I Preach Christ

To Those with a Heart to Hear:

How does one preach Christ to the hip-hop generation? I think the apostle Paul taught all Christians an important lesson when preaching to the Athenians and quoting poetry that was familiar to them: context matters. Although God’s truth in the gospel does not change, cultures will vary from community to community. Being able to place the gospel of Christ within a cultural framework that is relevant to your audience is an essential principle of evangelism. This may mean becoming familiar with the language and customs of a community in order to effectively communicate with its members.

Christian hip-hop music borrows its language and customs from the broader hip-hop culture while making the latter captive to the truth of Christ. Cultural metaphors and intricate rhyme schemes are still prevalent but the content has been transformed to bring listeners to the ultimate spiritual truth. A Christian emcee named Brothatone says, “I preach Christ cause it’s necessary, without Him homies is dying looking like Jay-Z fading to black.” The artist here has used the name and work of a prominent secular rapper to convey to the listener that without Christ, death is the final reality. He goes on to proclaim that he preaches “the true Messiah, who don’t hang from your necklace.” This shows him making a distinction between the truth about Jesus Christ and the glamorized or fabricated representations people may see in the media or history books. The listener is then allowed to decide whether or not to inquire further about God’s truth. I believe this is an effective method that creates a situation where the listener is inclined to ask questions, which in return can be answered with God’s Word.

While hip-hop culture inherently provides a medium for Christians to spread the gospel, there are also some inherent challenges that the culture presents in reaching out to members of the generation. One of the challenges is the antagonistic relationship with authority that has historically been a part of hip-hop’s appeal to young people. How does one preach submission to an Almighty God to a generation whose response to respecting earthly authorities is “F#&! the police”? Granted that Christian hip-hop in many ways parts with older traditions in the church, the notion of reverence for and obedience to Christ as supreme authority is never questioned. In order to be serious about preaching Christ to the hip-hop generation, one must work to debunk the myth that man is the ultimate authority to himself. In a culture and society that asserts “power to the people,” the Christian must firmly proclaim “Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.” May God's peace be with you.