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Hip Hop and the Church

Grabbed this from over on Fuller's site and wanted to post it because I'm DEEPLY passionate about this topic and Dan Hodge PhD has added some new language to this dialog that wasn't previously there.  I love the way he's thinking and I love the connective tissue he proposes. After checking this out you should read the full post HERE and check out Dan HERE.

Hip Hop and the Church

When living in God’s will, the church (like Hip Hop culture) provides relationships, identity, structure, and support in times of trouble. Hip Hop culture was formed in community and has helped give meaning to several generations of young people. The church and Hip Hop share common ground in more ways than one.  How can we build on that ground and dialogue rather than shake our heads and miss out on an opportunity to be where God is at work? It is imperative that we not only begin grappling with these issues, but begin moving out to reach this cultural movement. There are at least five theological areas that Hip Hop presents as a potential “Gospel” message for this generation.  The first is a theology of the profane, described above.  Here are four other important lenses: A theology of suffering: This theology actually embraces the concept of suffering and moves beyond the basic three theological responses to suffering: suffering for divine retribution, suffering because of God’s will, and suffering as only a temporary reality.⁵ Hoppers use suffering as life experience and an actual process to draw closer to a God who suffered like us. A theology of community: For Hip Hoppers, life is done in community. Whether those communities are a few people or one hundred, community is still occurring. For example, many of the concerts I have been to reflect Hip Hop’s deep desire to engage in community. More importantly, Church happens in that community and the presence of God is also experienced. A theology of the Hip Hop Jesuz: For many Hip Hoppers, Jesus is not the “traditional” form of a savior most of us have been taught to believe in (i.e., the blonde-hair, blue eyed, White embodiment of perfection). Jesus is the multi-racial Jesus. Jesus is the Jesus that can understand the pain and misery of the inner city. Jesus is the one who could relate to the poor, downtrodden, and folks that people set aside. Thus, a theology of the Hip Hop Jesuz is a contextualized “version” of Jesuz (Hence the adding of the letter “z” to the name). A theology of social action: Hip Hop is about taking action and responsibility for the community. This theology explores the deep social awareness that is not only prevalent throughout the Bible, but also through Hip Hop’s connection to both justice and Jesus. A theology of social action encourages personal responsibility: sometimes we are the true culprit of social injustices. Hip Hoppers, such as Tupac, would challenge pastors and theologians to think deeper about issues such as poverty, social justice, and suffering and urge them to take action. Regardless of what you think of Hip Hop personally, it does possess many redeeming qualities that should, at the very least, elicit our curiosity.  What can we learn from it?  What can we bring to it? If we want to live out the gospel authentically, we cannot afford to fear things that are unfamiliar or nontraditional.

Who's Daniel Hodge PhD? Daniel White Hodge, PhD studied Hip Hop culture at Fuller as an FYI fellow with Dr. Jude Tiersma Watson. His new book, The Soul of Hip Hop: Rims, Timbs and a Cultural Theology will be released this August through InterVarsity Press.  This article is an adaptation from the introduction and chapter 1. What do you think?