U2 Top Ten Song: 7 “Pride (In the Name of Love)”

One thing I did not anticipate when I moved to eastern Germany two decades ago, was the deep impact that Martin Luther King Jr. had had on this part of the world. It was actually a mutual, two-way impact. King’s father had attended an event for Baptist pastors in Berlin, Germany in the 1930s, and was so inspired by Martin Luther’s example, that he changed his name from Michael King to Martin Luther King, and his five-year-old son from Michael King Jr. to Martin Luther King Jr.

Decades later, MLK Jr. visited East Berlin and so inspired the people with his passive resistance, that they still credit him with a part in the fall of the wall. There is not end to the impact this man had on society in the West. Even U2 were inspired by his story to write what I see as their 8th-best song.

“Pride (In the Name of Love)” is not a biographical song, though. It is a meditation on sacrifice, courage, and the strange relationship between pride and love. The tension is right there in the title. Pride is usually seen as a vice and not a virtue in Scripture. Pride builds itself up. It seeks power, recognition, and control. Love is the opposite impulse. It gives itself away. Love sacrifices. Love serves. History is full of people who have committed terrible acts in the name of pride. However, there are also examples of people standing firm against injustices because they love something more than themselves.

MLK Jr. is an example of this sort of love. He faced threats, imprisonment, and ultimately death in the name of both justice AND nonviolence. He was remarkable because of his commitment to self-sacrifice. The song’s line, “One man come in the name of love,” captures this commitment.

King did not find that kind of love in himself, though. He drew upon the example of the life and teachings of his Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus commands His followers to love their enemies, and to absorb suffering rather than return it. The civil rights movement was not just a political struggle. It was an attempt to put Christian convictions into public action. The goal was always reconciliation and justice, not just the defeat of enemies.

The larger picture that this song paints explains why it still resonates all these decades later. It is a reminder that the people who change the world most are not those who cease at power, but those who surrender themselves for others. The message honors MLK Jr., but it is really pointing towards the example of Christ. The Christian conviction is that love is stronger than fear, stronger than violence, and stronger than death itself.

The message is not that we should admire the examples of Christian love that we see in history. It is an appeal, a call, to ask ourselves, “What are we living for?” Pride seeks its own glory, its own benefit, its own way. Love seeks the good of another. Pride builds the self up. Love leaves a legacy that lasts. MLK Jr. understood this. He learned it from the One who came in the name of love.