‘We lose because we privately engaging, but socially irrelevant. We become the EVANGELICAL GHETTO developing our own lingo, so the church becomes isolated, and God incognito’
Odd Thomas
King Kulture (Beautiful Eulogy featuring Lee Green & Theory Hazit)
Evangelical: /ˌɪvænˈʤelɪkəl/
Adjective
Relating to or being a Christian church believing in personal conversion and the inerrancy of the Bible especially the 4 Gospels.
Ghetto: /ˈgetoʊ/
Noun
Any segregated mode of living or working that results from bias or stereotyping.
Source: Advanced English Dictionary
These two words accurately describe what the church has become today, an Evangelical Ghetto.
There was a time when Christians influenced culture to a certain level that they became a threat to one of the greatest empires on planet earth. Today however, the church has become socially irrelevant.
What happened along the way?
Why do kids who started in the church choir, grow up to do music that we cannot be proud of as Christians?
How many churches have radio stations engaging believers and non-believers? Not just online but also offline. A radio station that anyone can tune in everyday with the radio on their Nokia phone? Yet gospel musicians will say they don’t get air play. Every day we don’t have a choice but to tune in to radio stations that play songs that poison our minds.
Why don’t all churches have record labels to soak in the wonderful talents in their choirs and project them to the world?
The answer is not far-fetched. We are sleeping.
Yes we are asleep.
We are at a time when churches would rather buy private jets, build cathedrals and stick to the status quo than adopt new methods to further engage people in and outside the church. This is most obvious in the youth and music ministries.
An idle mind they say is the devil’s workshop. In this case however, it is the mind that was not given the tools to use his/her gift for God that becomes the devil’s workshop.
Mention top musicians in this country today, most of them will tell you they started in the church choir. Why aren’t they using their gifts for God now, instead of making music that perverts the souls of young people all over?
Simple answer. Because their gifts were not nurtured by the church community.
We are busy fighting about whose doctrine is right or wrong while the kingdom of darkness is busy recruiting right under our noses for its evil purposes.
Music is a very powerful tool. Every Christian should know this. Why else do we start the service with praise and worship? It is one of the most potent weapons of the devil to trap young minds, both the musician and the listener. Have you seen what heavy metal does to people?
Take a look at Hillsong, they are one the highest selling Christian music ministries in the world. The number of musicians that have come out of that ministry is innumerable and their music has been changing lives. These would never have been possible if the church did not invest in the ministry. They recognized the importance of young people to the church and the world at large.
It is high time churches woke up and started developing ways to become more relevant in the world. One of the key ways is to keep young people rooted in the church by looking for ingenious ways to engage their youths and invest properly in music ministry.
Creating an enabling environment for them to be able to express it while still reverencing God. Serving God and making Jesus known through their gifts. Then and only then can we become socially relevant and become the lights of the world that we are.
