Blogs

By Aaron Earls

Imagine trying to be a missionary in another country without even attempting to learn the language. Any explanations of the gospel would be useless. Your listeners would have no idea what you are saying.

In some ways, many American churches are in the same situation with their surrounding neighborhoods. The church is using one language to speak and sing about Jesus, while the culture either doesn’t understand or ignores it completely.

Christians can bemoan those changes and wish culture still talked like us, or we can do something about it. Right now, one of the most dominant cultural influences on young adults and teenagers is hip-hop music.

So how are church leaders supposed to properly understand a cultural language that has historically not often communicated a biblical worldview? The same way you learn any language, listen to those who speak it. Thankfully for pastors and church leaders, there are several Christian artists who are seeking to live as missionaries in the hip-hop culture, while creating art that challenges listeners and glorifies Christ.

They are rapping on The Tonight Show about biblical solutions to real world problems. They are appearing on MTV to communicate a different, gospel-centered way to live. Millions of people are listening, but are church leaders?

Using the early church as an example of ministering cross culturally, here are five reasons church leaders should be paying attention to Christian hip-hop even if you never buy a song.

1. Cultural understanding — Walking around Athens, Paul’s spirit was troubled by the idols dominating the city’s landscape. Yet, instead of shrinking back, he went into the Areopagus, used the idol to the “unknown god” as a starting off point, and preached the gospel. For many Christians, the rap world may be as foreign as the streets of Athens. But more people listen to hip-hop on Spotify, a popular music streaming service, than any other genre. Christian rap artists can help pastors and leaders see this “unknown god” as an avenue for communication. This will not be an automatic gateway to reaching millennials, many of whom are hip-hop fans, but it is a way to better understand them.
2. Effective communication — When the Holy Spirit filled the disciples on Pentecost, they began to speak in different languages. Because of this, people from numerous areas were able to hear and understand the message. This opened the door for Peter to proclaim Christ. Speaking someone’s language grants us gospel opportunities. When it comes to hip-hop, simply understanding the concerns that are present in that community can open the door. It’s not about using the right slang words or sounding cool. It’s listening to people, getting to know them, and sharing Jesus as the answer to their problems, as well as your own.
3. Different perspectives — As the gospel spread and the church grew, conflict and issues arose within the early church. The Greek-speaking widows were being overlooked in the food distribution. The apostles heard the complaints and addressed the issue by appointing deacons to meet the needs of those who had been unintentionally ignored. Artists like Lecrae can become to church leaders like those Greek widows were to the apostles. They can help us expose cultural blindspots and uncover opportunities for change. Lecrae’s autobiography Unashamed shares the tragic story of his childhood and the redemption Jesus brought to his life. Those of us who come from a completely different background can listen to Lecrae’s perspective and learn how Christ can bring change in situations different than our own.
4. Theological conversations — During his missionary journeys, Paul often went to the Jewish synagogue in each city. Acts 17:2 says that was his habit. He went to the synagogue where people would already be talking about spiritual matters and then he pointed them to Christ. There in Thessalonica, he won both Jewish and Greek converts. In our culture today, hip-hop music is often the most theological genre, even if it can be misguided. Kayne West, one of the top rap artists today, says his latest record is a “gospel album.” It may not give a biblical gospel. But he, along with virtually every other rapper, is talking about theological issues. Christian hip-hop artists are bringing gospel truth to these conversations. They allow church leaders an entry point to a spiritual dialogue happening in our culture we often miss or ignore.
5. Ministry reminders —Paul not only gave theological instruction to churches in his letters, he gave ministry updates. Churches would be told the spread of the gospel, the state of Paul’s work, and specific prayer requests for people and his ministry. Believers were able to see that the church was much larger than their local gathering. In a hostile culture, it reminded them of their ultimate victory in Christ. We need those same reminders today as we face an increasingly antagonistic culture. It can be encouraging to hear how God is at work far beyond our circle of influence. Artists like Lecrae, Trip Lee, Propaganda, and others offer pastors and church leaders that opportunity along with the privilege of joining in the work through prayer. Find out how God is at work and pray that He continues to use these artists to reach those far from Christ with the life-changing message of Jesus.

You may never own a rap album, but you need to pay attention to Christian hip-hop. You need to hear how God has redeemed these individuals and is working in and through them to create quality art that unashamedly preaches Christ crucified in a language that may be foreign to you.

COPYRIGHT © 2016 · LIFEWAY CHRISTIAN RESOURCES • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Watch Bizzle - King On ChristianHipHop.com

Atlanta/New York (November 4, 2016)   ChristianHipHop.com continues to grow steadily, rapidly gaining top positioning in internet search engines worldwide, as a single-source portal destination of choice for Holy Hip Hop videos.   Watch BIzzle's track entitled: King on ChristianHipHop.com at (copy/click/paste the following weblink in your desktop or mobile browser): http://www.christianhiphop.com/bizzle-king-feat-h-u-r-t-crownsandcrosses-out-now

About ChristianHipHop.com : #1 Single-Source website dedicated to Holy Hip Hop Videos.  To view videos on ChristianHipHop.com, visit:   www.ChristianHipHop.com .  To add your video, create an account and upload 24/7 at ChristianHipHop.com.   ChristianHipHop.com features renowned and up and coming Ministers of the Gospel, including not limited to: Datin, Angie Rose, Desciple, DKing, Marcus Anthony, K-Drama, Mr. Del, Canton Jones, D-Maub, Lecrae, Corey Red and Precise, Bizzle, Dee-1,  Sevin, This'l and more added and updated daily. No more worrying about surfing the web for your favorite emcee and being simultaneously inundated with side links to videos containing often unsuitable and unsavory content.  BookMark ChristianHipHop.com , lock it in and tell-a-friend.  Galatians 6:9

Finance Your Ideas, Project, Ministry, etc.

 
ATLANTA, GA - (September 21, 2016) - FaithFundMe.com, the world's crowdfunding site for people and projects of faith, is now accepting projects for consideration.  FaithFundMe is an alternative to sites such as GoFundMe and Kickstarter.  FaithFundMe can be used to support projects in the diverse categories and projects, including but not limited to: Business, Art, Mobile, Internet, Sports, (Medical IIllness/Personal Injury), Comics, Crafts, Dance, Design, Memorials or Funerals, Education, Fashion, Animals & Pets, Film & Video, Food, Disaster Relief, Games, Journalism, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, Theater, etc.  To sign up for your free FaithFundMe Project Creator account and to get your crowdfunding campaign started today, please go to: www.FaithFundMe.com.

 

About FaithFundMe.com:

FaithFundMe.com is a crowd-funding platform for facilitating projects and ideas that uplift and inspire worldwide.

    POWERFUL FUNDRAISING SITE FOR PROJECTS AND PERSONS OF FAITH
    24/7 Email Support
    Set Your Own Deadlines or Goal Requirements
    Funding and Donations Distributed Via Secure PayPal, Once Fundraising Goal is Achieved
    Digital-Friendly Campaigns
    Mobile-Accessible
    Socially-Responsible Platform

To get your crowdfunding campaign started today, please go to: www.FaithFundMe.com.

Looks like this Chris Hagan guy is really becoming something unique and special... Still climbing the Reverb Nation Charts... Now locally positioned in Houston at #2 moving up (5) spaces in this past week alone, and in the #2 position in the Region, (Texas)... At #23 overall in all genres Nationally. The new Album/EP "Season One", has been released this week on more than (40) different Social Media Online Music Store Outlets, iTunes, CDBABY, Spotify, SoundCloud, Amazon, Google Play, and many more, Nationally and Globally... So many are waiting for this young man to explode in the coming weeks. Soon thereafter the release of this new Album/EP "Season One", there will be an Album Release Party that will be in full effect! Stay tuned for more information abroad!

My life has definitely been a roller coaster. From a young age I fell in love with the game of basketball. I felt like that was my purpose in life. I put everything I had into my craft, and was even blessed to have 8 professional jobs throughout my career. But as I got older I learned that God's plans are not our plans, and sometimes he will change your path to bring you closer to Him. Writing was always a strength of mine, but I used it more as a stress reliever throughout hard times. Never once thinking that it was what God intended for me to do. One day I decided to casually post one of my writings on Facebook in the form of a poem. From there...God did the rest. I want to use this segment to not only talk about myself, but to encourage each person reading this to let God be the forefront of whatever you do. I couldn't have written one note, one word, or come up with one concept without His direction. Allow God to come into your life and lead you to your destiny. The Bible says "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..." meaning we are His sheep, and we are to follow His direction. I pray blessings over each person listening to this album, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for accepting the love Jesus has placed in my heart. To be continued....

HolyHipHop.com is easy to use. Thank you for your support. Please take your time to check out all of the powerful features available in HolyHipHop.com.   We hope you enjoy using the site.  Please be sure to remember to Add a picture also, when you upload a new song. This will keep you from having a 'Bass Clef' symbol next to your name and song, or on the charts or in your profile with the . For an example: click on Members, where you will see samples of profiles that have accidentally forgotten to upload a picture with their song. Soon, we will have a different default image, if an artist forgets to upload an image with a song. This is your Tip of The Day. The HolyHipHop.com Team