Earlier this year, Christian musicians rallied
behind U2 front man Bono's charge for the church to
fight the AIDS crisis in Africa.
They put together a 13-song CD of covers of U2
classics such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
and "Beautiful Day," with proceeds going
to World-Vision's efforts to combat AIDS. For
someone who's followed contemporary Christian music
and U2 for two decades, it was so cool to finally
see the faith community embrace a band and a man who
has walked the walk outside the mainstream church
for most of his career. It was even cooler to see it
happen in the name of doing the work Jesus called us
to do: reaching out to help the sick and the poor.
Then I read the "Feedback" section in CCM
magazine this month and caught a note from a guy
named Christopher Stone, who was upset that the
catalyst for In the Name of Love: Artists United
for Africa was Bono drawing attention to the
AIDS crisis.
"Why did it take him saying something about it
for us to do something?" Stone wrote.
"Jesus said for us to help those in need long
before Bono's grandparents were even thought of, and
he's not a very good example of the Christian walk
either. He promotes attention to the AIDS in Africa
problem; yet with the same mouth, he proclaims
profanities. Am I the only one who sees a problem
with this?"
No, Christopher, you aren't.
I, too, think it's a shame that a rock star had to
come in and guide the church into doing something
ministers and evangelists should have been
addressing long ago.
But moreover, I see a problem with your judgmental
attitude toward Bono. But you aren't alone. Despite
U2's numerous statements of faith and unflagging
support of humanitarian efforts and social justice,
the band members and Bono in particular have
regularly been the objects of derision inside the
church because some Christians don't like their
lifestyles.
Look, can we get off this jag of downgrading a guy
for some four-letter words and a little drinking,
when basically he's spent most of his life in the
excessive world of rock 'n' roll standing up for
bedrock Christian principles such as caring for the
impoverished and oppressed.
OK, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that
when judgment day comes, the Almighty will be a lot
more interested in what we did for the least of
these than how many times we dropped the F-bomb. The
shame is that in the duration of U2's career, the
band has done a lot more than the mainstream church
has done to lead people to a concern for their
fellow humans.
You say it shouldn't be that way?
You've got that right.
I'm not saying that there are not wonderful
ministries to the poor and needy in churches in
Lexington and in the United States. I was extremely
proud to see the Faith Community Housing Foundation
on the front of our City and Region section
Wednesday, because it is one of the organizations in
Lexington that is truly doing God's work. Around the
world, groups such as Habitat for Humanity and
Compassion International also do great work in God's
name.
But all too often these days, the images we see of
Christians are the faithful carrying signs with
vicious slogans denouncing gays, evangelists on talk
shows shouting down fellow Christians critical of The
Passion of the Christ, and similar bile in the
name of Jesus.
I have no idea what they think they're
accomplishing.
They'll know we are Christians by our love?
You can stand up for your beliefs without being mean
and ugly. I talk to people all the time who think
Christians are basically about judgment and
condemnation. In light of this, Christians really
need to think about how they present themselves and
their beliefs.
Here's something that stunned me. I just read a book
by former CCM magazine editor Matthew Turner
called The Christian Culture Survival Guide.
In it, he talks about the many, many churches he has
visited searching for the right one. In one section,
he lists eight common areas for people to get
involved in churches -- things like small group
leader and worship team member -- and not once, not
once does he mention missions.
I'm not going to fault Turner for that. The shame is
that in the mainstream Christian church in the
United States, a person could visit dozens of
churches and not once be impressed that God commands
us to care for the least of our society.
No. But don't say cuss words or drink alcohol,
whether or not you're getting drunk.
Meanwhile, in the late 1980s, Bono was out there
telling us we needed to care for starving people in
Africa, that we needed to stand up against the
cruelty of apartheid -- that we need to be the
leaders in making this world a more just, fair and
humane place.
So, you tell me, you Bono bashers who just cannot
stand the fact that he occasionally uses profanity
in public and likes his Guinness chilled: Who is
modeling a Christian walk?
Our churches need a revolution to show the world
that God is about compassion and healing. And if
that revolution starts with a salty-tongued
Irishman...well...God's used stranger characters.
© Lexington Herald-Leader, 2004.
