yea (yo?), though i roll through the "hood of death"

honestly, i don't know what to say. some things -- the left behind phenomenon, the sheer boneheadedness of the guy that pitched the "christian idol" tv idea -- just leave me slackjawed. you want eugene peterson to translate the bible for you? ok. understood. but you want to rap during mass? if this is the way culture is moving, i'm not sure i want to get on the train. ens's matthew davies reports that bishop suffragan cathy roskam (ny) presides over a "hip-hop mass" that ends w/ the dismissal: my sistas and brothas, all my homies and peeps, stay up –- keep your head up, holla back, and go forth and tell like it is. admittedly, hip hop is a (perhaps the) driving force in western culture; if mtv is to be believed, it's more of a worldwide machine giving voice to millions of post-modern kids. but should the church hitch its wagon to hip hop? i haven't had time to think out the implications, but my gut reaction is: no, no we should not. the more serious question, in my opinion, is whether this is the logical end to which the church in the west is already moving. the oooold "emerging church" question again. ok, so rapping the mass is even a little goofy for mainstream ec folks, but is this really so different? i think the institutional church is stuck w/ its head in the sand and the culture has swept it by. i think we ignore the imperative to contextualize the gospel @ our peril. i think hard times is comin' for "the church" in the west, both r.c. and protestant. but i think -- indeed, i know -- that we can change and become more relevant, for lack of a better word. i want to be part of the solution, and i'm just beginning to think about how that should look. but i ain't rapping. (thanks to titusonenine for the story, and you might be interested in some of the comments, including one by mark c who asks who would have thought that in 2004 the mainline clergy who played such a major role in creating the civil rights movement would have so failed black culture that they would be taking their social and moral cues from the ghetto street gangs, while moral leadership would be coming from comedian bill cosby?)