Remember that we are for you. Do you remember John’s Q & A with our Lord in Luke 9:49-50, after the disciples were corrected on their views of “who is the greatest” by Jesus? “John answered, ‘Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you’” (Luke 9:49-50 ESV). Worst case scenario, if you are still not sold on our method but are charitable towards our salvation, you can rest assured that we are for you. We share your zeal for our Father’s house. We share a deep-seated sense of the weight of God’s glory. We share your high view of Scripture and its sufficiency. 

Like many, I was shocked by the recently released panel from the NCFIC on “Reformed Rap”. I wanted to chime in on the dialogue and offer some thoughts- both as an individual that is sympathetic to the panelists’ theological bent, as well as one who is a Hip-hopper culturally. There seems to be a lack of people who identify with both worlds, so I figured I would cast my lot in the pile. I hope it is helpful to the conversation.

I do want to preface by saying that I think these brothers are probably very godly men. While I haven’t heard of all of them, I have heard of some of them and their reputations are those of men who love the Lord, His Word and His church. My response is aimed at interacting with the thoughts they shared, not to make statements about the men themselves. I am sure this video is not reflective of the state of their godliness or the best barometer at assessing their lives–lives which are probably marked with decades of faithfulness to our Lord. I want to honor these men in the Lord, thank them for caring about the glory of God and share my thoughts to hopefully aid in future discussion towards unity in the body.

With that being said, I can’t help but lament how careless these brothers were in their language, and how revealing it is of a cultural elitism that is far too welcomed in Christianity and made at home by some of our leaders. When speaking of Christian maturity, we do not bring up the prevalence of the fruit of the Spirit in peoples lives, or their rootedness in the Word of God and how firmly they cling to the gospel. Rather, we reference sideways hats, music styles and earrings, as if that is somehow a good measurement of maturity from God’s point of view? Where is that in the bible?! We would all do well to do as these brothers suggest- adhere to every word we find in Scripture to ensure our worship is acceptable to God. However, the converse of such an admonishment is that we must be equally careful not to add to God’s Word in our efforts for purity in worship. By neglecting the former we end up like Nadab and Abihu; by neglecting the latter we end up like the Pharisees.

In an attempt to respond to some of the principles presented in the panel, I thought I would take a slightly different approach. Rather than going argument for argument (there have been several responses done in that format), I thought I would select a few key issues surrounding the conversation and try to interact with them. It seems to me that the issue in this debate (which is no new debate at all) is the mishandling of the bible, the confusion surrounding culture and the clouding of the glory of God.

1. The Mishandling of the Bible

The words of the psalmist echo in my mind here, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your Word” (Psalm 119:9). What a comfort this is! The Bible is a blade to cut through all speculation with a two-sided edge. On the one edge, it cuts down the careless heart that recklessly wanders into the presence of a Holy God. On the other edge, it cuts away the legalistic heart that would require something of a worshipper that God does not require in His Word. Some of the biggest straw men arguments that I hear lobbied against Christian Hip-Hop accuses those within the culture with phrases like “worldliness”, fleshy/flesh feeding, carnal, immature, etc, Now, while this sounds very God honoring and considerate (and I believe the brothers who make these accusations intend to be), it lacks exegetical integrity and hermeneutical care as it rips biblical phrases out of their contexts and seeks to apply them in ways that cannot be biblically sustained. For instance, to insinuate, as this recent panel did, that Christian Hip Hop is bad because God doesn’t just care about what’s being said but how it is being said and that anyone who holds to the sufficiency of Scripture should agree… is quite simply, ridiculous.

These panelists attempt to demerit the offering of Christian Hip-Hop artists by arguing how “worldly” these rappers are, that they’re desiring to draw attention to themselves (even if the lyrics are admittedly drawing attention to the person and work of Christ), disobedient cowards, immature in their faith and, by way of implication, untaught by the Word of God. Yet surprisingly, they have no Scriptural support to make such confident assertions, and they actually abuse the only passage(s) that they use. One brother referenced Romans 12:2 (which is a classic prooftext for these flimsy accusations). A plain reading of the rest of the chapter dissolves the very premise of such improper use. Paul is not concerned with if the readers look like Romans in form, but rather he seems concerned that they act like Christians by faith. This is just one of many examples of such brothers making statements that may sound biblical, but lack sound biblicism.

Maybe it would be good here to look at a couple passages that actually do deal with “worldliness” and deeds of the flesh. Now we would all agree that the bible is clear that we are to put to death what is earthly in us (As Colossians 3:5 words it), yet what are these earthly things? The list we find in Colossians 3:5, 8-9 plainly tell us what these earthly things are!

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”  (Col. 3:5-10 ESV)

It seems to me that the things Paul is here telling us to put to death and put off are the very things that the wrath of God is coming on; ungodliness. These are things that do not reflect the character of God; the very things that actually go against the good rule of our God and King. So Paul here is arguing that if we have been raised with Christ we should not sin–because that goes against our profession and our identity as being hidden with Christ in God. But notice the list of earthly things: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desires, covetousness, anger, wrath malice, slander, obscene talk and lying! These are sins because the deeds of the flesh are rebellion against the law of God. But friends, also notice what is not in the list. Even when Paul is using clothing imagery to communicate being in Christ (the put off, and put on language Col. 3:9-10) he doesn’t actually EVER mention clothing! This surely would have been the perfect time for Paul to fill us in on God’s dress code for maturity. However, it seems to me that the dress code God is concerned with is not of articles of clothing but the attire of the heart. Our obedience is not in our fabrics and our linens but only our faith working through love (Gal. 5:6).

This is why, I believe, as he goes on to talk about what we are to “put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved”, we get more apparel of faith rather than “biblically” driven cultural taboos. Instead of being told to put on button-ups and caps facing straight forward, we are told to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Instead of being told what musical style to use, we are told what songs to use: psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Even in Galatians 5, we are struck with how obvious the deeds of the flesh are–not how open for interpretation they are! ”Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” (Gal. 5:19-21 ESV, emphasis added)

The way the panelists were interacting with the biblical language of feeding the flesh and being worldly, it seems they would add beats, earrings and rapping right to the list! Yet clearly friends, God is not outlining music styles and non-sinful cultural expressions. Rather, He is outlining sin and rebellious acts, warning that those who do such things, “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:21 ESV). To use the language of this text to demonize any culture is a horrible use of the Bible and seeks to imprison those whom the gospel has set free. When speaking on loving the world and indulging the flesh, the bible is not talking about neutral cultural preferences, but rather walking and indulging in sin against God.

It is quite understandable why the opposing arguments are not presented from biblical exposition, but always from the random application of “biblical” pejoratives. I think this is because their arguments aren’t based on exposition at all. It is precisely because of a high view of Scripture and our commitment to its sufficiency that we not only reject these accusations as unbiblical, but we are concerned at the freedom with which Christian leaders are permitted to make such outrageous statements disguised as theologically anchored critiques. We are completely open to correction and critique from any Christian seeking to rightly apply God’s Word, but make no mistake- we do require a chapter and verse in context.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]

Related Article: Al Mohler, “Thinking about Thinking about Rap — Unexpected Thoughts over Thanksgiving“