bono: he's got this part right
brian bailey posted this the other day: some stuff bono had to say recently about our mission as the Church.
i like especially this quote:
"God is in the slums and the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives. And God is with us, if we are with them."
bono's got some stuff right. i'm not a big proponent of his - i still think he's got some stuff mixed up with the whole montra about COEXIST and all paths leading to God and all that. however, what he's doing by bringing to light the need for a response to the incomprehensibly huge crisis in africa with AIDS and the orphans it is creating - i totally appreciate.
2 comments:
Bono's voice is not only heard through his writing and singing award winning music, along with the group U2, who have sold over 125 million album sales through the years.
Bono's IS the loudest voice crying out on behalf of Africa and it's AIDS crisis.
And it is a crisis when you consider 6,500 Africans die a day from AIDS and another 9000 more are infected. That is comparable to a small city any where in the U.S being entirely wiped out due to sickness. Like, overnight.
I can't even imagine it.
We know it's out there, we know it's a problem, but apparently we aren't touched by it enough to make us wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night or write songs about it. I rarely ponder the thought of AIDS, why should I?
I know no one with it.
In my entire years as a Christian, I've only known of one person who had it, and it was someone who we knew from a church and no one knew it, (not even the spouse or children) only my husband and I, and only because we were told in confidence, by a hosptial employee that told us by accident. She swore us to never tell that she had told us, and we didn't. We couldn't do anything to help, that person slid away, ashamed and we haven't a clue where they are or aren't, today.
I have to confess, I was shocked.It took me days to get over it. Come on folks, we can't be so blind, there are people infected with HIV or AIDS in our churches, sitting beside us and we haven't dealt with it as Americans or Christians because it's not talked about. We don't see it, we don't feel it and we can't smell the stench of death daily or weekly even, so we don't have to acknowlege it.
Right, we know that it is bad in some parts of the world, but we just see that on TV or hear about it from missionaries.
But imagine with me......your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers, your entire family, dead, dying or infected with AIDS, let alone your entire Country and Continent, overcome by this disease. It staggers the mind.
Bono has brought obvious WORLD WIDE attention to this situation, more so than any other person on the planet and I commend him for that.
His "Make History Poverty" is another issue though.....I'm all for helping poor African nations to be released from their debts in order to take better care of their people, but it's not happening and it won't. Why? Because the Governments and the Leaders have been, and continue to be corrupt. Even monies given don't end up buying the drugs they are supposed to buy in order to save their own people's lives.
Bono could be doing a million other things like most rock stars do.
He has a lot of things that churn in him spiritually, you can tell that from his song lyrics, etc.
He "may" or "may not" be there in his search for God.
Yet, regardless, he is at least reaching out to the helpless in more ways than many.
i am not discounting the suffering and misery in africa and especially those that suffer from aids but what about the the souls of the lost right here in our own home town of baton rouge? outside of supporting my local church, giving to missionaries, and constant prayer, there is little else I can do for them but the lost souls of our great city and state...there is something that i can do. I can train myself and others on how to effectively and biblically share the Good News with them in a way that brings about the knowledge of sin and how exceedingly sinful it is. they will then run to the cross where they will be justified by faith. Gal 3:24
let's break out of our comfort zones and engage this culture...heaven only knows IT is engaging us and the lost as well. we have the truth...they have the lie and yet we just won't give it away because we are afraid of rejection or worse yet, we don't know how because our leaders won't allow a teaching into the church that will train our soldiers how to reach the lost because it speaks of sin and we wouldn't want to offend anyone with that kind of message.
150,000 people die everyday and we sit in our meetings and countless other church activities while a majority of them die without one of us reaching out to them to save them from the fire (Jude 23)
we see jehovah's witnesses and mormons all the time sharing their faith and yet, when was the last time you were approached by a Christian trying to share his faith with you? Think about it...we have the greatest treasure that exists and we won't give it away!! WHY?!?!?!
Chris Fontenot
Baton Rouge LA
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