Coolest Night of My Life....

I will be returning to the subject of spiritual maturity later this week, but something else now commands my thoughts and I think I've digested enough of it to write about it.

Sunday, October 18th I spent about 10 hours on my feet volunteering for One.org and rocking out to the band that has done more to minister to me than just about anyone in the course of my life...U2.

Now before any of you naysayers come popping in here to be critical just shut up and listen for a minute. They may not be your favorite band and they may not be model "Churchianity" Christians but they are men of faith and it is their faith that does not just appeal to me, but it challenges me.

I became acquainted with the 4 lads from Dublin in high school with a video on MTV. "Where the Streets Have No Name" was filmed in downtown LA without a permit. It caused a massive traffic jam and was in the process of being shut down when it was filmed. In fact, the uncut version of the video has a police officer saying over the radio "Shut the g--d---- thing down, now!" Which is right when the band began to sing.

But it was in college, that my love of these guys became so pronounced. The album The Joshua Tree and the live album Rattle and Hum were deeply coated with Scriptural references. They spoke of faith in a way that was not so blatant and obvious like the CCM of my high school days, but was subversive and lived out- Bono calls it "drawing our fish in the sand" in a Rolling Stone interview.

I never lost my enjoyment of their music, but the advent of the internet put a ton of info about U2 at my fingertips. These guys were not just singing an occasional song about faith. They were living it. Embedded in it. To the point that it seemed to affect others who were looking for faith in something but having trouble finding it...including purportedly their own bassist Adam Clayton and one of the Gallagher boys from Oasis.

And it is their faith that challenges me and makes me a mega-fan. Bono in particular speaks eloguently of Scripture's call to minister to the poor and the emphasis in the life of Christ in serving the downtrodden. His organizations DATA and One.org are committed to making these commands into a reality.

Then there are the songs- Where the Streets Have No Name has always been my favorite and will always be. It is the one song guaranteed to make any bad day better. Add to that I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For and With or Without You. Then songs like Bad, October, Yahweh, Grace, Wake Up Dead Man, Ultraviolet, Beautiful Day, and City of Blinding Lights...and I could go on. Songs of faith and liberation and a celebration of life like no other.

So with all that history and emotion I spent the day at Owen Field volunteering for One and waiting for the show. At just after 9pm we hit the Pit and for the next 2 hours it was literally like time stopped. For me, it was the first time to be at a live U2 show and the energy was amazing. But what was most awesome, was it was not just about 4 guys on a stage, it was about something Bigger, Someone bigger. And people around me could tell. The Gospel was not preached and an invitation was not offered but there was Someone there. And it came in the hearts of the guys on stage. When Bono sang Magnificent, if you were listening, it was obvious who he was singing about. And when the song One came to a close and the opening strains of Amazing Grace were played, you knew that there was more to this show than a rock band and its fans.

All of this has been whirling around in my head for over a week now. For U2, this is daily life. They perform and record. And their lives point to something greater- a God they serve. What if our lives, our daily boring, non-rock star lives were pointed to something else. What if everything we did was committed to making someone else known? Thanks again guys for reminding me as you did almost 20 years ago, that my life with Jesus is not meant to be lived in a bubble.

Measuring Spiritual Growth Part 1

This topic is tough to write about. I have struggled for a long time with defining what spiritual growth really looks like. Every time I think I have my finger on it there is a slippery moment where I have to stop and evaluate...what just happened?

So that being said, here we go with part one. I think we can measure spiritual growth from the first moments of conversion with an awareness of and new reaction to sin. I meet lots of people who are aware of the effects of sin on a daily basis, but few who realize they are the problem, not their circumstances. Awareness of sin is a huge moment in any believer's life. The moment when we stop and realize...this is a problem that affects more than just me and my life. This has eternal consequences. And in that moment we see ourselves for who we really are- sinners.

I stayed away from that word for years. I could blame the books I was reading at the time, but that's really not the case. I was just bothered by the sound of the word. It sounded so condemning and judgmental. And it is. But it is also the truth. And like all hard truths it is important how it is communicated. It's one thing to point fingers at others and assume the posture of the self-righteous. It is a whole different thing to point the finger at yourself and join your fellow sinners in the mud and mire that we are all stuck in.

For a good example of this as a first step of spiritual growth look at Paul's conversion in Acts 9. The first thing Jesus does is make Paul aware of his sin. It is in this moment that Paul realizes what he is and that he is without hope apart from Jesus. For further evidence, look at 1 Timothy 1:12-17. Look at Paul's description of himself. Spiritual growth begins with recognizing sin.

Coming soon pt 2...