Gustavo Aguilar is a silent preacher. After work and on weekends, he dons a robe, grabs a large cross, and parades through the streets dressed as Jesus. Aguilar doesn’t proselytize unless he’s approached. This is partly out of respect for others–he realizes that not everyone he encounters will be in the mood for a sermon–and partly because he thinks a bullhorn is unnecessary. In his view, a Jesus costume–like the golden arches–is enough to lure people in. “They don’t come out of McDonald’s and say, ‘Hey, do you want to buy a Big Mac?’” says Aguilar. His analogy between religion and fast food ends there.
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Aguilar took a hammer to his music collection many years ago, smashing about 5,000 CDs, records, and tapes he’d begun to consider “satanic.” He now listens primarily to Christian bands. But every so often he gears up in his Jesus suit and heads out to a secular rock or heavy metal show–not for the music, which he insists he hears differently now, but to silently remind those in the crowd that Jesus is with them.
