A dangerous trend...

There is something that is happening among our churches today that is somewhat disturbing to me. I do believe this is just a trend or a fad or whatever you would like to call it but I have seen that once something like this happens others are quick to jump on board and they take it a step further and then once again someone else jumps on board and they take it a step further and pretty soon we are so far off from where it started that we are in left field.
What am I talking about? The use of secular music in our churches.
I have been told that if you think it is too loud, then you are too old. Well I have never gotten into that position ( I have been known to pump up the volume in my car ask my kids, nothing better than a little Stryper in the morning to get your blood going!) so I do not think I am too old to adress this. And as I was raised heathen so many of the songs I am hearing in churches today I was banging my head to as a young adult.
Let me put some examples out there. A few months ago there was a video of a church service where the worship band was playing "Highway to Hell" from AC/DC as an introduction to a sermon series. Now they did a very good job with the song and they seemed to be enjoying themselves but all I could think was, why? Were there not any other songs that would have introduced the series better? How about "To Hell with the Devil"? I think I have echausted my Stryper references for this post...
I thought it might have been a one time event but I also attended a conference a month ago where "Dream On" from AeroSmith was on the worship set list along with a "Star Wars" montage. They were all well done, performed admirably. But again I had to ask, why?

I had one of my worship singers ask me a few weeks past to do a secular song. When I asked why he wanted to do the song he really did not have a reason other than it was not what the congregation was expecting... So do we need to be "shocked" to pay attention today?
I know we live in a age where the Lady Gagas, the Marilyn Mansons and the Rob Zombies shock and awe us so much with the look at me and what crazy stuff I am doing that we can't take our eyes off of them. I remember as a young adult there was this guy named Alice Cooper who bit the head off of a live chicken. And this guy named Ozzy Ozborne who bit the head off of a bat. That was like so 80's gag me with a spoon and take away my high tops kind of shock and awe of the day. But I see it coming back in society today where we have to one up each other to get attention. The things done on todays stages make chickens and bats seem like child's play.
So as the church do we have to resort to shock and awe tactics to gain an audience? Do we not have enough Chrisian music writers writing songs to keep our attention today that we have to dig into the classic rock albums to stay relevant?
I am all for classic rock, but is AeroSmith really relevant today? I mean Steven Tyler is like 60+ and the rest of the band is up there in age as well... how would you feel if your Grandpa got up on stage and began singing "Dream On" in his highest falseto and his skinny leather pants?
And AC/DC? Well they were really good back in the late 70's and 80's. How do I know? I had their albums in my cassette tapedeck that I just upgraded from my 8 track player.
People that was THIRTY years ago, come on! Tell me they still aren't relevant today and there is not something else.
So as I thought about this culture we are in today, the church is usually about 50 years behind the world. And looking at the music choices being empowered in our churches we might have caught up a few years. So now we are only about 30 years behind!!
So I am thinking that this Sunday, I am breaking out the pastel blue sport coat, the white t shirt and I am going to push the sleeves up to my elbows. I need to find my white shoes and my white pants, I think they are in the back of my closet and I guess get a wig so I can feather my false locks back on my head like I did when I had hair. Dig out my 501's and my white hi tops and my Op T shirts and it will be on like Donkey Kong! I will be relevant again to kids who will say something like, you look like that guy I saw on TV Land...
What's next? Is someone going to start bringing back Parachute pants and we will all start doing Hammertime on stage as the spirit moves? I hope not, I am not sure my back can handle it anymore...