Anyone who grew up in the church will probably remember when the rock band U2 came on the scene with songs like “40”. This came out in the early eighties and it was just Bono singing Psalm 40 from scripture with the band. Some of their other songs were considered to be religious as well and it created quite the excitement in Christian circles. Wow, a Christian band in the secular market maybe this will create some interest in Christ. Then Bono used the infamous expletive on the MTV music awards, and all doubt of their Christianity became the topic of conversation. We all have read about Bono’s extensive charity work and some would consider him to be a saint. Personally I have not seen or heard Bono or any of the other members of U2 make any statements regarding their relationship with Christ. But regardless of his or the band’s commitment to Christ some churches have still taken their ideas and song lyrics into their corporate worship. I ran across a little news article that reports just this alleged fact. You can see the article at the following link. U2-charist.

I researched the song “If God Will Send His Angels” which is the song mentioned in this smaller article. I would recommend looking at it to review the lyrics. Now please tell me if you can picture a congregation singing this song in their communion services as the article suggests. The article also suggests that this song is being used in over 150 churches in 15 states of across the US.

Ok. I kinda get the whole being relevant thing the emerging church movement is focused on. I don’t like it, but I do get it. I guess this is just one more step in that progression. Maybe more of a leap. The song has no relationship at all to the sacrament or observation of communion, let alone any relevance to worshipping a holy God. Borrowing the beats from contemporary music is one thing but borrowing the lyrics from songs such as these is ridiculous, and in my mind an abomination to the Lord.

Forget about goblins and ghouls on this Halloween. Do you wanna see something really scary? Watch as the church (and I use the term loosely) focuses on relevance over substance. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!