A Month in the Life

In the Spirit of the Coffee-House
I was pleased and a little surprised that my U2 blog scored a response from a fellow 90&9 blogger, David (check out "Dismantling Bono"); I appreciate his considered response. So, in the same spirit, let me reply and attempt to clarify some of the "issues". At the end of the day, if you compare our answers, it seems to me that we end up on the same page: a certain fascination with all things Bono, and a certain nagging hesitancy about his all-too-purposeful ambiguity.

Looking for Questions
David nails the essence of U2 with this statement: "To me, the bottom line on Bono is this. Yes, he asks some probing spiritual questions in his lyrics. Yes, he sings about the spiritual quest we are all on. Without a doubt his songs have spiritual overtones and even when the do not they are usually about some worthwhile cause. But Bono never offers an answer! And that is the key . . . Bono asks the right questions but doesn't offer any answers." (italics mine)

I've grown up Apostolic my whole life; my parents would lean toward the more conservative end of the spectrum. As an example, I wasn't allowed to play video games (I'm not sure it was exactly a religious conviction; all I know is I never had a Nintendo or Sega or anything like that-this might explain my techno-Neanderthal ways in part). So, like all good Apostolic youth, I played them at my friends' houses. I am in no way remorseful about my raising; I have great parents, so this isn't going to turn into some sort of histrionic catharsis.

But David states exactly why I pay attention to what Bono and Rob Thomas and other secular artists say when they begin to speak on religious themes. I don't go to them looking for "answers", I go to them looking for questions.

I think it was Marilyn Manson, in a long-forgotten interview, who hit me with this reality. He said (I paraphrase), "For two thousand years, Chrsitianity has controlled our image of death and sexuality with their image of the cross. Is it a symbol of hope or hopelessness?" Two things I realized: 1) Marilyn Manson is one of the most, well, "theologically-aware" artists of the present generation (plus Satanically-influenced, a not all-too-minor detail); he is extremely intelligent and purposeful in his frankly diabolical work. 2) He simply gave voice to the question that this generation was asking: "What does the Cross really mean?"; that's why he appeals to so many alienated young people-not so much that his music gives them answers but that his music identifies their questions.

The Wisdom of Abraham Maslow
"If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."-Dr. Abraham Maslow

If there's any "problem" or "crisis" in the contemporary Apostolic movement, it's that we only have one tool (Acts 2:38). We keep hammering people with the "salvation message", but we never pay attention to what kind of questions they are asking. We're trying to convince our generation that there is only one God, not three; they're asking, "Is there even a 'god' to begin with?"

That's why we're looked at as a little bit loony. Not that those distinctive doctrines aren't important (please don't be so obtuse as to accuse me of saying that); they are vital to a truly Apostolic identity but they are not initial. All too often, when we meet new, unchurched peopole, we "run up the colors" so to speak; we feel somehow that God or our peers will be disappointed if they don't know I'm a "one God-tongue talkin'-Apostolic-holy rollin'-born again-heavenbound-believer" in 3.2 seconds flat. We almost literally, "blow them away".

Let me try this another way: remember the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. God uses Star Trek's transporter beam and takes Philip from the middle of a great revival (hope he was done preaching) and plants him in the desert. Along comes this Ethiopian eunuch reading from Isaiah. Phil says, "What'cha readin'?"

"I dunno," replies the eunuch. "This Isaiah dude is radical, mon." (Jamaican accent for some reason). "Who's he talking about? Himself or some other?"

So Philip (I'll be a little less paraphrastic here) starts "from that Scripture and preaches to him Jesus." He started where the eunuch was, then worked up to where he needed to be.

Where is Our World?
Can we answer that question anywhere near accurately? Do we know what's foremost on people's minds? We can't begin with our "pet doctrines" as it were; we must begin with people's needs. Paul uses multiple images to convey the whole idea of "salvation"; each of those images can reach a different kind of situation. Feeling guilty over your actions? Jesus provides "justification". Feeling lost, like you don't belong? Salvation is "adoption"-you now belong to Jesus. You get the picture.

I do not operate under any sort of delusion that Bono is some sort of "closet Christian"; to Jesus, that was an oxymoronic phrase (see Mark 8:38). And just to settle the score on another point, Creed is not a "Christian" band either. Both Bono and Scott Stapp have Christian roots and influences, but if you, as a Holy-Ghost filled person, are looking to them for spiritual nourishment, you've got other issues well beyond the scope of this blog. I don't expect to be spiritually fed or uplifted (in the Apostolic sense of those words) when I hear a U2 song; I expect my faith to be challenged-I expect to be pushed to answer the hard questions of life that don't conform to easy Christian formulae. How do you proclaim the wonderful love of Christ when so many of His "children" are, well, snobbish, self-absorbed jerks playing endless political games with people's lives? Be honest, there's one or two in every church.

For me, as well, David, Bono does not have any "answers". But sometimes he can really frame a question for me, putting it in such a way that I go, "Oh, now I see what people are missing!" It's the same "aha!" moment I had reading Doestoevsky's Brothers Karamazov, perusing that Marilyn Manson interview I mentioned earlier, and listening to my non-Christian friends tell my why their favorite movie was a vampire flick. It's moments where, I believe, the Spirit gives me insight into another person or group and allows me to understand their particular struggles and, perhaps, gives me a way to make the Gospel appear real to their need.

So, (cue sounds of coffee-slurping and a little Coltrane smogging the aural atmosphere . . .) would anyone else like to "weigh in" for this cyber-coffee klatch?

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!