So, by using that logic, would it be ok to have an Ebonics version of the Bible?
Language changes. Styles change.
You don't think something gets lost in the translation?
>>But the place we're trying to take the congregation to is a lot more accessible<<
1) Where are you trying to take them?
and
2) Are you suggesting that the Holy Spirit's working in an unsaved heart is hindered by language?
To the altar (figuratively speaking)
2) Are you suggesting that the Holy Spirit's working in an unsaved heart is hindered by language?
No, sorry, sometimes I'm not clear. The Holy Spirit will do what it will - He does not need me. What I meant is that many times people can be moved by the Spirit without knowing where it is moving them (there are many levels of christian maturity). Spelling it out in modern language just helps the process along. I don't consider it "dumbing down" any more than Wesley was "dumbing down" the music of his day.
Unless you are going to argue that the only songs in church should be in Aramaic and Latin , any song you point out as "appropriate" would have been a more modern rendering of the music of the previous generation.