Hipsters & Heaven

Only hipsters are going to heaven.

No joke.

Let me explain...

I have a handful of friends who I consider hipsters. Often I find myself tending toward lifestyle preferences that one could say fall within the realm of hipster behavior. Things such as: being an avid thrifter, listening to relatively unknown music, having an atypical style of dress and living life free-spirited.

But what is actually at the heart of a hipster?

Going to public high school in the middle of one of the most culturally diverse cities in America (Bling-Bling Silver Spring, Maryland) has helped me in understanding the core of hipster philosophy: live life outside of the mainstream, be as counter-cultural as possible.

It is this heart of hipster philosophy I resonate with and applaud the most, for it is the key fitted for our heavenly homes.

You see, this holy grail of all hipsters—being completely free from cultural conformity, living life outside of the mainstream and fully embracing one’s individuality—is a hopeless endeavor outside of the Person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was and is the only true hipster. He is the very essence and end point of every hipster’s aims and ideals.

Follow this:

“The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one [Satan]” (1 John 5:19), and absolutely everyone has conformed to his philosophy and agenda.

The sway of Satan is that we are born conformed to his ways. In the heart of every human ever born is a default bent to conform to the core principle of this world: self and selfishness…the desire to get one’s own way at the expense of everyone else’s. Poor, rich, big, small, white, black, American or Asian, all of us are equally influenced and affected by this world wide human culture.

The only one to ever break this mainstream mold—living a life in perfect counter-conformity to this principle—was Jesus! His life completely countered the principle of selfishness, for He lived a life of complete selflessness, or, love.

Jesus announced: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

Just before His death He declared: “the ruler of this world [Satan] is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (John 14:30).

No self-interest, force, coercion, manipulation, deception, scare-tactics, swords, guns or atomic-bombs were used in the establishment of His kingdom.

Only love.

When betrayed into the hands of His enemies, Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples who still struggled with understanding what it meant to be a true hipster, picked up his sword and sliced off the ear of one of Jesus’ captors. After doing an on the spot surgery, Jesus gave Peter a key lesson about His counter-cultural kingdom: “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:52-53)

It’s not that Jesus didn’t have the resources to escape, but that He had no reason to escape. His entire reason of living was to be an anti-conformist. Instead of striking with the sword (or twelve thousand of His super angels), He simply submitted. Rather than fighting evil with evil, He repaid taking by giving. Speaking of His life, Jesus said, “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself” (John 10:18).

Jesus sealed and solidified His hipster legacy by living life outside of this world’s mainstream miasma of selfishness and coercion, paving the pathway to purity of heart. He showed us that none need be "conformed to this world" (Romans 12:2).

If you live in the mainstream of this world, living life for self, I’ve got bad news for you: “the world is passing away” (1 John 2:17).

But, if you live life as a true hipster, following and copying Jesus, I’ve got good news for you: heaven is your home.