Hip hop church

I wouldn't go... but that is just me.

Are you in a big urban area?

 

What's the dilly, yo? Don't be hatin if peeps go chillaxin at da hip hop church, yo? Dis hateration is wack.

 

It would appear New York beat 'em to it...

http://www.hiphopchurch.org/

(Bad idea by the way)

 

I think its a bad idea, kinda of like creating a "version" of the Bible to that appeals to one race, or gender, or oreintation. The Gospel shouldn't be manipulated to draw people in, the Gospel should not changed, the heart of the audience should and the Holy Spirit should draw them in. Christ never changed his message depending on who he was speaking to, the message was always the same.

 

I don't know your context. Maybe if you could share it with us that would help.

Honestly I don't have a problem with contextualizing ministry to fit those in our targetted area. Most of the churches people around here attend have deeply contextualized ministry for their tastes.

Now for your particular thought, if you are going to do a contextualized, niche ministry like "Hip Hop Church" do it excellently. Don't have a bunch of white people trying to act the part b/c that is ridiculous and won't work. Also, don't do it just b/c someone came up with the idea. Make sure it is a prayerfully led conviction that you want to desperately reach the hip-hop crowd in your area and want to make a legitimate stab at it. Don't do this halfway. Too many ministries are half-way or worse to begin with and crackerizing it will be an insult.

A truly "Hip Hop Church" might indeed work, if you make it truly hip-hop and not white, suburban ministry done in black-face. That would be insulting to those you think you want to reach. Hip-hop is the most ubitiquitous cultural expression in the world and if you are in an honest setting in the midst of a legit hip-hop crowd and have legit people leading the ministry you might be on the right track.

If you end up being a bunch of white people trying to do something different for the sake of difference than it will fail. If it is not God led, it will fail. I've got a friend who has been leading a ministry to Goths and punks and alternative crowds in the middle of a major city in a sector where those groups hang out. He's having lots of success for the Kingdom, but not trying to change them into a white-molded button down motley-fool.

Don't offer a contextualized ministry approach if your end goal is to make those who you reach into little models of white Americana.

Don't pull a Malibu's Most Wanted...if this is God led and Spirit filled you will have an opportunity to really people and not turn them off further from the Gospel.

 

they have cowboy church
I don't see why there should not be Hip hop Church as long as it is Glorifying the Father Son and Holy Spirit.

 

I'm down with that, dawg.

 

The Word of God tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind that we might prove that which is the perfect and acceptable will of God.

We do not need to act like the rappers, hip-hoppers, rockers, druggies, bar-room dancers, etc., to bring them in.

We need to live Christ and let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Hip Hop Church is conforming to the ways of the world and not to Christ.

 

What does Hip Hop represent culturally? What do you think of when you think of Hip Hop? Who will be the music director an Eminem look alike?

 

The question is, Can a hip hop church (or cowboy church) be glorying to God? It seems questionable at the very best. Hip hop is a lifestyle born out of the open and public manifestations of man's depravity. There are better ways than tying the gospel to a broken wagon.

Why not follow Paul's example and preach Christ and him crucified rather than tying it to these cultural manifestations?

 

I agree that most of the hip hop language comes from violence and drugs, because that's the culture of hip hop. But something like a hip hop church disarms the language and may also disarm the culture. It's distantly related to the phenomenon of how your parents disarm language when they adopt it. When parents started using the word "groovy", that was the first sign that it was no longer cool to say "groovy".

 

Most of ya'll know that on the "traditional to contemporary" continuum, I tend to like using all of it.

However, I think the "redeemability" of the hip-hop lifestyle is worth discussing. It is more intertwined with sin and its behavior IMO than other "genres." In addition, this involves more than just musical style. I guess that's where my reservations are most centered...not with musical choices as much as with the lifestyle so prevalent in today's hip hop culture.

Having said that...there's no doubt that reaching today's hip-hop generation does involve presenting the Gospel to quite the "foreign" culture. May God raise up missionaries--both vocational and volunteer--that can present the Good News effectively, while not compromising the Gospel.

As a friend of mine illustrates...think of all the Coca-cola slogans:

• "Have a Coke and a smile."
• "Coke adds life!"
• "Coke is it!"
• "Coke: The real thing."
• et cetera...

Now...except for the forgettable failure ("New coke" in 1984), Coke hasn't changed its formula--its product. But it has changed the slogan used to reach out to a new generation.

I don't mind slogans changing...as long as I never mess with the "product."

 

I have an idea on a slogan for our product. I know it's a bit long but do you suppose it might fly in a "hip hop" culture or does it lack cultural relevance?

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." - Colossians 3:16
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Logos. er...I mean...Word.

 

Although I am by no means a hip-hop fan, isn't it possible to "preach Christ and Him crucified" within a hip-hop setting? It's done in a high-church setting, and a country-church setting, cowboy-church setting, casual-church setting, etc.

The gospel is unchanging - it is Christ and Him crucified. Our methods of presenting that gospel better change (to some extent) if we will ever reach today's younger generation.

The days of opening the church doors and the lost file in are long gone. We have to find some way to reach them with an accurate message where they are.

 

If you are attempting to bring them in with worldly values, then you are doing it for the wrong reason. Your intentions are not godly, but fleshly.

"We've got to impress the youth to win them to Christ'' seems to be the general consensus.

That is not what the Bible teaches though. It is the Spirit that draws a person to Christ... not the world.

 

BTW, we hold strongly to Colossians 3:16. I can truthfully say that all singing we do falls into the category of psalms, hymns, or spiritual songs.

OK, example coming before things go awry...

The other day, our high-school students went to a local supermarket and (with the owner's permission) washed the windshields of motorists who allowed it for free. We mentioned who we are and where we worship, and thanked them for the chance to serve. We were able to share Christ with four.

Was that done 100 years ago? Nope. New approach. New "slogan." Same Gospel.

I'm trying to make this bigger than a worship war. I'll probably fail, though....but I'm trying.

 

Does it disarm it? Or does it debase it? Doesn't it clearly do the latter? Can anyone make a serious argument that culture is better off for having experienced hip hop?

Should we clothe the gospel in forms that are inherently contradictory to the gospel itself? I don't think we should. The form of the hip hop culture exists for fundamental reasons of the values that the hip hop culture holds and propogates. Those are fundamentally contradictory to the biblical gospel.

Notice again the argument 1 Cor 1-2 nad 2 Cor 1:4 where Paul specifically appeals to the simplicity of the message of the cross and rejects clothing it in contemporary styles of the day. That has more weigh than many are willing to give it.

 

The music style grew out of the lifestyle. They are, at this point in history, inseparable. And debasing to culture at large, much less the gospel.

I totally agree. But I don't think we have to be like them. This is not cross cultural ministry such as going to Africa or South America or Asia. These people understand the language and culture in which we live. If you speak English to them, they will understand it. What they reject is not our culture so much as it is our values.