tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20087898.post116036732100777466..comments2023-05-21T07:50:57.461-07:00Comments on [SUBVERSIVE UNDERGROUND] Newsletter: Notes From The EdgeKeith Gileshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00328300571647154699noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20087898.post-1160404140176732552006-10-09T07:29:00.000-07:002006-10-09T07:29:00.000-07:00Hey Keith,I agree the church has spent too much ti...Hey Keith,<BR/><BR/>I agree the church has spent too much time following and too little time actually leading in the arts.<BR/><BR/>I was reminded, though, of a different angle.<BR/><BR/>Yesterday Cathy & I spent some time at a home for elderly ladies. We sang a couple of "our" songs and then pulled out their large-print sing-along-hymns books and let them pick songs (which we sang accapella!).<BR/><BR/>One of the songs we did was "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" and it tripped me out to think that, here I was, sitting with a small group of little old ladies, singing a 15th or 16th century tavern tune!<BR/><BR/>I've been told the church freaked out at first when Luther "Christianized" a "secular" tune. But in many ways, it worked. It gave the masses a new line of thought as they sang a tune they already knew.<BR/><BR/>For his time, it was very cutting edge. The term "cheezy" hadn't been invented yet, but I'm guessing it wasn't cheezy anyway. It was an honest attempt at being missional -- riding the edge of syncretism for the sake of reaching his culture.<BR/><BR/>But how often is that edge really ridden today? I think, for me, the thing that bugs me about the church trying to "sanctify" "secular" songs is that it so often ends up as more cheez. =O(<BR/><BR/>~ Keith<BR/><BR/>(PS -- cassette tapes? really? whoa!)Can Opener Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06074132164038079006noreply@blogger.com