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A while ago I had the awesome experience of a concert by U2, arguably the biggest rock band in the world. It was a truly spirit-filled experience. The same week I had been reading about John the Baptist. The comparison between Jono the Baptist and Bono the lead singer of U2 popped into my mind and wouldn’t leave me alone. Here was Bono, set apart from the core of institutional religion, in a religious sense out in the wilderness, with crowds being attracted to him. Here was Bono, just like Jono, preaching a version of, “repent, for the Kingdom of God is near”. 80000 people in NZ heard the gospel message that weekend. Not from pulpits and lecterns but through rock music and the spiritual gift of a contemporary prophet. 

Bono used sources as diverse as Monty Python and the Bible to preach a message of hope, of heaven on earth. Taking a young girl onto the stage he challenged us to work together to make this world a place that her generation could feel safe in. He called us to join in what God is doing, by reaching out to the poor and oppressed, and standing up against violence. His call to repent called us to take seriously the message of Jesus Christ – “Love your enemies, do good to those who hurt you”, “blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God”, or in Bono’s words, “We don’t have to become monsters to get rid of monsters”.

Using principles from the Sermon on the Mount – “the sun shines on the good and bad alike” – Bono highlighted the need to look at the similarities between peoples as a starting point for dialogue with our ‘neighbours’ by chanting, “Jew, Jesus and Mohammad – all children of Abraham.”

Surely in recognising that, as Solzhenitsyn put it, “the line between good and evil runs through each of our hearts”, we can humbly approach those we don’t understand, looking for similarities, points of contact, rather than approaching them with the attitude that they are wrong and in need of conversion while we are right and deserving of retribution. From this attitude of pride and arrogance Bono calls us to repent. As the lyrics of one song say, “If you’re looking for someone to blame, throw a rock in the air and you’ll hit someone who’s guilty.” We are all ‘as guilty as sin’.

And from an attitude of humility we can begin to make peace – to allow the Holy Spirit to act and see the kingdom of God, heaven on earth, revealed – a new day in which our children can live without fear, without constant security surveillance and without having their bags blown up if they leave them unattended in airports.

In 2000 years the form has changed a great deal but perhaps the content of the message hasn’t. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near,” cried Jono the Baptist. “If you want to kiss the sky you better learn how to kneel,” cries Bono the rock star.