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I have personally found that bringing up Bono in a conversation with other Christians is a pretty good litmus test for whether you're talking to a fan or a follower of the Gospel. I know that's a pretty inflammatory statement--but bear with me, because I think this encompasses a fundamental question of deeds over words in faith. I find that most of the folks who get riled over Bono either don't know that much about him, or represent that personality that can quickly switch from rapturously describing his close personal relationship with Christ to venomous quotation of Scripture to support a complete lack of empathy for those outside their Church. I think Stockman's book drills down to this phenomenon in his evaluation of the band's faith evolution over the years and the consistent derision it has received from professed followers of Christ. In chapter 2, for example, the author describes how evangelical musicians are usually warned off playing secular venues and instead "steered into a gospel band scenario... [in which] audience members are almost exclusively Christian, and... already have assented to the beliefs being preached from the stage..." Three of the four members, he argues, were firmly rooted in their faith, and decided to get out of their comfort zone and into bars and clubs--the rationale being that when Jesus took his message to hookers, lepers, and tax collectors he was not likely to find those most in need of it in the pews on Sunday morning. This contributes to a common thread in the book--religion (which Bono describes as having divided Ireland violently in half) versus spirituality. The aforementioned fourth member of the band--Adam Clayton--could be viewed as a hindrance to the others Christian journey, but having "a skeptic so close to their sense of vocation," Stockman argues, "forced the band members to apply their faith to wider issues than if they had been a naive, homogeneous bunch of believers". Here I found myself paraphrasing I Peter 1:6-7 in the margin: "Untested faith aint worth much." Another consistent thread in "Walk On" is the importance of deeds over words (as my grandmother often says, even Satan can quote Scripture). Putting their Christianity in the hot laboratory of secular venues and discussing it each day with a close friend outside the faith only served to strengthen it. The author cites the Edge: "The central faith and spirit of the band is the same. But I have less and less time for legalism now. I just see that you live a life of faith." Stockman, a Presbyterian minister and radio host, does not let up on the controversy in this examination of Christianity and celebrity. He argues that both Luther and Puritanism have retarded the gift of the arts in Church, and explores the idea that David was one of the first Blues singers. I liked his examination of some of my favorite U2 songs, i.e., the revelation that "Until the End of the World" is about Judas ("I reached out for the One I tried to destroy") and "Stuck in a Moment" is also about another well-known suicide--INXS's Michael Hutchence. I had to stop and think hard about Stockman’s evaluation of the Zoo TV tour (which I saw at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City--and I still regard as the best concert I ever attended--right after the Berlin Wall coming down and the stunning victory in Gulf War I) as U2's message that "in the early nineties... we were trivializing life" with TV and computers. Closing out the nineties, the band's "Pop" tour "was exposing the absurdity of fame and the deception that big is always better... [and] many churches were being sucked into its absurdity... seduced by the success of numbers and the spectacular event." There is a certain kind of evolution and intellectual heavy lifting evident here, in which the band moved from examining instant satellite-enabled media gratification to the implicit attack on "Healing extravaganzas and sell-out worship concerts where the worship leader became a new kind of pop star..." Do I need to bring up Jimmy Swaggart and Scott Stapp here? I also keyed into the fact that while the band consistently returned to the Bible, it was reading other great works--C.S. Lewis and Flannery O'Connor, for example--to explore the bounds of morality and Christian thought. I dug the examination of the fact that there are songs that imply that the band has lost its faith (i.e., "Acrobat" or "Wake Up Dead Man"); when you delve into the lyrics, though, these are revealed as ruminations on the struggle to hold onto it while necessarily testing it. The rub of this book may be Bono's statement that "Faith and instinct, you can't just rely on them. You have to beat them up. You have to pummel them to make sure they can withstand it, to make sure they can be trusted." To be fair, maybe that's what Mssrs. Stapp and Swaggart are doing--coping with the recognition that humanity is fallible and that's why we need to constantly revisit the ideal through prayer and meditation on Scripture; ultimately to surrender--"...this secret of spiritual living, bowing down to a higher power and losing self to gain eternity." To tie the sack shut on this excellent book, what I have always liked about U2 is what lies beneath the surface. A rock band that is humbly but firmly rooted in Christian faith. It is not overt, but it is there in their actions and song lyrics if you look for it. It follows Christ’s example in getting out amongst those who don’t embrace it—even avowed atheists. “Many believers,� writes Stockman, “distance themselves from those with differing views on God, sometimes even within different churches. Bono makes them his friends and then makes himself accountable to them. He has fellowship and sharpens his faith against those with whom he doesn’t agree because they are discussing the same issues.� Christianity is, in my opinion, a journey and not a destination. You have to earn its rewards every day and once in a while you’re going to fall down, and I think Bono and company acknowledge that. I dig U2 and their faith a lot more having read this book.