My roommate told me about this wonderful speech bono gave at the NAACP awards. Please hit play on the image and watch this. When I saw this I wept. I wept for this world that God loves, and my own tendency to forget about my neighbor. "Out of sight, out of mind" as the adage goes. I'm thankful for people like Bono and Gary Haugen who continue to bring these realities to my mind. Twenty seven million slaves in the world today. Millions more in a position of near slavery making many of the products we buy every day. Nearly one million children in Africa dying from mosquito bites. 5,500/day dying from AIDS in Africa.
When I think about these things, I long to do something, anything. How can we learn to better love our neighbor? How can we learn to better care for the poor, the lonely, the broken-hearted, and the destitute?
I pray this video stirs your heart to pray and seek God's face for the sake of His Kingdom, and His glory, and for the love of the people made in His image who suffer every day.
8 comments:
I really appreciate your sharing things like this on your blog. I didn't watch the awards, but this excerpt is most powerful and I am glad to hear Bono's words. He spoke such truth. Praise God for using him to open our eyes.
And thank you Billy for bringing it to mine.
You're awesome, man!
Pam
Bono is a true-life superhero. Just like you. Men like you and he are an inspiration to me.
What Bono is doing is good but some of his band's biggest hits are songs belittling Jesus. To me he is the consummate anti-Christ. He bashes Jesus while promoting humanitarian causes.
just to comment--on the last statement. U2 has received some criticism from Christians for some songs. I don't think he has ever bashed Jesus in one of his songs. He has critiqued how some folks live out their faith, but I've never come across a song where he bashes Jesus. I've come across a few songs that offer critiques that hit close to home for most of us in our living faithfully to Christ, but Bono is a brother in the Lord.
amen to that. bono is a brother in the lord who looks stylish in fancy sunglasses.
Here here for both Bono and Billy! You will know a tree by its fruit. Making a simple link between humanitarian causes and the anti-Christ is extremely hard to do when you read Jesus's words: "When I was hungry, you did not feed me; when I was thirsty, you did not give me drink; when I was imprisoned, you did not visit, etc." It's thought-processes like the one in that comment that have tied the hands of the church for so long. The church has hidden in the clouds, living for what she has thought were other-worldly priorities, but her lofty ambitions begin here and now at the very ground-level of this world. I hear no voice clarifying the correct connection between holy and humanitarian more clearly than the prophet in this video.
Some of bono's lyrics: (you broke the bonds, loosed the chains, carried the cross and all my shame...but I still haven't found what I'm looking for), (I curse thy rod and staff because they no longer comfort me), (Jesus can you take the time to throw a drowning man a line).... All of his songs about God or Jesus is him expressing his disappointment with Christ or Christians.
I figure I should take a minute to comment again. The last comment brought up an interesting point. U2's lyrics make some pretty provocative statements about faith. Although I would not be so bold as to say all of the band's songs express disappointment with Christ and Christians, there is a sense of frustration and desperatioin some of the lyrics.
The writings remind me of the lyrics of another more famous songwriter. A guy by the name of David, who wrote songs that folks still find comfort in today with lyrics like "Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?" or "How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?"
Was David bashing God in writing these lyrics--I don't think so. I also don't think U2 was bashing God with the lyrics quoted above. In fact, when looking at the whole song, it seems pretty clear that he wasn't.
There's a great book that shares the history of the band's spiritual journey called walk on--the spiritual journey of U2. I encourage folks to give it a read--it's a pretty interesting look at the band and what their lives with Jesus have been like.
That song that get's critiqued most often "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" has an amazing genesis. The band's manager noticed that these guys were pretty passionate about their faith, and so he encouraged them to write a "hymn". Their hymn was that song.
You see, we don't think about this often, but we are praying for God's Kingdom come (another part of the song) and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I don't know about you, but I kind of picture that looking a little different than the way the world is operating right now. I think about things like no more tears, hunger or thirst. And that seems a far cry from what my life exeperience has been--but I believe one day we will see God's Kingdom come and will be done on earth as it is in heaven--until that day, I will be looking with longing.
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