Ask any student you know this question: “Who is your favorite preacher?” You are likely to get a few blank stares, “favorite what?,” or looks as if to say why are you asking me this question. Next, ask the same student this question: “Who is your favorite rapper?” You are likely to get ten different names, any one being from the top ten list of rappers that every student knows.
Last night, I took some students out to hear a Christian rapper that goes by the name of B-Shoc. This wasn’t the first time I’ve taken students out to hear a Christian rapper. Ever heard of Lecrae? Believe it or not, there are many Christian rappers currently out riding the circuit.
To be honest, B-Shoc’s music wasn’t my favorite. I much prefer Lecrae’s. But, nonetheless, I found myself down at the front of the stage jumping up and down with my sideways two-peace signs. WHY? It wasn’t about my musical preferences. It was about my students’ preference. If rapping a Christian song helps students come closer to God, I’m all for it.
What I preferred to hear over B-Shoc’s music was B-Shoc’s Jesus story. He said he went to Wal Mart when he was a teenager (after falling in love with “the beat”) to find some Christian rap music and there was none. At the time, he settled for what the world had to offer and soon afterwards found himself climbing the secular charts and playing in popular nightclubs. That is, until the Jesus he knew as a child got his attention. B-Shoc hit a rock bottom in his own life and said God told him to combine his passion, rap music, with the lifestyle of following Jesus. B-Shoc said he knew he was to take his style of music into the world to reach lost souls and even into the church to encourage the saints.
But it hasn’t been easy. B-Shoc has encountered a lot of opposition. Yet, B-Shoc has seen nearly 10,000 souls won to the Lord in his nine years of ministry. I think its easy to criticize. We could probably all find something to gripe about. But the question I would like to ask B-Shoc haters is this: “How many souls have you won in the last nine years?”
Reaching the next generation for Christ isn’t easy. But as you can see, B-Shoc has continued to grind. He says he is driven by that empty CD shelf at Wal Mart with no Christian witness to the style of music that captured his soul. I’m sure B-Shoc doesn’t want the next generation to follow the footsteps he took as a young man and is also driven to do everything he can to offer the next generation an alternate choice.
B-Shoc says it’s not get your life right so you can get right with Jesus; it’s get right with Jesus so you can get your life right. Sounds like good preaching to me! Christianity never was about climbing a ladder or stairway of good deeds all the way up to heaven. It’s the exact opposite. Jesus walked down the stairway so he could carry you back up with him. B-Shoc then told the students getting to know Jesus takes a lifetime, but salvation can happen in a moment.
This was all great stuff! But none of it was my favorite. Because B-Shoc was about to bring it home. He got personal with all in attendance, including the adults. He shared with everyone that they were uniquely made by God and that they could search the earth and not find another person just like them. God had created them for a purpose. Maybe they weren’t supposed to be a Christian rapper like him, but it was their job to find out what God had created them for and then do it.
In words only a Christian rapper could get away with, B-Shoc told everyone in attendance to hear what God was telling them, get off their butt, and MOVE to start doing it. Say what you will, but I think it’s a message the church needs to hear. If all you do is sit and worry about what God has told you to do, you’re not only hurting yourself, you’re hurting God and you’re hurting others whom God made you to help. *By the way, the reason I’ve written this post and others is because, like B-Shoc, God told me to!
I like preachers and I have known many good ones! But maybe, just maybe, the next gen knows the names of rappers and not the names of preachers because the rappers are telling it like it is. If we’re going to win the next generation, we’ve got to win their hearts and we’ve got to be real. Center yourself on the gospel, focus on the mission, and GO create a culture of missional artists in your next generation ministry that are ready to use their gifts and passions for the glory of God!