I was sitting at my computer a few weeks ago, trying to come up with a new idea for the tenth grade class that I teach at my church. God blessed me with the following idea. I don’t know if it’s ever been done but I know I’ve never heard of it before. Here goes: Rather than make this an outdoor event and subject to parental objection, I trimmed it down to a more subdued indoor event, however, it would be great as a more involved outdoor event also.
Prior to class, I mixed up some mud, medium/thin in texture and carried it to class in a sealed plastic container. At some point during class, I selected (Use your own means of selection) four students (2 girls and 2 boys) to participate. They were allowed to take turns spreading mud on each others faces. Everyone had fun, including the bystanders. After this was done, I quickly diverted their attention to something else. It could be anything, another lesson, a Christian song, or whatever. After a while, the mud begins to dry and crack and finally, after the various diversions, I said, “and now back to the mud.” You might ask if anyone can guess what it’s all about.
The points I made were as follows (there are probably several other possible points that could be made): Playing in the mud represents when we sin, that is, it was fun and silly and we were having a great time, but, when we were through, the mud began to dry and crack and really feel uncomfortable. The brief moment of fun wasn’t worth the prolonged discomfort of the drying mud. Of course when we sin, it is only by the Blood of Jesus that we are cleansed. Finally, let them go wash off “the sin.” (Of the four students, three of them were visibly uncomfortable while one of the boys seemed to be ashamed and kept his head hung low. It really was like sin) Anyway, modify it as you like, I hope you like it and feel blessed by it.