Spotlight Post:
by Screen Name: CaliBoy617
God glorifying Hip Hop!!!
There is an attack on Christian Hip-Hop from within the Church. There is a group of people going around the country and speaking in Churches and bashing not Christian Hip Hop music, but also the people involved with it as well. I'm not certain if you're familiar with them.
One of their biggest arguments is that Hip Hop has evil origins in the likes of Afrika Bambaataa & DJ Kool Herc. How they used Hip-Hop as a tool to advance their warped beliefs about God & because Bambaataa was the first one to coin the phrase Hip-Hop, then Hip-Hop has an evil origin. This argument could not be more wrong. For one, Hip-Hop is a culture and not a type of music. There are four elements involved in Hip-Hop: DJing, Break Dancing, Graffiti Art & Emceeing. Most people generally refer to Emceeing as Hip-Hop when in actuality it’s only one part of Hip-Hop. That is what is popularly known as "Rap." So this group of people are attacking a culture, but only give reference to the music in that culture.
Secondly, "Rap" music is just that...it’s music. And nothing has an evil origin, especially music. If you recall, Satan himself was an angel in Heaven originally, so if Satan doesn't even have an evil origin, how can a subculture or any music of any subculture of overall human culture have an evil origin? It just doesn't add up.
Thirdly, a beat is a beat is a beat is a beat. As long as the beat doesn’t have demonic overtones then it is just a beat. If we agree that music originated in Heaven, then we have to agree that secular music on earth is a warped version of Godly music, but that is expressed in lyrics and not melodies or beats. For a Christian rapper to take a secular beat & rip it for The Lord is a powerful tool to use, which brings me into my fourth point.
Christian Hip-Hop is the tool God is using and I believe He will continue to use to reach the young generation (35-under). Why would God or why is God using Hip-Hop? Because its a language that the young generation relates too and understands. If you're under 40 & grew up in any type of metropolis in the USA, then Hip-Hop has touched you in one form or another. Hip-Hop has gone from being something inner city Afro-Carribbean Americans and Latino Americans did to popular culture. Hip Hop is now everywhere and it’s not because its demonic or evil, it’s just a language that people understand. And as ministers we have an obligation to present people with the Gospel of Christ and feed them the Word of God in a language they understand.
It would be very difficult for someone to go to China & preach to the Chinese if they did not know any type of Chinese. In the same way, it’s very difficult to reach Hip-Hoppers if you do not know Hip-Hop. After all, Paul wrote: "Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings." (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)
EX Ministries’ argument is intellectually unstable, factually incorrect & culturally biased.