Yesterday I had the pleasure of working with teens and adults from the First Baptist Church of Bay Shore, NY, in their Building Strong Families conference. Hip Hop has become a serious issue for the church. What do we do about it? Hip Hop is where our children live and it’s not going away.
Youth constantly tell me that church is boring. They don’t like the old time songs. They feel that church folk want them to act and dress old.
Many youth don’t believe that the Bible is the only Word of God. Hip Hop spirituality is a collage of many beliefs – and this is where the church faces its biggest threat.
We cannot compromise on gangsta values in the church. The church believes in giving and tithing; gangstas take and consume. We believe in sex within marriage and monogamy; gangsta rap videos promote promiscuity, multiple sex partners, and orgies. We at least try to respect the opposite sex; gangstas rap is all about misogyny and gold digging.
Christ preached compassion and love; gangstas are cold and hard and their videos promote lust, hate, fear, and rage. Christ preached peace; gangsta videos are bathed in blood. Christ said to turn the other cheek; gangstas believe in 'an eye for an eye.' (HHH, p. 277)
We have to be uncompromising with the Word of God.
I don’t have all the answers, but I know one thing: we MUST keep a close eye on the trend of Hip Hop in the church. Our goal should be to rescue our children while keeping doctrine in tact.
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