So, last week, probably Friday, we were at my parents’ house.
Because they don’t have cable, I was watching the musical act for Jimmy Kimmel Live, which happen to be Ozzy Osbourne.
Not my type of music. At all.
But here he was, this 61 year old man, rocking in front of an audience that’s predominantly half his age. It was a trip seeing all these young people rocking out and head banging to Ozzy singing.
Then I started thinking about all the other aging rock stars who are still very popular and their music still resonates with people of their generation and this generation.
I mean, I don’t think there will be a day where I’ll stop listening to U2. And I still run into kids who listen to U2 and buy their albums.
These musicians still find a way to be relevant and still find a way to speak to people of a different generation through music.
Which, in my head, begs the question: why are some UM churches no longer relevant to the younger generation?
These musicians change and adapt over the decades, but they never lose that quality, that distinction of being them. The greats are still able to speak to the younger generation and yet not sell themselves out.
So why do we constantly find ourselves, in the UMC, struggling to be relevant to the younger generation?
They say music is a universal language.
But, how much more universal can you get than the love of God?
If Ozzy can still speak to the younger generation, shoot, I think we can too.
Joseph Yoo 
I kind of disagree. Ozzy has changed alot since his Black Sabbath days and many people that followed U2 from the beginning will say their sound is very diferent from when they started. Same with most classic bands. Sad thing is today’s young people will not know good music even if it slapped them in the face… There are things that are timeless tho… like Beethoven’s 9th symphony, Flight of the Bumblebees, Wagner’s March of the Valkyries, or Aerosmith/Run DMC’s Walk This Way.
I know they’ve changed… but there’s still something Ozzy-esque and U2-esque about their songs.
And then when we hear other songs, we know that the artist has been influenced by them… like.. Heartbreak Warfare by John Mayer. When you hear the intro, you go.. that’s very Edge-like…
But my point is, why are we as a church having a hard time adapting to the change of time, yet still hold on to the essence of the Gospel?