I took my wife to her first U2 concert yesterday. (Confession: Our last concert together was Bon Jovi – filled with 40 year old women in jeans and bandannas – someone gave us free tickets). U2 rocked the house.
I find there’s a phenomenal number of Christians who love U2. My excuse is I was tracking with them long before I encountered Jesus. Sometimes I feel like it’s Christians/Pastors way of holding on to one tiny thread of relevance. My hey-i’m-still-cool card is radiohead, but I’m still stuck on their old stuff and I’m sure there’s a trendier band out there right now.
On the flip-side a more cynical side of me thinks Bono’s aware of his Christian fan-club and laces songs with spirituality just to continue courting the church crowd. Or maybe it really is reflective of his faith journey. Either way they do have some brilliant songs.
What’s it like for 60,000 strangers to be singing amazing grace together in the centre of our city? Bono, his holiness led the crowd and we all gave in. I think someone in the 500 level captured this one. It leads into ‘where the streets have no name’ which is sonically one of my favorites.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Lon –
I saw Bono interviewed by Bill Hybells for the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. Bono is a Christian (according to him), don't know him personally. The whole band are also Christians. Most of their songs are about Christ.
Bill got on him about not going to a church though he is all about social justice. Last year Bono challenged the Church to get off their butts. So, the Church did. Bono gave kudos for all the work the Church had done on AIDS in the past year or two.
U2 is the coolest Christian band I am aware of. Rock on! (By the way I am jealous you got to go to a U2 concert.)
Hey Cy, so great hearing from you! My favorite quote coming out of the first interview hybels did with bono was from a guy who left the conference saying "I went to see if Bono was really a Christian, and I left wondering if I was one".
You guys keep rocking out at the bridge, and get Ottumwa on the map, maybe they'll swing through one day!
I've never heard that before but it's great. I'm a big fan of U2… like many people U2 have played an important part of my journey to faith – and in sustaining it.
I was told this story by a very famous evangelist that she was once invited to speak at the same event as Bono a few years back. She was sceptical of Bono's Christianity… swearing, beer drinking, ambiguity etc etc etc. Anyway before the event there was a kind of prayer being said during which Bono prayed. The lady in question was positively staggered by the turn the ‘prayer meeting’ took and is now a huge Bono fan!
Great blog by the way!
thanks for visiting the site, and the encouraging comment… stay tuned in!