Clowns in Church ?

In a December Tampa Tribune feature, local Southern Baptist preacher Tom Rives was profiled in his part-time role as KoKoMo the Clown. Said Rives "I don't think (preachers) should be going around with a Bible tucked under their arms and a scowl on their face." To his critics who say clowning is undignified, Rev. Rives said, "I tell them that all Baptist preachers are clowns. I just went to class and got certified." [Tampa Tribune, 12-3-04]

This strikes me as odd. My gut instinct has always led me to believe that clowns are Evil Personified, and apparently I am not alone; fear of Clowns(Caulrophobia) is very common. Some experts believe that the fear of Clowns arises because the painted-on emotions -- joy, for example, or sadness-- mask the real feelings and social cues. It makes us uncomfortable to see a sad person engage in hilarity or a happy person gleefully receive a kick to the posterior. But personally I think the the clown image is unsettling for a different reason. Red nose? Sure sign of the drunkard. Teeny hat? Callous disregard of suitable headgear. Squirting Flower? Desire to wreck social havoc. White face paint? Could represent the unholy pallor of the Undead. Giant red mouth? Cannibalism. Red rimmed eyes? Sleeplessness of the Damned. Yikes!

Having a clown admonishing me from the pulpit is such a chilling thought, I can't believe that Stephen King hasn't written a 900 page novel about it yet. Oh wait... Yet while a Clown Preacher is a chilling thought, there are a few other professions where clown infiltration would be worse:

NASA Director
Psychiatrist
Airline pilot
Butcher
Gynecologist
Judge
Funeral Director
President of the United States

Let's just hope that "Clowning For Christ" and "Jesting For Jesus" never really take off.