Must Christian Rap Have the Gospel in Every Song?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:05.000 | Tim in San Diego, California writes in to ask this, "Pastor John, do you believe
00:00:09.000 | there's a difference between a Christian rap artist and a rap artist who is a
00:00:13.000 | Christian? And do you believe that an artist who is a Christian needs to
00:00:16.600 | include the gospel into every song that they make?"
00:00:19.500 | Well, let's start with that last question, because I think answering that one probably winds up
00:00:25.000 | addressing the concerns in the first one, which aren't as easy to answer, because
00:00:29.500 | the terms aren't clear. But this one is, "Does the gospel need to be in every song?"
00:00:36.000 | And if you mean the full enough doctrinal statement of the gospel that the
00:00:42.000 | listener would have a reasonable understanding of the gospel and know how
00:00:45.000 | to come to Christ, the answer is no. And I say that because Paul accused Peter
00:00:54.000 | in Galatians 2 of a kind of behavior that was not in step with the gospel.
00:01:02.000 | So there is the gospel, and there's life in step with the gospel.
00:01:08.000 | There's the gospel, and there's rap in step with the gospel.
00:01:12.000 | There's the gospel, and there's music in step with the gospel.
00:01:16.000 | There's the gospel, and there's advertising for your music group in step with the gospel.
00:01:23.000 | There's the gospel, and there's the clothing and the attitudes and the tone that's in step with the gospel.
00:01:30.500 | So it's a more biblical test for a rap song to ask, "Is the message, the tone, the aim, the origin,
00:01:38.500 | the spirit, in step with the gospel, rather than does it contain the four or five or six points
00:01:48.500 | or steps of the gospel?" If you tried to put a summary of the gospel in every song,
00:01:55.500 | it would start to sound stilted. It would be like saying, "Every chapter in the New Testament
00:02:02.000 | has to begin the way 1 Corinthians 15 begins. Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel,
00:02:08.000 | that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried,
00:02:11.500 | that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures."
00:02:14.500 | You can't begin—Paul doesn't begin every chapter with that. He expects that what he writes in that chapter
00:02:20.500 | will be in step with that, will unpack that, will apply that, but he doesn't feel the need to begin every chapter with that.
00:02:30.500 | So I think it should be with songs that Christians sing.
00:02:35.500 | When Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2, "I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified,"
00:02:46.000 | he did not mean that Christ crucified is mentioned in every chapter of his letters.
00:02:52.500 | When he said in Galatians 6:14, "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus,"
00:03:00.000 | he did not mean you can't exalt in other things like the gifts of Christ or the people of Christ
00:03:05.500 | or the work of the saints of God in Christ. He meant, I think, in both those passages,
00:03:14.500 | he meant that everything he said, everything he did, everything he sang would be aware.
00:03:23.500 | "I decided to know," "I decided to know nothing." He would be aware that the good in everything
00:03:32.000 | and the way everything bad is turned for good was bought for him by Jesus Christ.
00:03:39.000 | Anything good that he experiences was bought for him by Jesus.
00:03:42.500 | Apart from Christ crucified, he would be hellbound and everything would be taking him there.
00:03:49.500 | But now, because of Christ, everything is working for his good and God's glory in his life.
00:03:58.500 | That's what he always boasts in, that that's true in every situation.
00:04:05.500 | So it shouldn't take too long in listening to a Christian artist like that
00:04:13.500 | to know if he or she is blown away by the grace of God in the cross of Christ.
00:04:22.500 | Their whole ministry should be pointing to the cross of Christ.
00:04:29.500 | You can call this person a Christian rap artist or a rap artist who is a Christian.
00:04:36.500 | I don't think that matters. It doesn't matter to me anyway.
00:04:40.500 | What matters is, is every song in step with the gospel?
00:04:48.000 | Is the artist exulting at every moment in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in his heart?
00:04:56.000 | And are the words shaped by that, rooted in that, pointing to that in one way or the other,
00:05:02.500 | so that the entire corpus of the artist's work is going to point to Jesus and Jesus crucified?
00:05:12.500 | Thank you, Pastor John. And thank you for listening to this podcast.
00:05:15.500 | Email all your hip-hop questions to us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.
00:05:19.500 | You can visit us online at desiringgod.org to find thousands of books and articles, sermons,
00:05:23.500 | and other resources from John Piper, all free of charge.
00:05:25.500 | I'm your host Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening.
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