Is Bono our Billy Graham? Thoughts on Today's Evangelist – Part 2

I am attempting to make the case that today, the musician (or artist) is today’s evangelist.  Now I can hear one of my friends mentally thinking right now, “Well, it depends what you mean by evangelist”.  Indeed  it does.  For years I have not been convinced that the motivation of every convert at a Billy Graham crusade was forgiveness of their sin and joining God’s narrative of redemption of all of creation.  It seems clear to me that each person comes to Jesus from a different context and a different part of the gospel appeals to them more.  Those that are in need of healing (physical, emotional) look to Jesus the Healer.  Those guilt-ridden from a list of sins that have haunted them for years seek Jesus the Forgiver.  The meaning-seeker sees Jesus as the mediator between her and God.  Some even identify with Jesus the lover of people and while they acknowledge their sin, they are even more moved by the inspiration of Jesus.  And then there are some who don’t care about Jesus at all but know they prefer heaven over hell.  That’s probably a very, very, very small percentage but let’s call them “Jesus the free ticket to heaven because I sure don’t wanna go to hell” believer.

Now it is not the purpose of this post to determine which motivations for conversion  and discipleship are authentic (although our sarcastic spirits can probably figure some of  that out), I do want to equal the playing field here when we question the motives of  those like Bono or Jars of Clay or some other musician.  But when these musicians’  activism brings clean water to a group of people, is that not true mission work?  To  some, mission work only happens if there is a “true gospel” presentation and while I certainly believe that we are to share about the crucifixion, resurrection and the way of Jesus, etc., I think too many evangelicals have largely missed the importance of things like clean water initiatives in places like Africa and addressing the needs here in our own communities.

I imagine a conversation with a missionary saying to a thirsty African: “You need Jesus, the Living Water!  See, it’s spiritual”.
Thirsty African: “I have no idea what you are talking about.  How is a name I never heard of going to give me spiritual water.”
Missionary: “You’re misunderstanding – Jesus has the water”.
Thirsty African: “Oh that’s great!  Where’s Jesus, because my family and I really thirsty”.
Missionary: “Well he’s not here he’s …
Thirsty African: “Oh. I got it the first time.  Well I wish Jesus would have come with your fancy spiritual water.  Listen, some guy from Ireland is providing water and digging wells. Frankly, he looks a bit odd but I’m headed over there.”

Sometimes I feel as an evangelical missions movement saying, “It’s too much trouble to help feed and clothe you, so you will probably die before we can do this efficiently.  But die with Jesus. We love him, so should you.  He has done so much for us and if you believe in this name that you have never heard of, you will thank us on the other side of eternity.”  This is what I am interpreting some saying.

I think that’s a very poor approach to missions, the gospel and the call to the Christian life and I hate to say it (I really do) but I think some of our artists are doing more for the Kingdom than some of our “missionaries”.

Comments

  1. I’m in complete agreement that the gospel should also be about physical needs. I’m not as convinced Bono is Billy Graham. I know he’s done a lot of good; he’s certainly been a visible advocate. But I’m not ready to say he’s got it all right.

    Some of my reasons for saying that are in this couple-year-old article (http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-easterly6jul06,0,5290414.story). The author of that article writes a blog (http://aidwatchers.com/) that talks a lot about how aid efforts can be done be more effectively. I’m not ready to agree completely with Easterly, either, but he makes some compelling points.

    Let’s talk about it sometime once I get home. Peace.

  2. If I were to write the book that is in my head and taking up copious amounts of time in distracting research, I would put forth that the Church and the Music movements have always been lock stepped — with music leading ever so slightly. Historically, music and church have just mirrored one another rhythmically.

    I don’t think that the Bono phenomenon is far fetched and have long subscribed to him at least contributing to a new face of evangelism. Let’s face it, music has gone mp3 (which may already be finding itself ushered towards irrelevance). Mission, too, is mp3 — see Kiva.org and countless others.

    I’m not saying that chamber orchestras are obselete,they’re not…they still perform and are wonderful, but they tell the Bach story more than they do the Bono story.

    I can’t vouch for Bono’s orthodoxy, but I can say that I was a worship leader in a church he attended during the filming of “Million Dollar Hotel.” He attended regularly, listened to the sermon and shook hands with the pastor on the way out. I don’t know if that’s a continued practice for the dude, but it would appear the he’s slogging through the pews trying to figure it out like the rest of us (with better shades).

    Peace and thanks for the series!

  3. Ryan Fitz says:

    Bono and U2 as a whole are actually pretty openly Christian. They started off as a Christian rock band during some of the religious fighting that was going on in Ireland, and their second album, October, is pretty overtly Christian rock. First track Gloria is pretty righteous, too.

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