U2 for You Too?
Recently, I have become somewhat of a fan of U2. Now you may say, “Oh! Wait, they’re not a Christian Band! How could you?!?!” I do listen to mostly Christian music now. When I was younger, I really didn’t enjoy listening to Christian music, because one, it was harder to find than secular music, Secondly, secular music was cool and it sounded good (I still appreciate the musical artistry of many secular artists, even if I don’t like listening to them anymore), and lastly, at that time, frankly, Christian music wasn’t very good. The Christian radio in town was BBN which is all OLD traditional music, mostly recorded before 1980 it seems. We also had WKCL, “The Official Revival Station” They played the occasional contemporary song, (a la late ’90s) but mostly Southern and Country Gospel.
Anyway, sometime around the time I joined the band and started with Greenhouse, something happened and I didn’t want to listen to my old stuff anymore. No more Ozzy and Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Green Day. I just didn’t enjoy it anymore. (side note, at that time, I had never liked U2 for some reason. I thought they were weird, and they didn’t rock enough) Now, there is some secular music I do still listen to, but I screen it pretty carefully for content. Mostly the secular stuff I still listen to is stuff that I really enjoy the musical style. Boston and Cream for example.
Back to U2. If there is anyone out there who really likes U2 and listens to Worship Music extensively, will find that a lot of modern worship is inspired by their stye. For example, you might listen to some stuff by Delirious?, Matt Redman, some recent Newsboys, a little bit of Chris Tomlin, and the like. We just noticed the other day that the musical progression in U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” is very similar to that of the Newsboys “I Am Free”
Much of U2’s music contains Christian symbolism, although most of the time it is easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it, or the more obvious bits can sometimes be ambiguous. Anway, now that I have had this huge lead-in, I can finally get around to posting the thing I had wanted to. I was looking around for stuff about U2 and I found this. http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/interviews/2005/bono-0805.html
This is an exerpt from the book, Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas by Michka Assayas, copyright © 2005 by Michka Awwayas.
Assayas: The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that.
Bono: But I love the idea of the Sacrificial Lamb. I love the idea that God says: Look, you cretins, there are certain results to the way we are, to selfishness, and there’s a mortality as part of your very sinful nature, and, let’s face it, you’re not living a very good life, are you? There are consequences to actions. The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. That’s the point. It should keep us humbled… . It’s not our own good works that get us through the gates of heaven.
Assayas: That’s a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it’s close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has his rank among the world’s great thinkers. But Son of God, isn’t that farfetched?
Bono: No, it’s not farfetched to me. Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn’t allow you that. He doesn’t let you off that hook. Christ says: No. I’m not saying I’m a teacher, don’t call me teacher. I’m not saying I’m a prophet. I’m saying: “I’m the Messiah.” I’m saying: “I am God incarnate.” And people say: No, no, please, just be a prophet. A prophet, we can take. You’re a bit eccentric. We’ve had John the Baptist eating locusts and wild honey, we can handle that. But don’t mention the “M” word! Because, you know, we’re gonna have to crucify you. And he goes: No, no. I know you’re expecting me to come back with an army, and set you free from these creeps, but actually I am the Messiah. At this point, everyone starts staring at their shoes, and says: Oh, my God, he’s gonna keep saying this. So what you’re left with is: either Christ was who He said He was-the Messiah-or a complete nutcase.
One interesting thing is that I had just looked this up about a week ago, and then on Sunday, the Pastor at the the church I’ve been going to used this quote in his sermon. I really like it because it has that classic dry British humor, but explains things quite realistically.
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