(Groan). This is a question I don't feel the need to answer and one I get a little tired of.  I'm sure its worse for Bono.  But I know some of you will be wondering about this so"

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Short of exploring the rich mine shafts of U2's lyrical canon, get a copy of Bono on Bono, Conversations with Michka Assayas and in particular read the chapter called "Add Eternity to That'.  It's a great read and as you read the whole book it is clear that Bono is a Bible reading, praying kind of guy.  He has a living faith.  Here's an important quote:

Bono: "I'm holding out that Jesus took my sins onto the Cross, because I know who I am, and I hope I don't have to depend on my own religiosity" the point of the death of Christ is that Christ took on the sins of the world" that our sinful nature does not reap the obvious death" It's not our own good works that get us through the gates of Heaven".

Michka: "" Such great hope is wonderful, even though it’s close to lunacy in my view. Christ has his rank among the world's great thinkers. But Son of God, isn't that fanciful?"

Bono: "No, it's not farfetched to me.  Look, the secular response to the Christ story always goes like this: he was a great prophet, obviously a very interesting guy, had a lot to say along the lines of other great prophets, be they Elijah, Muhammed, Buddha, or Confucius. But actually Christ doesn't allow you that. He doesn't let you off the hook. Christ says: "No. I'm not saying I'm a teacher, don't' call me teacher" I'm saying: I am God incarnate…'. So what you're left with is: either Christ was who he said he was " the Messiah " or a complete nutcase" When I look at the cross of Christ, what I see up there is all my $#!+ and everybody else's. So I ask myself a question a lot of people have asked: Who is this man? And was He who He said He was, or was He just a religious nut?" (pages 204-206).

So there you have it. Grace not works. Justification by the blood of Jesus alone through our faith in him. Importantly, Christ's uniqueness is clear. All roads do not lead to Rome.

Now if you saw the Denton interview on Enough Rope you would remember that Bono openly admits his failings when it comes to godliness. He acknowledges that he is not a great example of a Christian. I recognise that we cannot divorce someone's personal life from his or her public life and confession of faith. There should be consistency, not duplicity. But can you or I claim to be consistent with the gospel word implanted in us?

It is for this reason that the letter of James cuts us so deep each time we read it. The perfect, complete man or woman of God is hard to find. After all, God had to point Job out to Satan. I think most of us would openly admit to finding it really hard to live a godly life before our work mates and family. We know our imperfections too. 

The difference between you or me and Bono is that he's a mega-star, we're not. His face is on a thousand websites. His life is up for public scrutiny. I think it is astonishing how little muck the media has managed to scrape up on him given he has been much criticised over the years for his zealous campaigning for justice issues. You should know that Bono will sometimes deliberately disappoint our expectations of what a Christian should be just to get us off his back. Our expectations of him are a burden few people if any could bear.

Further, doesn't he deserve some privacy? 

How much do we actually know about his family life? Almost nothing. How much do we know about his spiritual disciplines? A few gleanings here and there. If you were Bono, what church would you go to? Cause I'll be there next week asking for an autograph. 

How much do we know about his willingness to evangelise others? Not a lot. Is that something you would brag about in the media if you were in his shoes? Surely that would be a breach of someone else's privacy (though there is evidence of him being ready to talk your ear off if you ask him privately. One story has it that after speaking with a member of Oasis he sent him a copy of Phillip Yancey's What's So Amazing About Grace?). 

On the positive side, Bono and the band have been known to give generously to many worthy causes, but you will never see them publicise such things. It should be recognised that Bono is still married to the same woman that he met in his early teens.  He is a father of four kids. 

Bono's campaigning for justice issues and in particular the "Make Poverty History' campaign are well known. He knows his celebrity has great currency and is prepared to cash it in for issues that really matter. He could sit around and disappear into his own ego. Further, Bono does, what many of us Christians in the comfortable West have forgotten to do: remind the rulers to speak up for the oppressed and deal justly with them (Prov 31:8,9). 

Christ in his ascension has empowered us to pray, proclaim his gospel and speak up prophetically in his name. This "prophetic word', means "sizing up our world' and articulating what needs to be done. But we have allowed our society to say: "fob off Christian'. All under the very misunderstood banner of "keep church and state separate'.

But I digress. If you really want a full throttle defence of Bono's faith, its worthwhile reading Walk On, The Spiritual Journey of U2 by Steve Stockman. I don't agree with everything Steve says and I think he overstates his case on more than one occasion. I think Steve often sounds a bit too close to his subject to be sufficiently objective (and you may of course say that about me too!), sometimes "over-defending' Bono. He does, however, have some very helpful reflections on U2's lyrics. 

But at the end of the day, Bono does not need us to defend him. He stands or falls before Jesus, not you or me

So, what implications does this have for using Bono in our evangelism?

It is probably unwise to use him as a model of the Christian life. Bono's lyrics and the causes he stands for give us opportunity to introduce people to Christ. What I suggest is to focus on the lyrics of U2's songs. From there it will be possible to move directly to talking about Christ. Easy.

After all we are trying to introduce people to Jesus not Bono aren't we? Of course, if you don't know the lyrics or the issues Bono's into, then you are probably better off using something else in your evangelism strategy.

Stephen Shearsby, children's minister at St Paul's, Menai, is attending each of the seven U2 concerts that the band will be performing in Australia. He will share his experiences of the concerts and the people he meets in a series of blogs in the coming weeks.

Read the news story, Stephen’s previous blog and next blog.