So this evening I wandered along to one of the many churches in Manchester to hear a talk titled 'Jesus; a bearded hipster for losers. Convinced?' A controversial and extremely thought-provoking title, produced by fervent Christians themselves, suggested I was in for a very interesting evening. It was a well-put-together session all in all- the tables were dressed up, wine and cakes on offer, band playing- the kind of event that almost puts my school prom to shame! The part I want to focus on however, the part that really struck me was when one of the speakers who stood up to tell us all about her introduction to Christianity.
So she stood up, a relatively average looking woman, with bleached blonde hair, filled-in eyebrows and relatively simple clothing- someone you would walk past a million times on the street without noticing- without taking any time to think about her beliefs, her experiences, or her past. And then it struck me. All the people here, were here because they shared something in common. Something amazing- a belief, a faith and a conduct with which they lead their lives. Countless times I have probably walked past them in the streets, and never once passed a thought for their lives or for their feelings- never once realised they were Christian. The sense of community and belonging filled me. Although I had never spoken to a single one of these people before- they all knew each other, had built friendships and such, we were all fundamentally there for the same reason, faith.
So anyway, after dwelling sometime on the strangeness of this revelation- that there are thousands of people out there, such fervent believers who you could brush past, make eye contact with, or even have a conversation with and never know about such an immense part of their personal lives, she began speaking.
She spoke first of all of her non-descript background. Brought up in a non-Christian home, worked as a reporter, smoked weed on a regular basis- just an average person, exactly fitting to her original appearance. Then when she spoke of her revelation, of her moment of recognition, she became someone different. All of a sudden she had a depth to her- something we just assume that no stranger ever has. She became more than the average person on the street. She spoke of how she believed Jesus helped her out of her drug addiction, how she filled the hole inside her when even she couldn't work out what was missing. Her faith gave her a personality, something that marked her out from other people. On the outside, she was still the same as everyone else, but inside she was something special.
I was amazed, not just at what she spoke about, but more the passion with which she spoke. It stuck me, for probably the first time, that everyone here had a much greater depth to them than I could ever know about- be it religion, memories, experiences. Sometimes we are too wrapped up in our own world to realise that everyone else has a world just as big as well. We may go along, thinking we are the only Christian, for example- passing thousands of others who are just the same as us, but whom we simply brush off as filling the template of another non-descript person.
Religion is something, that whether you believe in it or not, undoubtedly strengthens and complicates the existence of an individual. It does not matter if God is real for you or not, it is incontestable that for those who do believe, their lives have so much more purpose than those who don't. They have a code of conduct, a reason for being here, and an aim to work towards. This precisely was the message of this woman's speech- that until she found Jesus, there was a part of her that was missing, her whole life seemed askew because she didn't have religion, and religion was the point.
It does not matter what it is that fills that missing piece in you- whether it is religion or family or anything. We do all have a gap, because without that gap being filled, without a purpose to life, we become robots, or the templates I previously mentioned- completing tasks for no real reason, merely going through the motions. So maybe the title of the talk was partly correct then. Jesus is for losers- those who have lost the purpose to life- that part inside themselves. He reverses them and puts them back on track. So yes, I am convinced- Jesus can hardly do much for winners- it is the losers who need the help.
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