“Sometimes Risk Works Out”

A friend of mine sent me the link to this post and asked whether he thought something like it would be able to fly at OBC – check it out:

A year and a half ago I met a new friend named J-Griff. He has become part of our church and has an amazing gift.

He speaks a different musical language than most of our congregation and I have wanted to use him as part of our worship experiences for a long time, but could never quite muster up the courage. Then I read this post and decided that just because something might fail I have no an excuse not to go for it.

The “this post” he’s referring to is some great thoughts from Tony Morgan on the “new traditional church music” –

Only it’s as if we got stuck in the 80s. While the church still leans on a mix of rock and pop music as the preferred worship genre, our culture has shifted once again. Now, according to iTunes, 1 in 3 of the top 100 songs in the country is either hip-hop/rap or R&B/soul. My guess, though, is that you can’t name a church in the country that’s using these genres of music for worship. Why is that?

Now, before you let your “it’s-not-our-culture” bias set in, consider this. Most of the hip-hop and R&B music has been recorded by black artists. 14% of the U.S. population is black. But, remember, nearly one-third of the music purchased on iTunes is one of these two genres. You do the math. White people like hip-hop.

If you want to hear the recording that inspired this song, check out “One Way” from Soul Survivor 2008 on iTunes here.

4 Responses to ““Sometimes Risk Works Out””

1. Derrick says:

   June 18, 2009 at 6:05 pm

   I love this. I’m willing to bet that song hit w/ more people than they think it did. Love it.

   As for risk… to be effective in reaching people far from God, you’ve got to roll the dice a lot. Risk is essential in being a part of a effective ministry.

   Thanks for sharing, Chris.

   Reply
2. Tom says:

   June 19, 2009 at 2:08 am

   Good thing you took the risk. That was great on so many levels!

   Reply
3. Dave Carrol says:

   June 22, 2009 at 3:35 pm

   Dude…

   Great post. My pastor says, “this century if for dreamers, risk-takers and strategists” . I tend to agree with him.

   dave

   Reply
4. Russ Hutto says:

   July 3, 2009 at 2:26 am

   Nice! Love it!

   We use hip hop almost once a month in our sets. Love to see some others taking the plunge.

   Here’s a BAD MIX of one of our rap segues into Shackles. Video stinks, but it was sweet live. http://russhutto.com/2009/06/sunday-setlist-61409/

   Reply