I don’t enjoy rap music. I have no doubt about the talent of many rap artists, but I’d rather they didn’t display it in my presence. I have walked out of shops that are playing rap music and, yes, you’ve guessed right – I’m over 50!
The question here is not my taste in music (my daughter says I have little of that!), but whether this genre of music has a place in the church as worship music. Curtis “Voice” Allen is a Christian rap artist who was invited to perform at the 2010 NEXT conference. He has been open to much criticism about whether or not rap is ‘Christian’ or can be used in the Christian context. In one interview he said:
“I realized I needed something a little deeper to hold onto. I could relate to what the critics were saying. I understood how you could take the position that rap can’t glorify God.… I understood where rap came from and why so much secular rap is what it is. I knew all about rap’s entanglements with sin and rebellion. I’m from that. I get it. But I really wanted to know how rap—or any music, for that matter—can glorify God. Realizing my position was actually biblificial (biblically superficial), I decided to start from scratch.… Rap’s critics make a strong case that most of its cultural origins and connections are far from godly, and I needed to see what those criticisms really mean for this art form I love so much.”
He then started to search the scriptures to find what God has to say on the subject and then wrote the book Does God Listen to Rap? (published by Cruciform Press; paperback; 93 pages; R80).
For those who like to listen to rap, you can hear “voice” on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/avoice . the words to his song on the Heidelberg catechism can be read on http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/blogs/cj-mahaney/post/2010/10/25/The-First-Ever-Rap-Song-About- the-Heidelberg-Catechism.aspx .
This book is an interesting apologetic on the use of rap music, but I remain unconvinced.
Other new books from Cruciform (all paperbacks of about 100 pages; R80 each):
• HIT LIST: Taking Aim at the Seven Deadly Sins by Brian Hedges
• AFTER THEY ARE YOURS: The Grace and Grit of Adoption by Brian Borgman
• THE COMPANY WE KEEP: In Search of Biblical Friendship by Jonathan Holmes
• KNOWABLE WORD: Helping Ordinary People Learn to Study the Bible by Peter Krol
• GRACE IS FREE: One Woman’s Journey From Fundamentalism to Failure to Faith by Marci Preheim
• FAITH: A Bible Study on James for Women by Keri Folmar
• THE MOST ENCOURAGING BOOK ON HELL EVER by Thor Ramsey
• BROKEN VOWS: Divorce and the Goodness of God by John Greco.
For more about any of the titles visit www.cruciformpress.com .
