Our pastor’s sermon today was about the danger of religion. Meaning the danger of relying on a religion or system or rules to have a relationship with God. His point (and a good one) was that many people have even been good, evangelical Christians and completely missed the idea. They got caught up in living a certain kind of life, following certain rules and felt o.k. about themselves. How wrong that can be…
It reminded me of an interview I read a few months ago between Bono (of U2) and an author who is not a follower of Jesus. Their conversation drifted into spirituality. Bono makes this statement about grace that is one of the most powerful I’ve heard…
Bono: You see, 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. It's clear to me that Karma is at the very heart of the universe. I'm absolutely sure of it. And yet, along comes this idea called Grace to upend all that "as you reap, so you will sow" stuff. Grace defies reason and logic. 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: I'd be interested to hear that.
Bono: That's between me and God. But I'd be in big trouble if Karma was going to finally be my judge. I'd be in deep shit. 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.
All I can say to that is AMEN and AMEN! May it be for me as well!
You can read a larger excerpt of this interview (which became a book) here
About Me
- Jeff
- I try to follow Jesus. I love my wife and kids. I love bands called The Choir, The Violet Burning, David Crowder Band. I love the Chicago Fire. Not necessarily always in that order...
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2 comments:
Wow - I love Bono's statement. Without grace, we could never have a relationship with God - his grace serves us and him. Thank you for sharing that.
Sometimes when I first read things it tends to clash against what I have as these 'imaginary rules' out there for my life. When going back to read this again, I find it very encouraging, and uplifting. We should all be so thankful and dependent upon grace. As Annie has said, without grace, we could never have a relationship with God.
Amen. Let it be also so with me.
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