http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwkAAzGomL0
At a special weekend apparently and ironically themed “The Glory of God,”, youth at Cross Church do the “Harlem Shake.” The church, then, posted the video on their YouTube channel.
In case pop-culture is not your thing, the Harlem Shake is a dance popularized by a musical artist (I use that word loosely) named “G.Dep” (standing for “Ghetto Dependent”). Mr. Ghetto Dependent, who in 2010 turned himself in for a murder committed in 1993, used the dance in a video/song entitled Let’s Get It. The song lyrics, in case you are curious, are as follows:
Really, Get smacked silly, you get smacked silly
[expletive] with these [ethnic slur] from the, what you gonna do
When you ready, [expletive] I was born ready,
And I was all ready on fish and spaghetti
Creep with the culture, rap I can coach ya, attack like a vulture
If I said I get cha, wearing it I’ll fit ya, y’all thirteen inches
I see the big picture, if it’s to get richer, I’d probably get wit ya
If not burn it, get hot like a furnace
Shoot the video [expletive] city permits
We own the city, on the phone with Diddy (* Phone Sounds*)
Red bone pretty, when she get aroused like to [slew of expletives]
Put it in the video, ya wanna holla got to follow [ethnic slur] here we go
Get you ticket, the train, don’t miss it,
Won’t reach out, and ya bet I won’t visit
Till my whole wardrobe is-it listen
Other musical artists have also helped to popularize Ghetto Dependent’s Harlem Shake dance sensation, including the profanely named CunninLynguists, Mac Dre, and alleged sexual criminal, Nelly. But hey, at least it’s not Chingy, whose profane music Cross Church’s student pastor was recently seen dancing to as a part of their youth ministry program.
A number of Mega-churches (Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, Champions Center in Riverside, California, and Destiny World Outreach Center in Kileen, Texas) have done Harlem Shake renditions as a part of a never-ending display of their love affair with pop-culture (no doubt as an attempt, they would claim, to “engage the world for Christ”). The Christian News Service has even published an article on the bizarre craze, with one evangelical pastor telling the news service, “It would seem that these institutions are in full sync with this culture rather than a witness to the lost.”
Although church organizers of such church-wide or youth group dance videos claim that it’s “just a fun element in our services to help reach people for Christ,” many view it similarly to NCFIC director, Scott Brown. Brown writes…
“It shows the world the kind of bankruptcy that exists in modern youth ministries. The church has long suffered under the weight of the creation of youth culture. This craze is just one expression of how destructive and defiling it is to do so.”
Not too terribly long ago, a video began to surface of U.S. Air Force personnel doing a Harlem Shake rendition at an air traffic control tower at Edwards Air Force Base. The Air Force was not very pleased with the unprofessional and degrading behavior of their Airmen. In a “string of emails” obtained via the Freedom of Information Act by Jason Smathers (yes, that Jason Smathers) and released on his website, the U.S. government felt that Harlem Shake videos were inappropriate, undignified and discrediting…
Many of these videos contain questionable behavior and dress by people participating in them. As a reminder, regardless of the method of communication used, Air Force standards must be observed at all times, both on and off-duty. Airmen must avoid offensive and/or inappropriate behavior on social networking platforms and through other forms of communication that could bring discredit upon the Air Force or Airmen…
The Air Force clearly felt that there was a modicum of honor and dignity to be upheld by those serving in functions as important as the military. They also felt that behaving in such a juvenile and sophomoric fashion was dishonorable to their service.
If only some of today’s evangelicals could agree that Christians have similar standards… Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Ronnie Floyd’s Cross Church.
Keep in mind, in the last few days we’ve seen the student pastor and girlfriend dancing to x-rated lyrics as youth looked on, the pastrix of Girl’s and Women’s Ministries (and others) dance in a less-than-modest hoedown on the church campus, the son of Education Pastor and President of Floyd’s School of Ministry describe all criticism as “sinful” and “legalist garbage” and opine that the Bible has “nothing to say” about what kind of music or dancing we are to enjoy and now, a youth-group wide Harlem Shake rendition.
I think we’re starting to see a theme, here. If only we could invent a confetti cannon that shoots godliness…
