I like a lot of things. I also don’t like a lot of things. This can be a problem. Tonight I was accused of being judgmental due to my over enthusiastic pushing of Easter decorations. Seems a stretch. But perhaps. I hold a lot of opinions. Almost all of them violently. Don’t get me started on things like Arminians, Hyper-Dispensationalists, Rob Bell or Applebees…We might get in a fight. That said I want here to point out some things I like.
- I like the fact the Abraham Kuyper once said: in the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, ‘That is mine!’
- I like my dad, who for my whole life provided for us by getting up and going to work at 3:15 AM every morning in a factory
- I like the new music by Sho Baraka and the High Society Collective.
Now admittedly this is a strange little list, but in my ever so odd head they are very related.
I will admit that when Sho announced he was leaving Reach Records I was worried. That is another thing about me. I have an amazing ability to worry about things that don’t really concern me. But I like Reach, as an Urban pastor their music has been very helpful in what we do, and I like Sho, and when I heard that they were separating it was like hearing that Mommy and Daddy did not love each other anymore. So it was stressful (I know I have issues…). The thing that stressed me the most was what would Sho do next? Where would he go? Did he still love Jesus?
Doesn’t that all seem very spiritual of me? To worry that maybe if Sho Baraka didn’t want to be on a Christian label, making “Christian” music then maybe he was walking away from Jesus, because if a rapper is a Christian, doesn’t it make sense that the rapper should be on a Christian label? (As a brief aside when I was little I used count the number of times a given album said Jesus to determine if the artist loved said Jesus or not…so yeah issues.)
Here’s the problem with that kind of thinking: 1. It suggests that somehow that what God is really interested in what the business entity we work for is called, which makes as much sense as when my mom tries to convince me that God cares what kind of pants we wear to Church. 2. It suggests, contra the Abraham Kuyper quote above that there is some area of the universe over which Jesus does not cry “mine”…and that area apparently is record labels without the Christian prefix. But as a good Kuyperian I know for certain that this is not true. Every corner of the universe is ruled over by Jesus. To suggest anything different gives us much bigger problems than whether a MC wants to be known as a Christian Rapper. To suggest that there is an square inch of this universe that Jesus does not claim as his own, is to suggest that their could be an area of your life that Jesus does not claim as his own. To suggest so is to cease to be fully Christian.
Then there is the more personal issue: If a MC who raps for a Christian audience if more honorable that an MC who raps for the masses, then the man who is Vocationally “Christian” (i.e. pastors like me) is more honorable than the man who works in the factory. Which I suppose some people would agree with, not because they are convinced of the honorable nature of ministry, but simply because they look down their noses on men who work with machines, in grease and without degrees. But honestly those people are jerks. And they are wrong. I know of no more honorable man that my dad. Everyday, 10 hrs, in the heat and the grease and amongst some of the vilest men you could imagine being around, off he went. It’s a far cry from the life I live…with my 8 am starts and my macintosh computers, I wouldn’t even know what to do with grease. My dad made parts for office desks, I sit at offices desks. I am a vocational preacher. My dad was a Christian non-vocationally. I talk all the time, my dad is quiet, but it would be a mistake to suggest that my dad never preached the gospel. When you are a Jesus follower who lives for the king in a place as dark as some factories can be, every move you make is light. If Kuyper is right, if everything I know is right, I am no more pleasing to God (because of my occupation) than my dad. My “call” given by Jesus is no more a “call” than the one my dad recieved to work 30 years in the same factory.
If I can please God in the pulpit while my dad pleases God in the factory then there is no reason to suggest that Lecrae’s show at Passion is more pleasing than High Societies next show at the club. This realization comes hard for me, but it brings peace as I live my little life being stressed about things that don’t really concern me.
Good reminder. Nice to have you blogging again. On an aside, you may be opinionated, but someone who would accuse you of being judgmental solely on your love of pastel eggs clearly has issues of their own.
Phenomenal read…well-done sir
Maybe the best commentary I’ve ever heard on this subject. Great wisdom and perspective you shared here Pastor.
The reality is all of us are in full time ministry. Some of us are just in vocational ministry. If the Holy Spirit is who it claims to be, then it should be visible in every area of our lives regardless of what we label ourselves or what vocation we work in. God gets glory in all of it. Especially if we are functioning in excellence.
Phenomenal just phenomenal. Real, well-written, organized, current, and biblical. And I also agree, I’ll admit I was worried when Sho left for others reasons. He was steadily improving and I wanted him to have that nice reach production, but why am I so worried about that? If God called him out, he called him out. I like what Reach does, but I also like what High Society does. You also make a good point that I think a lot of Christians miss. Working full time for the church is an exciting calling, but we also need laborers shedding the light in other places on the day-to-day basis. So whether you are a Pastor, factory worker, full-time missionary, CEO, or soldier we all have a mission, and together we can reach the world for Jesus! God Bless fam!
This was a refreshing read bro. I don’t read a lotta blogs, but I’m gonna try and swing by yours when I get a chance. Its also sweet to see people writing about Christian artists. Lastly, may you’re ministry be blessed as you share the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. Peace.