Saturday, February 04, 2006

Bono at the Summit?

I came across a blog that named Bono as one of the speakers at this year's Leadership Summit. That was news to me, so I checked out the Willow Creek Association and this is what they say:
[Speaker:] Bono, Lead Singer of the rock group U2 and TIME Magazine's 2005 Person of the Year in an exclusive, video-taped interview with Bill Hybels.
I don't know what to make of this. A video taped session seems a little chintzy for the Summit, and the Summit has kept visits from high-profile speakers hush-hush in the past, so there is a possibility that Bono might actually show. Then again, with most attenders viewing via satellite and Bono being a notoriously busy dude, it's probably more practical to go the video route...

Verdict? Since I try to make the Summit a part of my year every year it doesn't really matter, one way or the other. But I'll still have my fingers crossed!

2 comments:

Kimberly Cangelosi said...

Sorry to be commenting on my own post, once again, but I just thought I would include this now famous quote from Michka Assayas' book Bono: In Conversation just in case there were one or two folks out there who were still in doubt if Bono is a Christian.


Bono: "It's a mind-blowing concept that the God who created the Universe might be looking for company, a real relationship with people, but the thing that keeps me on my knees is the difference between Grace and Karma."

"At the center of all religions is the idea of Karma. You know, what you put out comes back to you: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, or in physics—in physical laws—every action is met by an equal or an opposite one.

"And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that. . . . Love interrupts, if you like, the consequences of your actions, which in my case is very good news indeed, because I've done a lot of stupid stuff."

Assayas: "Like what?"

Bono: "That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. It doesn't excuse my mistakes, but I'm holding out for Grace. I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity."

Assayas: "The Son of God who takes away the sins of the world. I wish I could believe in that."

Bono:"The point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world, so that what we put out did not come back to us, and that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death. It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven."

Assayas: "That's a great idea, no denying it. Such great hope is wonderful, even though it's close to lunacy, in my view. Christ has His rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that farfetched?"

Bono:"Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: He was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammad, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off that hook. Christ says, No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't call me teacher. I'm not saying I'm a prophet. I'm saying: 'I'm the Messiah.' I'm saying: 'I am God incarnate.' . . . So what you're left with is either Christ was who He said He was—the Messiah—or a complete nutcase. . . . The idea that the entire course of civilization for over half of the globe could have its fate changed and turned upside-down by a nutcase, for me that's farfetched."

U2 Sermons said...

Huh.

...Now I can hat-tip you!

Beth