Let’s take away the supernatural for a minute and concentrate on the man at the centre instead.

Jesus said to live a life of selflessness, to always put others before yourself, show people nothing but respect and decency and to just let things go.

Even though the people in the headlines are often the opposite of this Jesus followers are still an invisible glue that binds society together, often where the state has failed.

I’ve seen firsthand how a church can act as an intermediary between law enforcement and deprived estates. I’ve seen people handing out bottles of water and flip-flops to revellers on a Friday night. And I’ve heard the tragic stories of people turning up to my local vicarage in the middle of the night with nowhere else to turn. Would you let a stranger in banging on your door at 2am? I know I’d be scared to.

The church and its opposition gets too bogged down debating theology and misses the wood for the trees. I and others like me concentrate less on the how and more on the why: bettering ourselves and in turn hopefully making the world a better place than we entered it through a life of love and sacrifice.

That was a message Jesus first century followers seemed intent on risking their lives to protect.