My family and I attend a contemporary church aimed primarily at youth. That means a lot of the program isn't what your average senior citizen will enjoy. So, when my 82-year-old mother-in-law started attending, I had to warn her about the music. I told her that the lyrics often contain just a few words, repeated over and over. For several weeks afterwards, she said nothing.

Then one Sunday in a post-service roundtable discussion, she made the following comment to the group:

You know, I used to cringe when I heard music like that, and I usually had the option to avoid it. But now I like it -- the repetition makes you think about the words you’re singing.

Every head in the room turned towards her, I'm sure out of a combination of sheer surprise and joy that a senior citizen could be so positive about very contemporary church worship music.

But also, what a novel idea that we should actually be thinking about the words we sing in worship! And even more novel is the fact that today’s contemporary Christian music can help us do that easier.

Where was Grandma when so many churches had to deal with seniors who complained all the way to their graves about what “nonsense young people" sing today?

As a church leader, there was much more I could glean from her words: simply put, all seniors are not the same. Just like the rest of our population, some have views and opinions that vary drastically from their cohorts'. Some of them are, in fact, ‘mavens’ in their own social circles -- who Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point identifies as opinion leaders or influencers.

As such, they can be used to start their own small thinking epidemic among their age group. Take a senior citizen who likes something, and she or he will tell everyone at her retirement home dinner table, and then later on at the various social events. If the idea has what Gladwell calls "sticking power," several seniors will tell other seniors they visit on their ‘days out,' and the opinion -- or behavioral -- epidemic continues. If you reach the right people, the next thing you know you'll have “tipped the scales,” and the idea is unstoppable.

The important points are this:

1. Don’t paint everyone in a particular age group with the same brush.

2. In your desire to reach today’s world for Christ through more contemporary means, don’t count out every senior.

Until next time,

Ken Godevenos