Get Up Off Your Knees:
Preaching the U2 Catalog
Edited by Raewynne J. Whiteley and Beth Maynard
(review written: January 28, 2004 by Kevin D. Hendricks)
Nonfiction
212 pages
Cowley Publications
2003

If you're any kind of U2 fan you're more than familiar with the dripping spirituality of their music. If you're asking "U Who?" you're either craving a disgusting chocolate drink or clueless about the world's biggest rock band. Either way, Get Up Off Your Knees offers religious insight into the songs of U2.

But it's not as straightforward as you might think. It's actually a collection of sermons that happen to draw upon U2's music. Sometimes those sermons delve into the depths of a song, like the flood references in "Beautiful Day" or the comparison between Psalm 44 and "Wake Up Dead Man." At other times a song is referenced as part of a theme, but the sermon could easily go with the reference.

The result is a glimpse of how preachers have used U2's music, and ultimately pop music, to make their spiritual points. If you're hoping for an analysis of U2's catalog like Into the Heart, forget it. But if you want to see how Christians can interact with mainstream music, it's intriguing.

The appendix includes a defense of intertwining pop culture and preaching, a U2 history for the newbie, and a detailed Bible study using U2 as a launch pad. As a further bonus, royalties from the book go to the latest U2 social cause, AIDS in Africa by way of TASO.