U2 @ The Intersection of Culture and Theology

I got another nice e-mail from Beth Maynard today...
"Brian [Walsh] has 2 sermons in the book ('Get Up Off Your Knees') - the one on Ps 44 and the other sort of a broad sweep through main themes of U2's career. They're both really fine work..." She kindly added a link to Prayer, Prophecy, and Pop Culture - The Hallelujah Mix from the U2 website. I see that Stephen Garner has drawn attention to it today too. The interview includes great comments by Brian and others.

"...Essentially, Christian ministry in any context, but certainly in a campus setting, is preoccupied with imagination. What kind of images shape people in our culture?...In a consumer-saturated culture, in which our imaginations have been taken captive by the corporate powers that be, Christian ministry seeks the liberation of our imaginations...So the question then becomes, what are the resources for such a transformed imagination? And, of course, Scripture and liturgy are central to all of this. But we are in need of other sources of imagination as well. That is where the arts come in, and specifically the art of U2"

I found the reference to imagination affirming as I talked a little about the importance of imagination on Sunday morning.

and this from Beth Maynard, I think:

"...Trying to speak to a culture when you don't know what it's reading, watching, and listening to is like trying to run a church in Mexico without taking the time to learn Spanish. You don't have to know all the details of every little thing, but if you don't at least have basic familiarity with the surrounding culture, you will end up teaching people that God only fits some official box remote from their actual lives."

Good stuff.

Comments

[Beth]

Yeah, that last one is me.
Hey, Paul, we should give you some sort of commission. Except of course we don't have any profits to do it with, since all the book royalties go to AIDS in Africa.

[NZ Idol]

Managed to spin NZ Idol into any sermons yet Paul? :)