I’ve just watched the 3 episode documentary film ‘Live Aid at 40’ on BBC IPlayer. In spite of Bob Geldof’s constant use of the ‘f’ word, I found myself moved to tears several times.
Raw Passion
In 1985 there was such a simplicity to the message and such an urgency and passion to express it. ‘Millions are dying in the Ethiopian famine. It has to end. We can do something about it.’
First came Band Aid and the 1984 Christmas charity single, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, that shot to no 1 and sold 3,000,000 copies in the UK. Then Bob had the crazy idea called Live Aid. These concerts at Wembley and Philadelphia would use the biggest pop stars sharing their biggest hits for free -16 hours of live music to raise money for the Ethiopian cause. They raised 100 millions dollars and saved millions of lives.
Compassion
It touched me that despite Ethiopia’s alignment with communist USSR and the Cold War with the West, the graphic pictures of starving children could move America’s Republican President, Ronald Reagan, to such generous giving. And George Bush was so moved to compassion that he undertook the largest health intervention ever in Africa providing drugs and vaccines for sufferers of HIV/AIDS after being presented with the facts and figures by Bono, Geldof’s close collaborator.
Charity to Justice
Twenty years on and the passion was still there, and there was more to do. Live 8 in 2005 was a string of ten live concerts around the world that gathered millions of viewers and preceded the G8 summit in Gleneagles. The aim was to put political pressure on the G8 leaders to increase aid for developing nations and to cancel the debt that was driving poverty. Bono and Bob Geldof played key roles in rallying so many in a collective action that would inspire feelings of global responsibility and transition the focus from charitable giving to justice for the world’s poorest peoples.
Deep Sigh
Of course, there were many criticisms. The celebrities lacked intercultural sensitivity. Some complained there wasn’t enough African involvement. Others worried that they naively trusted African leaders to channel the money to their poor while some was siphoned off for weapons. I sigh deeply when I consider how hard it is to get it right. Motives are always mixed. A hunger for righteousness can mingle with arrogant defiance that refuses to take advice. They, like us, are all fallen human beings trying to serve a fallen world. However you view Band Aid and Live Aid, their accomplishments have been phenomenal.
Forty years on I wonder how President Trump could be moved with compassion towards the people of Gaza? Children bombed queuing for water or trampled to death in the surge for food? In Gaza there is neither charity nor justice. It is not antisemitic to disagree with Israel’s politics nor is it anti-Christian.
I sigh and groan with all of creation at the destruction and devastation of war. Let’s weep for those suffering in Gaza and the West Bank and pray for revelation of Jesus as Saviour of the world. Let’s also pray that the hardening on the Jewish people might be lifted that they would recognise Jesus as their Messiah (Romans 10:1). One day when the worldwide church is complete, Jesus will return. He will wipe the tears from our eyes and sorrow and sighing will flee away (Revelation 21:4, Isaiah 35:10).
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