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Several months ago I received a letter from a lady in a situation that is all too common these days among fundamental Baptists. She was bemoaning the fact that she felt terribly out of place in her own church. The services resembled stage shows with music that seemed more appropriate in a bar than in the church auditorium. She had attended that church for more than twenty years. She had served as a Sunday School teacher there, and her husband had been a deacon. Both were actively involved in every aspect of church ministry.

What happened to the music? A new music director convinced the pastor that in order to reach the younger generation, the music needed to be more "consumer oriented." So the church lowered its music standards to accommodate the tastes of a generation who prefer rock-and-roll. While the new music pleased some people in the church, it deeply offended many others. Reasoning with the pastor was futile. His direction was set; to turn back now would be to admit lack of judgment. So the church rocked on.

A friend of mine slipped into a youth meeting at a local independent Baptist church. He described it as a "nightclub without the cigarette smoke." The music was so loud that it was impossible to converse. The lights had been dimmed except for a single spotlight on the singer.

What turned the youth department into a discotheque? Today's teens are bored with preaching. They want to have their own type of service, one more suited to their generation. Incidentally, in the church my friend visited, adults were told to stay out of the youth department unless they had been invited. Why do you suppose parents were not welcome to see what their own children were doing in church?

USA Today described a "Jesus Festival" at the Orlando Fairgrounds as "15,000 cheering, dancing fans" and quoted the screams of Glenn Kaiser, lead singer for the band Resurrection, as he wailed, "I used to worship knowledge/ thought it would set me free/ I found Jesus' love/ is quite enough for me..."

Christian groups are demanding and receiving $20,000 in concert fees. A contemporary Christian album is described as "at its rocking best...simmers down to smooth funk and cools off in quiet praise...an ultra-conservative Black Sabbath." A book titled Rock and Roll: Proceed with Caution compares Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) performers to popular rock-and-roll groups to let Christian young people know which contemporary Christian musicians and music fit their current secular tastes.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, a CCM performer who has since crossed over to the secular market, says "I love to dance, but there are people who listen to my music who are uncomfortable with dancing. I have to think of them. I am not going to say too often that I like cold beer while watching a football game. That might bother some of my fans, too."

Do you suppose that fundamental Baptists are paying $15 to $20 a ticket to watch these Christian superstars? Are they buying their tapes? Do Christian teens emulate their heroes in their dress and style of performance? YES!

What has happened to Christian music? The transformation has been a quiet revolution. To put it into perspective, if the music that is now standard fare in many of our churches had been attempted just twenty years ago, the pastor, as well as the performers, would have been run out of town. Who could have imagined that the things I have described would not only be tolerated but also be encouraged by fundamental Baptists? What forces have driven us so far off the course of propriety?

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