Traditional vs Contemporary

This article nails it...
(note: I read this at Josh Griffin's blog)

The Christian Post had an interesting article about why students are leaving the church. A good thought about authenticity for sure. Here's a clip:

Senior Pastor Jim Shaddix describes his church as "somewhat contemporary." It has a robed choir and a praise team, hymnals and Brooklyn Tabernacle songs, and a big screen. One elderly lady believes the church needs to incorporate more hymnals into their worship services while the twenty-somethings want to ditch the choir and the robes. "What is a pastor to do?" Shaddix posed at a recent Southern Baptist conference.

"We generalize this trend as simply a choice between the traditional and contemporary," he noted.

But Shaddix does not see it in that light. Young people, he believes, are not opposed to hymns. In fact, they sing revisions of hymnals sung by contemporary artists such as Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman. And they are not opposed to the organ, or else many of them would walk out of ball games. Pastors clad in a suit and tie are also not a turnoff to the younger generation who watch late night show hosts Jay Leno and David Letterman run their monologues in a suit and tie.

Beyond the form of traditional churches and worship styles, young people, who are labeled as the future of the church, are opposed to the "fabricated Christian culture" within the traditional churches.

"They're opposed to the lifeless and heartless way we often sing those hymns," Shaddix said at the second Baptist Identity Conference in Jackson, Tenn.

Pretty insightful. I hope your church is not "lifeless and heartless" in your "traditions." Not all "traditions" are bad. I think this really hits the nail on the head. Sing your hymns, but sing them with some LIFE!

Of course, I do like some of the new arrangements of the hymn and I really enjoy worship choruses and a casual look. But I will take "life" over "likes" any day!