A snippet of a World Cup intro stopped me in my tracks last Saturday. If you watch even 5 minutes of the World Cup and you're me, you notice that U2 music is the exclusive soundtrack to commercials, intros, outros, etc. Which works for me - I love U2, they're the biggest band in the world, this is the biggest sports event in the world. The core intro to the tourney on Saturday was this video - U2 performing 'Magnificent' live, interspersed with the Soweto Gospel Choir (I think the version i saw was interspersed with soccer highlights).
"Magnificent" is the most obvious Christian worship song U2 has performed in years ("Yahweh" the most obvious Christian prayer-song). So I'm watching along with the rest of the world, and we see Bono literally worshipping God, raising his hands, saying 'you and I will magnify,' interspersed with clips of the choir, various South Africans and soccer players (i can't find that version online). Bono is singing of the magnificence of the LORD, while the video also celebrates the magnificence of cultures and exultancy in being human (celebrated in the Psalms as "made but a little lower than the angels").
The old me might have reacted this way: "how gross - U2 allowing a worship song to be coopted into a commercial for a game." The me today LOVES it. Here's what I take away: When you do 'whatever you do' in work, art or play with recognizable excellence; When you approach even being the best in the world at it, then you can naturally leak your faith into that 'thing you do' and people will not only accept it, they will admire it.
