Before I start my blog post, I want to share a story with you. If this is the only part of this post that you read, then let me share this. I recommend anyone who doesn't care or like or know or want Jesus to watch this video, to listen to this story. You never have to think about it or watch it again if you don't want to- just do it. This is a man who found his voice...and not through breaking legs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL_UC8s8Dwg
It's that time of year again when Big Brother makes an appearance on our television screens. I've mentioned this before in previous blogs- Big Brother has to one of my favourite reality TV programmes.
Reality TV has taken not just our society but so many countries by storm. Channel 4 have now earned a name for themselves through their endless amounts of documentaries. Whether it be babies being born, prisoners being released, different religions, different illnesses, schools, theatres, hospitals, and my favourite one being Gogglebox- a documentary about people watching TV. Just when you think television couldn't get any crazier!
But the reality is that we as a nation, as human beings, are fascinated by people. The people of our kind who live vastly different lives. We are gripped by people's well-beings, standards and boundaries. We use it as a platform to voice our opinions on their lifestyle, almost like a stadium full of empty seats where we can shout through the microphone what we believe.
We want to be heard. We want to be listened to. We want to have a voice.
So as I got myself comfortable, switched on the two big brother's I'd missed, I sat in amazement at just one man's voice.
The 'celebrities' were sharing their life stories, all competing with one another to see how outrageous and ferocious their own past could be. There were sex addicts, alcoholics, violence, newspaper articles, nudity for money...the usual. And after each story, the other people around them decided to clap, to actually applaud the 'celebrity' for their past mistake (or not so much a mistake judging by the look on their faces as they gloated in their tales.)
So up comes Jim Davidson- the man known for being a bit of a pretentious, opinionated so and so. And he stands there, telling them about his drug addictions, but suddenly he starts to talk about a 'greater power' 'a greater love' and I'm clutching my mug of tea thinking 'yes please say it please please'...and sure enough, he starts talking about God. Exclaiming that God's love is what saved him.
For all the years I've sat and watched shows like Big Brother, where boundaries and preservation are merely forgotten, I've never known someone to stand up and openly speak of God's love.
Then later on in the programme, Evander Holyfield, a very scary looking man who would quite easily take out all the housemates with one touch, confesses to being a Christian. He spent the evening reading his Bible, arguing against homosexuality, eating animals, nuclear bombs. And yet again, I clutch my mug of tea and shout 'DON'T SAY IT DON'T SAY IT'...and sure enough he did say it- accusing homosexuality of being wrong and a 'choice'.
So thus began the uproar from the general public. Campaigns of hate are being introduced virally. And again and again the Christian faith are being stereotyped and misunderstood through one man's claim.
Stephen Fry recently did a documentary on how gays are treated worldwide, and on the Gogglebox documentary (remember, the one where we watch people watching TV?!) the families sat and watched it stating that Christian's are wrong, confused and ignorant. Throughout the programme the church was being scrutinised and abused for what is written in the bible.
This blog isn't about being gay and our views on homosexuality because if it was I'd only need to write it in one sentence- Jesus adores everything about you, no matter who you are or what you stand for. The point is that finally our reality television is showing Jesus' disciples sharing their testimonies to the people that maybe don't want to hear it.
If men like Evander Holyfield, Jim Davidson and even pop stars like Jessie J can stand up and say 'yes I love God, he's saved me and this is why...' breaking all normality, then maybe our society can have their stereotypes ripped down.
I've said this before and I'll never stop saying it- Christianity is suddenly breaking these stereotypes and accusations through not just modernising but also through the power of the Holy Spirit. We're standing as an army and breaking down the walls of every reality television programme and the people that star in them.
Let's stop our faith from having a bad name chained to it because of topics like homosexuality, evil and injustice. Let's start standing up in a crowd and shouting out:
'my life has been saved and this is how...'
'my chains have been broken off because of one man...'
Because only one man's voice is powerful enough to change the world, but if we use a bit of His strength and wisdom, we can do it through him.
After all, Jesus has been and will forever be the greatest superhero in history.
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