Sunday, February 14, 2021

A Response to Bruce Springsteen’s Call for Unity

Last Sunday, I went to a gathering of friends from church. Most of them weren’t interested in the Super Bowl. I didn’t start watching the game until the second quarter and mostly ignored the commercials plus muted the halftime show. Therefore, I missed seeing the Jeep advertisement featuring Bruce Springsteen. I wasn’t aware of the commercial until three days later when noticing a link to that in an article about The Boss facing a drunk driving charge (which resulted in Jeep pulling the ad off the air).

I’ve never been a fan of Springsteen but appreciated his talents as a singer, songwriter, and musician. During the 1980s, I often played his records while working as a disc jockey. However, I became turned off to Springsteen as he vocalized his political beliefs more. 1994’s “Streets of Philadelphia” was written for a movie that condoned homosexuality. I thought it was one of The Boss’s weakest recordings. Yet “Philadelphia” was a top ten hit that won four Grammy Awards plus an Oscar for Best Original Song.


Five years ago, Springsteen canceled a North Carolina concert because of a proposed state law preventing transgender people from using public bathrooms of their preferred sex. The musician issued a statement saying the bill was “an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress.” There’s a difference between human rights and special rights. Would The Boss feel comfortable seeing his wife, daughter, or possibly a granddaughter share a bathroom with a man claiming to be a woman?


The Jeep ad promoted a “ReUnited States of America.” Yet, Springsteen previously bashed Donald Trump and those who voted for him. The Boss threatened to move to Australia if the president got reelected. Would he have done that commercial had Trump remained in the White House? If not, then I repudiate Bruce’s projected patriotism and his call for unity. Many liberals only tolerate the viewpoints of those who agree with them.


This past week, I watched the old end times movie “The Prodigal Planet.” Ironically, the organization enforcing the Antichrist’s laws is named UNITE. Someday in the not too distant future, everyone will take the mark of the beast if they wish to buy and sell (Revelation 13:17). Mask mandates are already conditioning people to submit to godless politicians. Unity isn’t good when it forces people to violate their conscience and (more specifically) disobey God’s word. Ephesians 4:13 does encourage “unity in the faith.” That only comes from knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.


The Jeep commercial showed Christian imagery including Springsteen walking into a chapel. In his autobiography Born to Run, he stated, “I have a personal relationship with Jesus. I believe in his power to save, love…but not to damn.” Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” One of His commandments is to “Flee sexual immorality.” (1 Corinthians 6:18) How can one profess to know the Lord but publicly endorse lifestyles that go against what the Bible says?


I remember how Bruce started living with bandmate Patti Scialfa while still married to actress Julianne Phillips. He then fathered his first child out of wedlock. I hope Bruce has repented for all that. Hebrews 13:4 warns, “Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” All types of sex outside of marriage is sin. That includes homosexual relationships.


Bruce Springsteen will someday stand before the Ultimate Boss. I pray that he fully surrenders his life to Jesus Christ. I don’t want to see him yelling “I’m On Fire” while going down to an eternity in hell. As fellow New Jerseyan Jonathan Cahn recently stated, “How can we have unity and peace in America if we have no unity and peace with God?”


“that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.” - Ephesians 1:10


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