I bet you thought you knew about CHRISTian Rap… 1. Christian rap is irrelevant, thus could not be ordained by GOD…we tend to forget that there is an entire generation of people, now ranging in ages 50 and down, that grew up on rap music. To say that GOD, WHO alone created music for HIS purpose, would not or can not use rap music to minister both puts too much emphasis on what the enemy has done with the music, and too little emphasis on WHO GOD is. We don’t have to do the same things the world does, but we can speak in similar vernaculars (without sinning/compromising) that would resonate with them. The Apsotle Paul outlined this approach for us in his letter to the Church at Corinth
2. CHRISTian Rap and Hip Hop are one in the same….wrong. Rap is the way music is executed or administered, similar to the way a doctor gives medicine, choosing between delivering the antidote via pill or in shot form. Hip Hop is a culture and lifestyle that is accompanied with its own belief system. There’s even a class being taught at a university in Texas regarding replacing religion with hip hop, i.e. hip hop being it’s own religion. The difference between these two is simple in definition: CHRISTian Rap is a tool to minister, CHRISTian hip hop is an oxymoron. There are those that believe that GOD purposes to redeem the hip hop culture, but if this is what we truly believe, in accordance to scripture, anything that GOD redeems you have to call something else (2 Cor.5:17, Isa.62:2). That idea is as simple as the difference between being a sinner before CHRIST, and no longer a sinner now in HIM; HE changed my name. A culture steeped in idol worship can not remain there in the light of Salvation.
3. CHRISTian Rap is more influential and effective than traditional church…wrong, again. Just because something speaks the language, doesn’t make it more effective. Were not called to make ‘rap disciples’, but to make disciples of JESUS CHRIST. To do this, you can use various tools and methods as led by the HOLY GHOST, but NOTHING supplants the WORD of GOD. IT and IT, alone, has the ability to change and transform. Our music may be a viable tool, but that tools viability should only be measured in how effectively and accurately we point our listeners to GOD, JESUS, and the Church. There is no substitute. CHRISTian Rap is a vehicle; it is not, however, the destination.
What are some of your thoughts on this? Would love your feedback. Got any myths of your own? Post your comments and let’s get dialoguing!
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