Bono

Daily writing prompt

When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?

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Well, in this blog I tend to talk about music and Christianity. I could think about family members, but I don’t like putting too much personal information out there. “Do unto others as you’d have them do to you”. I wouldn’t be keen on people talking about me on the web or on social media 😀.

So, in music, I’d probably say U2 and specifically Bono, because he’s the most prominent member.

Way back in the 1970s, I often thought that I’d like to have been around when the Beatles started. I didn’t really discover the Beatles until 1974. I’d like to have been there in the Cavern and heard all their hits as they released them.

Funny thing is, I might well have heard all their hits as a very young child, but I knew nothing about the Beatles until the late 1960s. I was watching The Monkees on TV, and my dad mentioned the Beatles. Beetles sounded scary, so, I didn’t investigate them until 1974.

Then, in the late 1970s, a concert by The Stranglers in Cork City Hall in November 1977 got me into punk rock. But punk rock, in its British form, started in 1976. I felt a little bit like a “Johnny come lately” even though it was just a year before. But I often hoped that I’d be able to witness something like the Beatles.

Then, at Christmas 1979, I saw U2 for the first time in Downtown Kampus in the Arcadia in Cork. They were playing with a Northern Ireland group name Protex who featured in the Shell Shock Rock movie that played in the Arcadia a few months before. I think that they showed them during an Outcasts and Rudi concert.

I remember chatting with The Undertones manager, Terri Hooley. Anyway, it set me thinking about the Northern Ireland scene. I was impressed with Protex. So, when Protex played, U2 came on first. I saw them a few times throughout 1980. I was slightly annoyed that Bono showed such enthusiasm. That wasn’t the normal demeanor that you’d expect from a Punk rock singer. Most gave the impression that they didn’t really want to be on the stage. However, the most successful groups from the punk/new wave scene were the ones that broke out of being stereotypical.

Anyway, I bought U2’s first 12-inch EP, in Kenny’s Corner record shop in Cork at the time, thinking that if they ever became famous, it might be a collector’s item. I remember it being a limited edition. I gave it away to someone in the mid-eighties who subsequently lost it 😀.

U2 had minor chart success in the UK, but it wasn’t until they got on the cover of Time Magazine that I noticed how successful they had become.

I still wasn’t big into their music until they released Achtung Baby in 1993. And I’ve been impressed with everything they’ve done since then. It’s hard to believe that it’s 46 years since I first saw them. Just think – back in 1979, who would have been still famous for 46 years? Bing Crosby perhaps. He passed away in 1977, but he was on Top of the Pops a couple of years before singing That’s What Life is All About. But he’d hardly be classed as contemporary. Well, who knows? Maybe all the Taylor Swift fans might see Bono like I saw Bing Crosby.

Let me close by giving what I regard as the most successful Christians in history. I can hardly list Jesus himself, because he never had a chance of failing. But these people were famous, but also successful in pointing people towards the Scriptures.

• The Apostle Paul
• Augustine of Hippo (354–430)
• John Wycliffe (c. 1320–1384)
• Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415)
• Martin Luther (1483–1546)
• John Calvin (1509–1564)
• William Tyndale (c. 1494–1536)
• John Wesley (1703–1791)
• C.S. Lewis (1898–1963)
• Billy Graham (1918–2018)

And here is a list of successful relatively contemporary evangelical Christians:

• John Stott – Anglican cleric and theologian; key figure in global evangelicalism
• Martyn Lloyd-Jones – Welsh preacher at Westminster Chapel; known for expository preaching
• J.I. Packer – Known for Knowing God, Packer was a Reformed theologian who emphasized holiness and biblical authority
• Cliff Richard – Pop singer known for his evangelical Christian faith.
• David Pawson – Bible teacher and author; known for his teaching on end times.
• Rico Tice – Evangelist and co-founder of Christianity Explored.
• Justin Brierley
• N.T. Wright – New Testament scholar and former Bishop of Durham; widely read evangelical theologian
• Justin Brierley – a UK-based broadcaster, author, and speaker known for his work in Christian apologetics and public dialogue between faith and secularism.
• Alister McGrath – British theologian and apologist; known for bridging science and faith.
• Wayne Grudem – American theologian best known for his Systematic Theology textbook, widely used in evangelical seminaries

Why aren’t I on that list? And why aren’t I the lead singer with U2? There’s no justice in this world 😫. Maybe I’ll be on some historic list someday. I certainly have more WordPress.com followers than Augustine ever had 🧐.

Of course, you don’t need to be famous to be successful. Some very famous people have had a positive impact on history, but for the most part, it’s ordinary people. Think of the expression, “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” It’s not only mothers, but all of us affect each other and the wider world.

Josh 1:8
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Mark 8:36
What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?