What I Learned About Church From Bono – Imminence

On U2's current tour, it would be easy to get lost in the sheer size of the spectacle.  The sense that what we're dealing with is huge is very real. 

It's also why people get hung up on God.  I have conversations every day with people who think of God as an idea - as a force - as something so large and impersonal that there's no immediate or direct connect.  Lots of us grew up in church with that concept of God.

But Bono also did something else.  He made this huge show personal.

He talked about being in Toronto a lot.  True, musicians do that in every city.  But he also told some personal stories.  He shouted out to the people in condos next to the Rogers Center and asked them to flick their lights off and on if they were listening.  They did. (That was sweet).

In one extraordinary moment, while the intro to City of Blinding Lights played, he hoisted a twelve year old boy on stage.  He ran around the perimeter of the stage with him holding the boy's hand.  During the first verse, Bono got down on his knee and sang the verse looking straight into his eyes.  Later in the song, Bono took off his glasses and put them on the boy's face.  When it was over, he handed the boy back to security and to his parents.  Extraordinary.  Check out the photo from that night.

The biggest show in the world got personal.  Very personal.  Theologians call that imminence.  God is both transcendent (large) and imminent (personal).

Is that a key to briding the gap between believers and non-believers in church?  Rather than debate worship v. performance music (we use both at Connexus), maybe a key learning is that our service 'style' ought to reflect both the transcendence of God (being part of something bigger than ourselves) and the personal side (God is so close, so personal, and so interested in each of us).

How can we do this? Do we do this?  What could we do to better reflect this?  What do you think?