audience did quiet down, but not out of respect, but rather out of contemplation. You could actually feel them pondering whether or not they should continue talking just to shut this guy up.

Being that these were not a group of troublemakers as much as just bored kids, they actually let Dr. Gordon continue! I felt this was quite generous, especially since I’d spent the last 15 minutes looking for a giant hook to yank him of the stage. (And the lead singer of our band had snuck under the front-row pews and yelled “TIME REF?!?” )

Why relate this story? Is it because I think that churches do a bad job at entertaining the youth of today? No, most certainly not. I’m simply trying to make the point that if a church wants to put on an event presenting quality and wholesome entertainment, the target audience must be considered.

I believe with all of my heart that Dr. Gordon and the sponsoring church had the best of intentions, but a few simple questions: From a purely stylistic standpoint, was a juggling mime the best opening act for a rock band? Are mimes a common source of entertainment for 13 to 18 year olds? And most importantly, as George Clinton might put it; if their “booty’s” aren’t moving can we really expect their minds to follow? That is to say, if an artist has not captured the hearts of an audience, can we really expect those hearts to be molded by the words we say? I think we owe our audiences more.

But then again, the kids were so elated when the mime act was done and our set started they stormed the stage like we were The Beatles! We could barely hear our amps all night, and this response led us to consider taking Dr. Gordo on the road with us! Well, maybe not…

Check out more info on Mr. Jackson B. Jackson at:
http://www.trixiestudios.homestead.com and
http://www.jacksonbjackson.com.