Joe the Turk: God's Fool!
The Apostle Paul famously wrote these words: “We are fool’s for Christ…” Or as The Message paraphrases it: “We’re the Messiah’s misfits” (1 Corinthians 4:10).
Foolishness: absurd, insane, laughable.
Insanity: extreme foolishness or an act that demonstrates it – Encarta.
Misfit: Oddity, eccentric, nonconformist, somebody who is out of place in a particular situation or environment – Encarta.
There is a bit of the fool in all of us, innately part of our Genesis DNA. Somewhere along the way, a “Mores Committee” was formed by the best and brightest among us, its only item of business being to adjudge “normal” patterns of behavior.
Normal: conforming to the usual standard, type, or custom – Encarta.
Mores: (pronounced /ˈmɔːreɪz/) are norms or customs. Mores derive from the established practices of a society rather than its written laws. They consist of shared understandings about the kinds of behaviour likely to evoke approval, disapproval, toleration or sanction, within particular contexts - Wikipedia.
Early on in our life together, Doris attended a nursing conference on “Laughter in Healing.” The sessions were punctuated with a bit of tomfoolery, designed to illicit laughter; they even had a booth where silly stuff was sold: red ping pong ball noses, wolf whistles, crazy hats and the like. The idea being that a nurse’s bedside manner should include a bit of thoughtfully practiced clownery so as to speed up the healing process.
Upon her return she presented me with a red nose and baseball cap, its inscription reading: “Y B Normal?” Nonplussed, I wondered, “Was she trying to tell me something or was this given in the form of a challenge?” From that day forward normalcy took on a whole new meaning in our life and ministry, much to the chagrin of many self appointed MC members that were soon to follow (Look for illustrations in the pages to come). Sanctified misfits were we, ah but in good company, the likes of Saint Paul, General Booth and Joe the Turk.
After all, foolishness is in the eye of the beholder, isn’t it?
To one it’s foolishness; to another power:
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV)
To another wisdom:
“Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (20)
To another salvation:
“For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.” (21-22)
(From a War Cry article in 1880)
General William Booth: “If I thought I could win one more soul to the Lord by walking on my head and playing the tambourine with my toes, I'd learn how!” (Spoken to the young Rudyard Kipling)
(Message to last Christian Mission Congress)
“Cast off all bonds of prejudice and custom, and let the love of Christ, which is in you, have free course to run out in all conceivable schemes and methods of labour for the souls of men.”
The foolishness part of Booth’s Genesis DNA rings forth in these proclamations, giving his followers permission to release the fool that resides repressed within, thumbing their noses at that blasted, ubiquitous Mores Committee, which has unfortunately proliferated totally out of control.
Staff Captain Joseph Garabed, the quintessential historical essence of those followers, needed little coaxing, propriety be damned for Jesus sake! Appropriately, it was in San Francisco’s Barbary Coast in the 1880’s where “Joe the Turk” met The Salvation Army, literally a match made in heaven.
Novelty was his trademark, including the wearing of a turban or fez with his uniform, which usually was bright red with a gold braid. Joe carried a large umbrella decorated with slogans and pictures of the Booths. To the wonder of his audiences, little light bulbs made it glow in the dark, and on top was a small miniature statue of liberty with a torch that also lit up. If a goat cart suited his purpose, he would form a mini-circus and parade into town to gain attention.
Considered a misfit by many, the God-given fool within was translated into power, wisdom and salvation, winning the right to unleash that divine foolishness on street-corners everywhere: “53 times to jail for Jesus” his battle cry.
How would “Joe” be received in the Army today? Would his conduct be met with an tsk-tsk – that Mores Committee trademarked clucking, sucking sound signaling the onset of foolish behavior? And if the forefinger is moved back and forth along with the sound, look out!
tsk-tsk: to express disapproval of by or as if by uttering tsk – Mirriam-Webster Online.
Even secular innovators, historically, were met by tsk-tsks, or stronger, at the beginning of something new. “Orville. Wilbur. You’ve got to be kidding! Don’t go up in that! Are you insane? Tsk tsk."
The Genesis person, even more so, understands the power, wisdom and salvation of releasing the divine fool within. Tsk-tsk is not in the vocabulary of a Genesis thinker. It is saying “No!” to the wisdom of the world, and “Yes!” to the perceived foolishness of the Kingdom.
“William. Catherine. Joe. You’ve got to be kidding! Don’t dress up like that! Are you insane? Tsk, tsk."
Cyberspace Link: A dramatic portrayal of Joe the Turk’s life. It is a long video segment, technically challenged and starting slow, but listen to the first song to catch a glimpse of Joe’s Genesis spirit: Truly one of God’s fools.
