going to church with Bono

Bono. I saw my first Joshua Tree Tour t-shirt in 1987. At that time I had no idea who the band was. Being in seventh grade and all I just thought the t-shirt looked cool. Little did I know that some 20 years later I would join 80,000 of my mostly white 30/40-something peers at Soldier Field in Chicago as U2 launched their North American Tour on September 13. nice.

I’m usually the mama with the green blog but I’m about to divert from that little persona for a moment. But for those of you who are looking for a green moment or a mama moment, in a nutshell, here they are. First, I am tired. Mothers of young children do not belong in a traffic jam in a parking lot until midnight. Toddlers do not care if mama was at a concert last night.

Moms with kids also wear practical shoes and a good sweatshirt to a concert like this. Gone are the days of looking cute. 

Also, U2’s little tour, not so green. Let’s just say that they built a spaceship inside Soldier Field. Lasers, spotlights, a behemoth screen. Cool to look at. Rumors have it this little tour takes 200 semi-trucks to haul itself across the country. yikes. Rumor also has it that the band is offsetting this impact somehow. good.

Okay, green and mama moment over. Now I am going to don my church hat. Going to get all Jesus-y here for a moment. Don’t fret, I think it will be okay.

Many in the evangelical world have had Bono in their fine crosshairs for years. Since he has a powerful understanding of our human condition, the soul, and a sense of God about him, Evangelicals have tried to reel him in and claim him as their own many a time. He eludes them. I applaud him for this.

I could not help but think last night, as I listened while 80,000 people sang the first verse of “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” a cappella. While Desmond Tutu popped up onto the screen urging for global unity and a fight for justice. As a parade of people with masks pleaded the case of Burmese political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. And yes, as we sang the first verse of Amazing Grace together, I could not help but feel all churchy inside.

And what I am talking about here is the sort of church experience that makes me want to do big things for this world. The one I think Jesus would want for us. Not the one so many of us actually know.

The sort that moves my soul. That reminds me of how tragic this world is but how hopeful we can be in spite of it. The sort of experience that reminds me I have a part to play in all of this and I’d best not sit by and let it all just pass.

It was an experience that gave me no excuses for my pathetic little navel-gazing moments. It was an experience that had me jumping and listening. An experience that involved me rather than talked at me. It was a three hour time slot that flew by faster than most sermons I have ever experienced.

Now yes, I know, this was a concert. Bono is a rockstar. And the average church cannot fill a stadium or erect a spaceship to motivate people on a Sunday morning.

But all Grammys aside, it still made me take note. It was, of course, a show in every sense of the word. But it was also an attempt to move people into a different reality and I am just not sure we always do this in our churches today. Bono said that night that the sweetest melody is the one that’s not been heard (meaning our children’s dreams for our world). Preach it I say.

He sang three hours worth of music but did not feel the need to preach at us. Vision over visibility. He told us to get involved. Amen I say.

I left more fired up than I anticipated. Left feeling like I can actually make a difference. Left feeling like I had a worship experience. Not worship of Bono, but worship of the ideas Jesus claimed long before U2. Ideas like caring for the poor, fighting injustice, finding your voice, and moving toward change.

Not a half bad Sunday I say. Not a half bad Sunday at all.