While I was in Seminary, I had the privilege of meeting and befriending a brother who I personally consider the Godfather Christian Hip-Hop. He’s the co-founder of the Cross Movement and a Teaching Pastor at Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia. One of the major premises of Duce’s Master’s thesis (Theological Implications of the Hip Hop Culture) was that the Hip-Hop culture must be considered a mission field… just as any other mission field. Since hearing him articulate it at a table in the DTS library, then reading it more in depth in his treatise, I have adopted this idea as one of my personal core values and foundation of whatever ministry looks like for me.
Stetzer says something similar in chapter 2 his book “Lost and Found.”
Christianity, by nature, is a missionary faith. Much to the chagrin of many outside the church (and a few inside), we have been told to go and tell – and when we tell, we are to tell people how to become followers of Jesus.
So how do you tell? What is the best way? Well, if you’re a missionary to Khosa (a South African tribe), you would study every aspect of their lives. You would learn their language, understand their worldview, and exegete their culture.
We are called, as Christians, as missionaries “to the end of the earth.” To me, that means that some missionaries must study, exegete and reach the “Hip-Hop Culture” in the same ways that other missionaries study the cultures of foreign lands. To me that means that the souls of hip-hoppers are just as important to the Father. To me, that means we can’t demand hip-hoppers change the morally neutral aspects of their “culture” any more than we can demand those of Khosa to do so.
Talk to me about what you think about this. What does it mean to you?
