Missional Hip-Hop

I was over at the Resurgence at bumped into a great 15 minute interview on being missional. The specific topic is how to redeem the hip-hop culture. And while you might not give a rip about that specifically... we can all learn missional principles that will apply to our own local, sub-cultures.

The interview is with the Ambassador... who was a classmate of mine at Dallas Theological Seminary. I think we took some Greek and Bible Study Methods together. My man Duce is a crazy-smart, theologically astute brother, who can flat out rhyme. It was hilarious being in class with Duce wearing baggy pants, construction boots and walking with a swagger.

Duce is both an ambassador of Christ to the hip-hop culture... and an ambassador of hip-hop to the church culture. Both are important roles... I think... in the kingdom ministry of the church... being God's agents of reconciliation as he redeems all things (Col 1:20).

What do you value?

A seminary friend of mine... Duce... aka "The Ambassador"...is part of the rap group the Cross Movement... and is a pastor at Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia. I recently came across the church's core values music video. That's right... I said music video because it is a rap video... performed by some of the Cross Movement guys.

I first heard of CM in the mid-90's and was immediately intrigued not only by their hot sound but by their theologically informed lyrics.

What I love about what Duce is doing is that he realizes that the gospel is not just about redeeming individuals but about redeeming culture. You could say he is calling his urban/rap culture to reform to repent and to return to Christ. He doesn't preach about the sin of rap... he preaches about sin through rap.

His incarnational approach to ministry is right on... and to that I give Duce a Vanilla Ice "Word to your mutha!".



So from the looks of it... the core values of Epiphany Fellowship are... Commitment... Community... Culturally Relevant... Conversion... Christo-Centrism... but I'm just a suburban white kid, so something might have been lost in translation. Peace Out!