{"id":1599,"date":"2012-03-28T11:33:27","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T11:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/?p=1599"},"modified":"2018-07-20T20:37:07","modified_gmt":"2018-07-20T20:37:07","slug":"bruce-springsteen-as-preacher-and-prophet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/fellowshipofsaintsandsinners\/2012\/03\/bruce-springsteen-as-preacher-and-prophet.html","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Springsteen as Preacher and Prophet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week Bruce Springsteen kicked off his\u00a0<em>Wrecking Ball<\/em>\u00a0tour at the Phillips Arena here in Atlanta. \u00a0The pictures brought back memories of the first (and only) time I heard Springsteen live in concert at the Arena only a couple years earlier. \u00a0That night he became as much a preacher as a musician. \u00a0He was gathering up the crowds in an exhilarating, rhythmic vision of how music can help to redeem the world. \u00a0Together it seemed that preacher and congregation really could have brought the house down just with the sound of their voices.<\/p>\n<p>That night I didn&#8217;t just acquire another idol to worship- yes, Bruce, if you&#8217;re reading this, you after Jesus really are &#8220;The Boss&#8221; and I think you&#8217;re hot. \u00a0I also walked away asking what the church could learn from this rock and roll legend.<\/p>\n<p><em>Wrecking Ball<\/em>\u00a0is Bruce&#8217;s 17th studio album, and in the trademark of Springsteen, its songs describe the distance between American reality and the American dream. \u00a0Here is a clip of Springsteen performing &#8220;Death to My Hometown&#8221; in Atlanta:\u00a0<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Death To My Hometown (Atlanta 3\/18\/12)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tH3X6MhqW4k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Biblical prophecy works similarly. \u00a0Prophets hold up a vision of God&#8217;s dream for us and then tell the truth about the distance between how we&#8217;re living and how God would have us live. \u00a0They do this sort of thing over and over again.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe the most fundamental lesson of Springsteen is that this kind of truth telling needs to be happening over and over again, even when it can sound annoying after a while. \u00a0And when it&#8217;s told, it needs to be told with an enticing, full-sensory invitation to be part of God&#8217;s unfolding dream and the real conviction that together we can enflesh the dream.<\/p>\n<p>Making music together is a start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week Bruce Springsteen kicked off his\u00a0Wrecking Ball\u00a0tour at the Phillips Arena here in Atlanta. \u00a0The pictures brought back memories of the first (and only) time I heard Springsteen live in concert at the Arena only a couple years earlier. \u00a0That night he became as much a preacher as a musician. \u00a0He was gathering up&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":461,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,119,249,136],"tags":[550,167,551],"class_list":["post-1599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity-and-culture","category-church","category-preaching","category-social-justice","tag-bruce-springsteen","tag-occupy-wall-street","tag-wrecking-ball"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - 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