I simply could not resist posting this. It is Bono’s acceptance speech for an NAACP award. I have seldom heard a more prophetic voice in our time that was graced with such poetic elegance and piercing flair. Please watch and tell me if your heart is not touched. [HT Mike Todd]
Technorati Tags: Christianity, Kingdom+of+God, Piety+Practice, Poetry, Prayer, NACCP, Bono
Great speach from Bono.
“Love thy neighbor is not a statement, but a command” Amen.
Like, wow.
Awesome.
John that was an excellent speech. It brings tears to my eyes. Very poetic indeed.
Thanks for chiming in Andrew. It is indeed a prophetic and poetic plea…I like Bono and think he has much to say to the way the powers can oppress…
Very powerful. All the clapping and all the pleas for the oppressed and suffering was very stirring. Especially at the end when bonos voice starts breaking up from his own emotion. Two things were going through my head. How is it that God is with the poor as bono states? What does that statement mean? How does that idea manifest in reality? How does it relate to everything that paul explicates about the means by which a man is justified? For example if youre poor or if you are an orphan or if you are a war refugee are you automatically exempt from having to believe the gospel in order to be saved? After some thought and some research on the net one part of me said , No, the “rules” still apply and another part of me wanted to say “i’m not sure” Most of the “not sure” parts were from the emotional part of me that wanted to let the gravity of human sin slide and to make it easier to be saved or to relax the requirements or something but that in the end I felt was “dangerous ground” I’m still searching to find a more complete answer for myself, something I can have the confidence is faithful to what is revealed in scripture and also rings true with life experience and personal intuition. I am a huge champion , that if something is true you have to believe it and accept that regardless of how you feel. Truth is not relative. Something is or isnt true simply as a consequence of how we feel about it. Feelings have no effects on truth. Anyways when i realized that James , when he talks about “pure religion is this to visit the poor the widow and the fatherless in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” what i think he is talking about is not how a man is justified or “what is the gospel?” rather he is talking about where gods heart is in regards to the suffering and the poor, where, therefore our hearts should be and what kind of faith saves? The kind of faith that produces action is the kind of faith that saves not its antithesis. I breathed a sigh of relief because I knew that being poor or rich for that matter isnt how men are justified. The gospel was still the gospel. There is only one way that men and women can be justified and that way was through faith alone in christ alone. This is the great equalizer. I also liked how bono said that to love your neighbour was a command and not just a piece of good advice which seems to me that he is willing to tell the truth for the sake of truth regardless of how it is received, while at the same time excercising all his irish charm while saying it. Smooth!If putting aside our perceptions of who god is, only temporarily, so as to pull together some emergency relief to save people threatened by catastrophe then i can definately go along with that (how can dead people hear the gospel, right?)but ultimately who god is is a matter of eternal life or death. A faith in Baal cannot save, nor a faith in buddha or whatever, only faith in christ and the god of the bible can save. Ideas about God have consequences and we need to gaurd that with all we’ve got. If thats up for grabs then weve sold the farm as they say. I’m also impressed how bono has put a name to god in the song Yahweh. Which alot of people who are in the public eye arent willing to do. I have been a big fan of bono since a teenager and at times have wanted to hate him but then he goes an evokes the name yahweh, then i think fcuk , I cant hate him now! damn! Bono is mr.cool!