RAPOLOGETICS:

HOW THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST TAKES ON THE STREET

by

Robert Charles Hepburn

A Project Submitted to the Faculty of

WESTMINSTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF MINISTRY

2016

Faculty Advisor: ______________________________________

Dr. Timothy Z. Witmer

Second Faculty Reader: ______________________________________

Dr. R. Kent Hughes

Director of the D.Min. Program: ______________________________________

Dr. Jeffrey K. Jue

Librarian: ______________________________________
Mr. Alexander (Sandy) Finlayson
Copyright 2016 by Robert Charles Hepburn

All rights reserved

 In loving grateful memory of
Charles B. and Dorothy K. Hepburn,
who also wondered what was going on
as they helped their oldest son move
into Paterson, NJs Fourth Ward
 CONTENTS

FIGURES vii

TABLES ix

PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS x

CHAPTER

ONE RAPOLOGETICS: HOW THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST TAKES ON

THE STREET
Introduction 1
Major Question: Shall the Twain Ever Meet? 5
Biblical and Theological Starting Point 5
The Bible, Theology, Rap and Hip-Hop: Are They Connectable? 6
Who Is This Effort For? 8
What Does This Project Do? 10
Research Questions: Historical Precedents and Current Cultural
Conditions 11
Hip-Hop Culture: A Wide-Open Window of Opportunity? 11
Models for Engaging the Street 12
Proposed Ministry Model: The Gospel / The Street (TGTS) 2.0 15
What Does the Course Do? 16
Why Philadelphia? 17
Hip-Hop Culture: A 21st Century Roman Road System 18

TWO BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

The Preponderance, Significance and Redemptive Intent of Poetic
Orality: Gods Word Re-Lensed through Oral Culture: A Biblical
Theology of the Imago Dei, Fully Realized as the Poetry of God:
Introduction 19
Focus Texts and Those Warranting Further Examination 27
The Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture Connection 33
Hebrew Poetry in the Old Testament 35
Genesis 1: Creative Speech-Acts: Context Created First,
Followed by the Imago Dei 37
Genesis 2:23: The Mans Poetic Response Regarding
(and to) the Woman 43
Genesis 3:14-19: Divine Judgments Delivered in a Poetic
Framework 54
Genesis 4:23-24: Lamechs Proud Poetic Boast 56
Judges 14:14-18, 15:16, 16:23-31: Samson and the Philistines
Trade Bars 64
Job 32-36: Elihus Youn Boul Flow 69

iv
 Jesus Teaching Ministry Considered from an Oral Perspective 74
John 4:1-43: Jesus Conversation with the Samaritan Woman 116
Acts 17:16-34: Pauls Oral Ministry in Athens 121
Pauls Extensive Use of the Oral Tradition 142
Ephesians 2:10: The Masters Masterpiece 144
1 John 1:1: The Living Word Enters the Theater of
Human Existence 149
Summary 152

THREE HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS AND CURRENT CULTURAL

CONDITIONS
Call Me Mykhael: A Lament (a/k/a the Blues); an Appeal: Dialogue
with a Formerly Anonymous Street-Oriented Young Urban Black
Male: A Research-Supported Narrative: Liminally, Etically and
Emically Imagined
Prologue 153
Introduction: Me, My Tribe n the Milieu 156
Americas Foundational Flaw 199
Takin a Hold-a My Outsider Status: By Faith Seein It
Turnt Around 215
Fear of the Street: Known Knowns, Known Unknowns &
Unknown Unknowns 222
The Church n Me n My Tribe 330
Personal Life: State n Aspirations 346
The Street Situation: Breakin Bad 363
Tell the Story: The Social Context that Birthed Rap Music n
Hip-Hop Culture 386
Christopher Brooks on the Need for a New Apologetic Approach
For the Street 410
The Wind-Up 414
The Pitch 421
Summary 422

FOUR MINISTRY MODEL

Background 424
TGTS 2.0 Course Content and Materials: Development Overview 426
TGTS 2.0 Course Objectives 428
Lancaster Bible College Course Development Objectives 428
TGTS 2.0 Course Research: Focus and Methodology 431
TGTS 2.0 Course Implementation 435
The Significant Role of Epiphany Fellowship in the Course 440
Assessments 445
The Church & Hip-Hop Culture: Research Survey Findings:
Synopsis & Analysis 448

v
FIVE CONCLUSION
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. 459
Where Do We Go from Here? 461
Cant Stop Wont Stop: A Challenging Chapter to Conclude 466

APPENDICES
A. The Gospel / The Street 2.0: Sample Syllabus 478
B. TGTS 2.0: Course Content: Module 1 (1 of 5) 488
C. TGTS 2.0: Survey Results 543
D. Profile of a Street-Oriented Individual (Quiz and Answer) 552
E. A Comparative Overview of Five (5) American Generations
from 1925 to 2024 558
F. Origins, Development & Emanative Reach of Rap Music &
Hip-Hop Culture 559
G. Street-Related Urban Youth Online & Visual Media Resources 560

BIBLIOGRAPHY 567

CURRICULUM VITAE

vi
 FIGURES (EXPANDED)

1. Graffiti, North Philadelphia 413

2. Graffiti, Northeast Philadelphia 447

A.1. Graffiti by Gerald Dial 466

B.1. Graffiti by Gerald Dial 476

B.2. 3-Phase Hierarchal Structure of the Creation Order 488

B.3.1. Visually Exegeting Gen 1-3 and John 1:1-4, 14 489

B.4. Christ and Culture 509

C.1. Responses: What is your gender? 529

C.2. Responses: Respondents age range 529

C.3. Responses: Regarding youth cultural trends: Which best describes you? 530

C.4. Responses: Do you have children? 531

C.5. Responses: Do you work with youth and/or young adults in ministry and/or
profession? 531

C.6. Responses: Respondents congregational size estimate 532

C.7. Responses: Respondents congregational median age estimated / interpolated 533

C.8. Responses: Do you hold a leadership position in your church? 534

C.9. Responses: Have you ever attended a workshop on rap music / hip-hop
culture? 534

C.10. Responses: How would you rate your understanding of rap music and/or
hip-hop culture? 535

C.11. Responses: How would you describe your stance towards rap music and/or
hip-hop culture? 536

C.12. Responses: How would you describe your churchs stance towards rap music
and/or hip-hop culture? 537

E.1. A Comparative Chart of Five (5) American Generations from 1925 to 2024 543

xvi
F.1. Appendix B: Origins, Development & Emanative Reach of Rap Music &
Hip-Hop Culture 544

H.1. Graffiti by Gerald Dial 552

H.2. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 558

H.3.1. Receptor-Oriented Communication 591

H.4. The Dominant American Cultural Engine 632

H.5. The Streets Cultural Engine 633

H.6. Six Worldviews and Their Attendant Religious Issues 661

H.7.1. Witness Card: A side 666

H.7.2. Witness Card: B side 667

P.1.1. How Did Jesus Handle His Own? 751

P.1.2. How Can I Handle My Own? 751

P.1.3. Present Arms n 751

xvii
 PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The idea for this project began a year or two before enrolling in the D. Min.

Urban Mission program at Westminster when I was on the board of Cross Movement

Ministries (the speaking / teaching branch of the seminal Christian rap group, the Cross

Movement). In October 2004, members of C.M.M. and Rock Soul Ministries teamed up

with Samuel Boyd, president of the Student Missions Fellowship at WTS, to host a

missions conference titled, Contextualizing without Compromise: A Case Study in

Reaching the Hip-Hop Culture. The event brought together a collective of Christian

street-oriented communicators (rappers, visual artists, label executives, producers, etc.),

students and professors from the Seminary, as well as pastors and church leaders from

around the Delaware valley. Although student attendance was less than hoped for, there

was no shortage of excitement among those attending from outside the school about the

possibilities for continuing the three-way conversation between the street, the church and

the academy. The original proposal for this project centered on setting up mechanisms to

enable the conversation to continue, but over time (and as a result of a number of

momentum-shifting changes that had taken place within two of the three entities we had

hoped to see involved), the initial proposition became less tenable and doable. I went

with another approach the result being this effort, Rapologetics which is basically an

extension of what we were trying to do at (and then after) the 2004 missions conference.

So what are we looking at here? The first chapter sets out in preliminary fashion

some of whats going on out in the street (a more in-depth treatment appears in chapter

three), and the critical need for finding new, workable and durable strategies for

effectively connecting and communicating with those involved in hip-hop / youth / street

x
culture. A course of study is proposed, which will develop into a curriculum which

comprehensively examines and then sets out ways to respond to those influenced by,

involved in or dominated by street / hip-hop culture.

The second chapter (Biblical and theological foundations) examines Scripture

from an oral perspective a paramount consideration for those looking to communicate

more effectively in cultures of orality. We will look closely at a number of Old and New

Testament poetic passages some obvious, others not so discovering their surprising

connectivity, relevance, bearing and application to street and hip-hop contexts. Jesus was

(and is!) a masterful oral Communicator. Is it any surprise that His use of rhythm, rhyme

and a number of other poetic / mnemonic devices arguably allows Him to be

characterized as a rapper using the Hebraic / Aramaic forms, conventions and

sensibilities of His time in 1st century Palestine? How many barriers, borders, boundaries

and conventions did He cross / transcend when He spoke with the Samaritan woman at

the well? Well also take a look at how Pauls Athenian Areopagite address is fraught

with material ripe and right on time for skeptical street contexts.

Chapter 3 deals with the street (hip-hops birthplace). Where are the street

institutions roots? From whence does it come? And what exactly is going on out there

(here) in street / hip-hop / urban youth n young adult contexts today? What does our

response to rap music and hip-hop culture (much more so to its originators!) reveal about

us as individuals? As the church? As a nation? These matters constitute the third chapter

(historical precedents and current cultural conditions), in which we head out to the street

for an insiders view of the marginalized people group that pretty much wrought rap

xi
music and hip-hop / street culture literally from the ground up to the global juggernaut1

that it is today. The chapter also seeks to humanize and personify an often vilified

(thuggified / demonized) people group the anonymous street-oriented young urban

Black male laying out a comprehensive overview of the historical, sociological,

economic, cultural and anthropological issues and challenges this disenfranchised group

faces.2 Using an empathetic approach to describe the dire nature of their situation, it does

so through a 25-year-old street-oriented young man named Mykhael a composite

character drawn from literally hundreds of real-life young men and their life stories and

experiences. While Mykhael and his tribe have been the subject of many a research and

sociological study over the past number of decades, rarely, if ever, has it been done from

a Christian perspective. He tells his story acavernaculardemic-style,3 toggling between

a street-oriented, 1st person narratival flow (using African American English and usually

1
A fascinating word that perfectly captures what hip-hop culture is and what it does: juggernaut
(n.), 1630s, huge wagon bearing an image of the god Krishna, especially that at the town of Puri, drawn
annually in procession in which (apocryphally) devotees allowed themselves to be crushed under its wheels
in sacrifice. Altered from Jaggernaut, a title of Krishna (an incarnation of Vishnu), from Hindi Jagannath,
literally lord of the world, from Sanskrit jagat world (literally moving, present participle of jagati he
goes, from PIE [Proto-Indo-European] gwa- to go, come (see come (v.)) + natha-s lord, master, from
nathate he helps, protects, from PIE na- to help. The first European description of the festival is by Friar
Odoric (c.1321). Figurative sense of anything that demands blind devotion or merciless sacrifice is from
1854. Juggernaut, Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed January 17, 2015,
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=juggernaut.
2
Dr. Elijah Anderson, Lanman Professor of Sociology at Yale University, writes, young black
men are in a dreadful state, an urgent crisis that becomes ever more compounded, while the socially and
economically impoverished among them continue to be the most reviled and misunderstood group of the
city, and are further marginalized for this reason, which then further deepens their crisis. Elijah Anderson,
email message to author, September 17, 2014.
3
Precedent for this technique is evidenced in Lukes writing, as noted by Albert L.A. Hogeterp:
In linguistic terms, my case study argues that Lukes Greek should be considered as a corpus mixtum [a
mixed body of writing]. Luke addressed a Greek-reading audience not only with standard Greek, but
he also included a Semitized variety of Greek which was probably more informed by factors of stylistics of
ancient Greek Bible translation and revision of Semitic and Graeco-Semitic language situations than
previously assumed. Albert L.A. Hogeterp, New Testament Greek as Popular Speech: Adolf Deissmann
in Retrospect: A Case Study in Lukes Greek, Zeitschrift fr die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft 102, 2
(January 2011): 200, accessed March 5, 2014, http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/zntw.2011.102.issue-
2/zntw.2011.012/zntw.2011.012.xml.

xii
found in the body of the text), and the academic research documentation supporting his

statements (which will generally be confined to the footnotes). African American voices

from throughout American history punctuate the chapter from Phillis Wheatleys

stunning poem regarding her enslavement (1773) to Kendrick Lamars portentous

conversation with Tupac Shakur (2015). The material in this chapter is intentionally

presented as a street convo (conversation) and the reader is heartily encouraged to read

sections of the text that catch his or her attention out loud whenever possible, as it is

meant to be both an replication and explication of street cultures preference for orality.

While this chapter is a bit lengthy, the writer offers no apologies. Truth is, it takes a great

deal of time (years!) to get at all the deep things going on in out there on the street, and

while there are no quick n simple solutions to its multitudinous situations, it is to the

glory of God that His people at least try to have a good hearty go at it. (Matt 28:18-20)

The fourth chapter (ministry model) describes the development of an urban youth

ministry course that I taught at both the undergrad and graduate levels which offers an

anthropological, socio-cultural, missiological and apologetic approach for reaching those

in street / hip-hop culture. It uses an ideational and expeditionary curriculum, replete

with a substantive set of resources, sculpt-able blocks of organized content readied for

presentation and discussion, sections of which are found in the appendices. The intent is

not to present the last possible word on street / hip-hop culture (impossible) but rather to

provide the reader / student / reacher of the culture enough to start them on their way.

The concluding chapter presents a Macedonian call to the saints to step outside

our comfort zones, follow the Lord Jesus into street contexts (finding Him already out

there!), and building up disciples as we go seeing His church built up in the process.

xiii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I cannot thank Dr. Elijah Anderson enough for his friendship through the years,

for his writing, as well as for his encouragement regarding the third chapter. I also want

to thank author / activist Bakari Kitwana for our convo regarding Origins, Development

and Emanative Reach of Rap Music and Hip-Hop Culture, as well as folklorist /

ethnomusicologist Portia K. Maultsby for her encouragement regarding it. I also want to

personally thank James W. Sire for his kind permission to re-work some material he laid

out in his 1990 book, Discipleship of the Mind (complex but clever, detailed but

understandable), as well as Philip Yancey, who graciously received and wrote a helpful

critique of an unsolicited manuscript I brought to his house on a wintry cold Chicago

night back in 1988. Thanks also to Elder Barry McWilliams for permission to expand and

build on a chart he came up with. Id be remiss not to honor and thank the late Harvie M.

Conn whose masterful teaching showed us how to successfully combine day-to-day

ministry with academic studies. He then went on to publish several articles I had written

for his classes in Urban Mission, and was the first to encourage me to write a book. I am

profoundly grateful and count it a great honor to have been one of his students. My

profound gratitude to John Piper for his 2014 Gaffin Lecture at WTS was combined

confirmation, affirmation and encouragement to persevere (see chapter 5). Thank you,

Kimberlee (K-lee) Johnson, for bringing me on-board at Eastern University to help write

the curriculum for and then teach in the Master of Arts in Urban Studies program and to

the folks at the Center for Urban Theological Studies for the opportunities to present,

shape and refine this material over the past seven or 8 years. Big, BIG THANK YOUs

to Delise Mitchell (for her patience in calmly guiding me through WTSs academic

xiv
processes), to Karen Mehlbaum at Biblical Theological Seminary (for her gracious help

with the manuscript), and to Justin Rainey at WTS (for his help with getting this effort

reader-ready several times over!). A very special thank you to my sister Debbie

(and her husband Jim) and to my brother Ed (and his wife Nicole) and their families for

all you are, have been and have done in putting up with me through the years. I thank the

Lord Jesus for arranging us to be in the same family. Of course, I cannot thank Manny

Ortiz and Sue Baker enough for all they did long ago in getting me to go at this thing

(and maybe surprised I stayed at it), and certainly to WTS professors John Leonard,

Timothy Witmer and R. Kent Hughes, who graciously and generously helped me get this

project finished. Thank you, J. Kelvin Jackson, for your friendship through all these

years, and for your life, testimony, work and witness there in Grand Rapids. I salute you.

A huge shout-out and thanks to all the members of the Cross Movement: William Branch

(The Ambassador [especially so as he became this projects external reader -- thank you,

Timothy Brindle, for that recommendation to the faculty]), Brady Goodwin, Jr. (The

Phanatik), Virgil Byrd (T.R.U.-L.I.F.E.), Cruz Cordero, John Wells (The Tonic), the late

Juan James (enocK), Nelson Chu (DJ Official) and Cleveland Foat (Earthquake). I am

amazed you put my photos on your CD covers, my music onto your albums, my face in

the place in a video, and allowed me a spot on the C.M.M. board. Quoting Neo in The

Matrix, Whoa. A special note of thanks to Carl and Sharon Nilsen for their generosity

and gracious hospitality to all of us in the extended Cross Movement ministry family. I

also want to express my deep gratitude for the late Rev. Dick Goupille, Pastor of the St.

John Bible Church in St. John, Maine, and to his dear wife Marie, who together with their

children took this fresh-out-of-college, newbie high school teacher into their home and

xv
family, and lovingly discipled me deeper into the Christian faith.4 My profoundest

gratitude to all the saints at Hawthorne Gospel Church (Hawthorne, NJ), Fardale Trinity

Church (Mahwah, NJ), the Evangelical United Methodist Church (New Holland, PA),

Cosmopolitan Mission Service Baptist Church (Philadelphia, PA), Great Commission

Church (Philadelphia, PA), Third Eternal Baptist Church (Philadelphia, PA), and to

Stephen D. Miller and his family and so many other individuals who have encouraged

and supported me in ministry for some 36 years. This project is a small part of the result

of your ministry as well. Big ups and madd massive shout-outs to each and every student

in our classes at the Center for Urban Theological Studies, Eastern University and

Biblical Theological Seminary, who wrestled through most of this material, helped me

hammer it out and kept asking when the book was coming out. Well, here it is. Now its

your task to stay at the task and take where I could never go. Lastly which in Gods

economy makes them first my profound gratitude and deep indebtedness to each and

every formerly anonymous street-oriented young (and young at heart) urban Black man

whom Ive had the privilege and honor to interact with especially Walt Stewart, one of

the first who helped me see whats going on out there. Forgive me for where I came up

short and continue doing so in this and all prior endeavors, but I cant thank the Lord

enough for you all and for your friendships. I really do hope to see you again if not here

nor there then in the air co-heirs with the One Who is not ashamed to call us

brothers. (Heb 2:11) To God alone be all the glory, the honor and the praise!

4
For more on this awesome family and their ministry see Marie Goupille, Our Long Summer:
Forty Years in the St. John Valley (Hartland, New Brunswick, Canada: John Hoag, publisher, New
Brunswick Bible Institute, 2009).

xvi
 CHAPTER ONE

RAPOLOGETICS: HOW THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST TAKES ON THE STREET

Introduction

Over the past several decades, the traditional urban church1 has had a rough go of

it trying to bridge the widening generational and cultural gaps that exist between its own

culture (of which it is usually unaware) and the dominant youth and young adult culture

of our day the free-form, total-life expression cultural entity known as hip-hop.2 This is

not to say that bridge-building attempts have not been made. Many extraordinarily gifted

young people and young adults in the Christian hip-hop movement have done a

tremendous service to the Body of Christ, finding new ways to reverently and faithfully

contextualize the Gospel into hip-hop culture (making it vitally relevant for a new

generation), and have seen the Lord do a redemptive work in a surprising number of

those in the culture through their efforts. But is it enough? What are the outcomes of

coming to faith in Christ for a street / hip-hop-oriented youth or young adult? Is it just

struggling to try to stay faithful and true to the One Who redeemed them, while

(hopefully) growing into some kind of dissipated culturally-relevant ministry. Perhaps a

1
This project focuses primarily on the African American church, with a particular emphasis on
reaching the street-oriented young urban Black male (YUBM), a demographic generally considered by the
church as being hard to reach. Over the past few decades, many in this group have sensed themselves
increasingly feared, shunned, marginalized, vilified and abandoned by both their own communities and the
larger society as a whole admittedly, justifiably so in some cases, but more so due to stereotypical and
socially-reinforced perceptions of their propensity for criminal behavior. Human beings are still inclined
to look on the outward appearance and take their measure of a person from that perspective. (2 Cor 5:14-17
takes a radically different perspective when the focus is put on seeing the individuals potential in Christ
rather than the individual left to his or her own or a surrounding societys best resources.)

2
Hip-hop culture properly understood is much more than just rap. It is a highly inclusive and
diverse cultural form (a total life expression) that transcends even the dominant popular African American
forms it is usually associated with.

1
redeemed hip-hop cultural expression of some sort? The question needs to be asked: is it

also just as important to try to find a way to stay faithful and true to the culture in which

they comfortably live, move, and have their being? Many of them grew up in and around

hip-hop cultures wide-ranging influence so much so that theirs has been called the

hip-hop generation.3

What does the Gospel of Christ look like when it is faithfully represented in an

urban hip-hop context? As the body of Christ, what kinds of paradigm shifts do we need

to take a look at as we go about the process of seeing a faithful contextualization

realized? Are there any ways in which hip-hop culture can help us see exciting new

facets, meanings and applications of the Biblical text of which we were previously

unaware?4 Even more sobering is the probability that the body of Christ is missing an

incredible missional opportunity in the present impasse between itself and street culture:

those whose lives are not just mildly influenced or governed by the street, but are actually

dominated and consumed by it. Although it appears to be a world far removed from most

Americans, it is nevertheless a world that is all to close to home to those living in hard-hit

urban areas. It is the hidden real world inhabited by the likes of those portrayed through

The Wires Wallaces, Stringer Bells, Avon Barksdales, Omar Littles, Marlo Stanfields,

Proposition Joes, Chris Partlows, Snoop Pearsons, Brodie Broaduses, Kenards, Michael

3
The title of Bakari Kitwanas helpful book, The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the
Crisis in African American Culture (New York: Basic Civitas, 2003), indicates such. Kitwana
contrasts the Hip-Hop Generation with its predecessor, the Civil Rights Generation.

4
J. Richard Middleton and Brian Walsh, Truth Is Stranger than It Used to Be (Downers Grove,
IL: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 5.

2
Lees, et al5 or, The Rootss Redford Stephenses6 or, the very real, very personable,

sharp-eyed seer, Jermaine Glasco7 or, the very real, easy-goin, sad-eyed seer, Edwin

Scott.8 What does Christs incarnational ministry have to do (if anything!) with such

hard-to-reach individuals? Everything! What kind of re-tooled apologetic approaches and

considerations do we need to take a look at and how can those involved in street / hip-hop

culture help us see them? Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Lam 1:12a (ESV)

Look and see.

The stand-off between the church and street culture is complicated by a number of

factors. There is a general wariness of the church toward street-oriented types (a

perception that works in the opposite direction as well!), along with a perceived

unwillingness (true or not) to validate their street-oriented gifts and calling as authentic

ministers of the Gospel and, in turn, incorporate them into the church. Street-oriented

5
David Simon, The Wire (cable television drama), originally aired from June 2, 2002 to March 9,
2008 on HBO. The above-named fictionalized drug dealer characters who appear in Simons critically-
acclaimed, street-realistic, ber-bleak, Melville-esque series, were based on real people living in Baltimore,
MD whom Simon (and other writers for the show) either know or knew.

6
The Roots, undun (Def Jam, 2011. ASIN: B005VR9328, CD, 2011). undun is an existential re-
telling of the short life of one Redford Stephens (1974-1999), a fictionalized composite character on this
critically acclaimed concept album. In many ways it is a most unusual Christ-mas album, revealing part of
the reason Christ came to earth.

7
Jermaine Glasco (known on the street as J-Knots), 28, was a South Camden, NJ drug lord who
came to faith in Christ in the mid-1990s. He was brutally murdered on January 3, 2001; his shocking death
leaving us all reeling. Friends and family asked another ministry leader and I to lead the memorial service
at a small funeral home in the Centerville section of the city. The place was packed, and outside scores of
young people gathered standing stock-still or sitting silently on the front porch stoops of an adjacent
housing development.

8
Edwin Scott, 25, was involved in the same South Camden ministry where I had met Jermaine
Glasco. Edwin (Eddie) was gunned down on the steps of an abandoned building at the corner of Ferry
Avenue and Fillmore Street on September 1, 2004. Only a few have been named here but there are, sadly,
many others. The Wire and undun may be fictional media dramas, but the world they portray is all-too real
indeed.

3
Christians are understandably reluctant about dropping their culture (which the church

tends to view as a secular-inspired expression of rebelliousness) so they can be

assimilated into the mainstream established institutions culture. They see their culture as

an integral part of their identity. In their view, doing so is a matter of compromising their

cultural authenticity a highly-prized commodity in urban youth / young adults / street /

hip-hop contexts.

Most members of todays hip-hop generation arent really feelin what goes on

in the typical Sunday morning church service. Those Christian hip-hoppers who have

been carving out their unique ministries have carefully assessed the costs and

compromises needed for obtaining ministry training and have strong reservations about

denying who they are. It is a very serious matter which threatens their authenticity and

hinders their efficacy in reaching fellow hip-hoppers at street levels. And so, each camp

essentially maintains its respective territory; each a gatekeeper and shareholder in its

respective sphere each holding critical keys to the advancement of Gods Kingdom on

the earth. The church holds the keys to enabling future generations to do ministry through

identifying and developing its leaders. Street-oriented, hip-hop-inflected believers hold

the keys to unlocking the code of the streets. Members of each camp have gotten better

over the past decade venturing over to the other side to meet those in the other camp, but

still tend to spar over Biblical standards, the problem of worldliness, or perhaps

methodologies or authority issues. Both sides have met to do some relatively

inconsequential reconciliation, but eventually retreat back to the safety of their respective

corners perhaps a bit humbled and perhaps a bit hurt. Do two walk together, unless

they have agreed to meet? Amos 3:3 (ESV) How can the church and street-oriented /

4
hip-hop-influenced saints go forward together?

Major Question: Shall the Twain Ever Meet?

The major question to be addressed by this research is, how can urban church

leaders and street-oriented / street-vetted believers come together for reciprocal Biblical,

theological, socio-cultural and ministerial edification and training in such a way that both

can make significant contributions to each other in a way that they will be empowered as

one to take the Gospel to the street, for the sake of building up the body of Christ? Put

another way, how can the baton of faithful and relevant Gospel ministry be more

effectively passed back and forth from one generation to the other the two growing

mutually deeper in the wondrous grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet

3:18) which then seeks to extend the borders of the Kingdom of God to places and

place generally written off and ignored by the rest of the world? To the lost, brothers! To

the least, saints! To the lowly, believers! To the lonely, beloved that they all may be set

in Gods forever family!

Biblical and Theological Starting Point

We start with Ephesians 2:10, that we (the redeemed community) are Gods

poiema (literally, His poem: i.e., His masterpiece,9 or, His doing, or, His worksmanship),

created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we

should walk about in them; this section of the project involves an in-depth examination of

9
D. Edmond Hiebert, 1994. Gods Creative Masterpiece, Direction 23, no. 1: 116-124,
accessed August 28, 2011, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, EBSCOhost.

5
the use of poetry / spoken word / elevated prose in the following Biblical passages: Gen

1:27, 2:23-24, 3:14-19 and 4:23-24, Judg 13-16, Job 32-40, Eccl 12:8-14, selected

passages in Isaiah: e.g., chapters 1, 28, 42 and 49, Dan 1-7, the book of Jonah, the content

and style of Jesus elevated prose and poetic lyricism in the Gospels (based on John

12:49-50), Acts 17:16-34, Eph 2:10, Phil 2:5-11, 1 Tim 3:16, Philemon and the praise

poetics that pop up throughout the book of Revelation. Pauls description of believers as

a poiema (a singular term [poem] encompassing a community of believers) is one of two

literary terms he uses the other being the more familiar and prosaic epistle of Christ,

through which Paul again uses a singular term encompassing a community of believers.

You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known

and read by all. (2 Cor 3:1-3 ESV)

The Bible, Theology, Rap and Hip-Hop: Are They Connectable?

Does rap music or hip-hop culture have any Biblical and theological antecedents?

Do we find any support for it in Scripture? The question is critical as there are some who

maintain that hip-hop culture has absolutely nothing representative of God at all within it

that it is a purely demonic entity, under divine condemnation and every last vestige of

it must therefore be utterly exorcized from the church.10 In this view, youth and young

adults under hip-hops influence need some form of a demonstrative deliverance (usually

under the specially-anointed deliverance ministry of a particular individual).11 But is that

10
While this may well be an extreme view (one that has a lot of traction in many urban churches
and certain denominations [the Christ against culture perspective in H. Richard Niebuhr, Christ and
Culture, New York: Harper & Row, 1956, 45ff.]), its underlying concerns are legitimate. I am not
convinced substituting the experience-oriented elements of church culture for the experience-oriented
elements of hip-hop culture is the Biblical-theological (redemptive-historical) solution.
11
For example, G. Craige Lewiss Web site boasts 1 million hip-hop CDs destroyed worldwide.

6
the Biblical view of hip-hop culture and rap music? And is exorcism the prescribed

remedy we should pursue? Of course there are those go in the opposite direction, seeking

to accommodate rappers and hip-hoppers into the churchs ministry. But we need to ask,

to what degree? And how far is too far? At what point are we compromising?

Human culture whether its Rio de Janeiro, Brazils favela culture, Grand

Rapids, MI Christian Reformed Church culture, Tanzanian hip-hop culture, Japanese auto

manufacturing corporate culture, Lancaster County, PA Amish culture, New York Citys

underground rave culture, the University of Pennsylvanias academic research culture, or

Berlin, Germanys vibrant graffiti culture is essentially the extended, cumulative human

response to divine revelation (whether positive or negative).12 Culture is both personally

and socially developed, codified, communicated, modified and enforced through human

interaction in groups. Every last and latest element that comprises human culture

ultimately finds its source in the cultural mandate given by the LORD in Genesis 1:28:

subdue [the earth] and have dominion over fish, birds and every living, moving earth

creature. It is preceded by a social mandate: be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,

and in chapter two we find an implicit spiritual mandate: be faithful in obedience to the

Creator, by obeying His command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and

evil. Human beings are made in Gods image, and, in a very direct sense, human cultural

pursuits reflect something of how people in community have responded to Gods

revelation again, whether positively (covenant-keepers) or negatively (covenant-

Allison Batdorff, Dallas minister tells Pacific bases hip-hop is Satanic. Stars and Stripes, April 12, 2006,
accessed August 27, 2011, http://www.stripes.com/news/dallas-minister-tells-pacific-bases-hip-hop-is-
satanic-1.47572.
12
I am building off of Carl F. Ellis, Jr.s definition of culture found in Free At Last? The Gospel
in the African-American Experience, 2nd ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 218.

7
breakers). As human beings constitute the theological term, the imago Dei (the image of

God), even so we could consider culture as a secondary, somewhat reflective image the

imago hominis the image of man (as human beings have responded to Gods

revelation). A 2010 television advertisement for the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee television

expresses quite well the symbiotic relationship between human beings and their cultural

products (in this case, an automotive vehicle line): The things we make, make us.13 As

inescapable as it is to be made in Gods image, even so the duty, exercise and outcomes

of fulfilling the cultural mandate are likewise inescapable. Culture is integral to what it is

to be human, and that would most certainly include hip-hop.

Who Is This Effort For?

It is the glory of God to conceal things,

but the glory of kings is to search things out.14

Proverbs 25:2 (ESV)

First of all, this is for the street (specifically, those whose culture is hip-hop).

Lets put those who are acclimated to being last, first: ultimately this is for those youth

and young adults whose lives are either influenced, governed or even consumed by rap

and / or hip-hop culture for them to see the history and deeper roots (the past), the

current social situation (the present), the bigger picture and grander story (the future)

which involves and incorporates their culture, with the express intent of having them look

to the One in Whom they can find their true self and place in that grander story that can

13
2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee: The Things We Make, Make Us, 2010 TV advertisement,
accessed September 21, 2011, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Ci2UGrv1M.
14
Be they street-oriented, saints, academicians or (ideally), a combination of all three. May that
tribe increase!

8
both redeem them and what they do. But how are they to hear and know without someone

bringing such information to them?

Second, this effort is for the saints (Gods people / His church) to go deep into

street contexts and issues and discovering God's astounding handiwork in that part of the

created order that veils itself in distressing disguises, located oft-times in difficult places

and situations to prompt proper worship and wonder, and to work in a harvest field

written off by most as unprofitable (even as Jeremiah was told to buy a field in Anathoth

in the land of Benjamin at a time when matters were going hard south [Jer 32]).

Third, this effort is for the scholar (the academy) to see the street situation for

what it is and then similarly discover and engage the same astounding handiwork of God

out there on the street, discovering Gods hidden treasures of darkness and hoards found

in secret places (Isa 45:3). God grant we may get out into the larger horizons of Gods

Book.15 All truth is Gods truth; it has its origin in and gets its meaning from God.

The meaning of all creation is part and parcel of the Meaning [the Logos of John 1:1-4,

14] of God. Thus scholarship is an act of worship, for it is an unveiling of meaning an

illuminating of what is near and dear to God Himself.16 For the secular academy to

discount, dismiss or even deny the possibility of this kind of academic approach is to

discount, dismiss or deny the open-mindedness it holds sacrosanct.

Ultimately, this effort is for the Savior (the Lord Jesus Christ) in humble

gratitude for enabling us all to see the incredible connectivity of all things and to pursue

the plethora of rich possibilities posited in the promise presented in Proverbs 25:2.

15
Oswald Chambers, Still Higher for His Highest (Grand Rapids, MI: Daybreak / Zondervan,
1970), p 37.
16
James W. Sire, Discipleship of the Mind (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990), 93-94.

9
 What Does This Project Do?

The goals of this curriculum development project proposal are four:

1) It prepares the apologist provisioning the Christian (notably front-line rappers

already in the fray for lost souls) with street-wise Biblical-theological perspectives on

whats goin on in street settings. But like Paul rolling through Athens before reaching

the Areopagus, we too need to process and be processed by the really deep things

facing folks particularly the street-oriented young urban Black male.

2) It provides an apologia (the message itself) broadening the perception of the

saints to see the grander and more glorious horizons of Gods work in considering the

Scriptures from an oral culture perspective, utilizing the dynamics of oral culture found in

Biblical historical contexts in street settings and situations.

3) It presents an apologetic providing Christs church with a richer, more robust,

youther-friendly apologetic method geared for the street: contextualized receptor-

oriented content, undertaken with Spirit-led stylistic considerations (i.e., what to say and

how to say it: John 12:49-50).

4) It (hopefully) persuades the apolog(e) presupposing the apologist has

properly and personally pressed through to successfully engage, present and challenge

street-oriented youth and young adults to perceive, understand and respect the Biblical

and theological roots of rap music and hip-hop culture, and be awakened by Gods Holy

Spirit to the ultimate reality and ultimate redemption presented in the Person and work of

Christ, the Lord of all lyricism (Eph 2:10) and lyricists themselves (John 17:2) who do

well to come to Him and learn from Him (Matt 11:28-30).

10
 Research Questions: Historical Precedents and Current Cultural Conditions

What are the origins of rap music and hip-hop culture? From whence do they

come? What was (and still is) the nature of the socio-economic and cultural matrix that

birthed them? Whats going on out there in the streets? How does that larger matrix

inform how we do ministry in rap / hip-hop / street culture? How can effective ministry

be accomplished through Christian hip-hop? Is it an effective or large enough container

to carry the Gospel into street contexts, or do some things need to be changed? Are there

other approaches we should look at? How do we expand the borders of what a Biblical

hip-hop ministry looks like? How would Jesus minister in a hip-hop context?

Hip-Hop Culture: A Wide-Open Window of Opportunity?

What if, in the future, we were to discover that urban, suburban, rural and global

youths and young adults penchant for rap music and hip-hop culture was actually kind

of a backdoor, undercover preparation by the Spirit of God to gear up this generation to

reach the world for Christ? Why do so many of the saints distance themselves from it,

choosing to focus more its negatives (making it a cultural scapegoat) and unwilling and

unable to see how it might actually be something of a Roman road that has made its way

around the globe and that God was actually able to work inside of it (in spite of all its

many negatives). He was well-obscured hip-hops potential, for sure (encrypted it!) yet

nevertheless He is able to accomplish His perfect will through it. Could it be we are

missing an incredible opportunity? Major question! Does the word ish17 in current hip-

17
The definition of this Hebrew transliteration stands in sharp contradistinction to the one found at
http://www.urbandictionary.com.

11
hop contexts have roots in ancient texts? (And would you go back and read that last

sentence with a street-inflected flow?) Brought forward into the New Testament era, does

Jesus ever drop any lyrics? What Would Jesus Rap? This is not just a hip or clever

question; Jesus speaking content and style18 are germane to the issue of what it is (and

what it means) to rap. What does a biblical theology of the concept of the imago Dei as

divine poiema / poem / rap look like? (Eph 2:10).19

How we do apologetics. How do we get past the idea of seeing the defense of the

Christian faith as an outwardly-directed endeavor only, to seeing it as one that is

inwardly-directed as well? Are there other dimensions to an apologetic ministry other

than just rational, informational proclamation? What place do things like the arts, culture

and entertainment have in doing apologetics? And the fact were even considering that

notion raises the issue of generational differences and how do they impact our

understanding of and how we conduct ministry in the church?

Models for Engaging the Street

As a result of taking the course,20 there has to be an application of what was

learned. The TGTS course essentially exists because the writer went out into youth /

young adult / street contexts in Paterson, Newark and Camden, NJ, Harlem, NY,

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA, Baltimore, MD, Boston, MA, Denver, CO, Pasadena,

CA, Washington, D.C., Chicago, IL, Grand Rapids and Detroit, MI, Miami, FL and

18
N.B. John 12:49-50

19
D. Edmond Hiebert, Gods Creative Masterpiece, Direction 23, no. 1 (1994): 116-124,
accessed August 28, 2011, ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials, http://EBSCOhost.

20
See Appendices A and B for the syllabus and a sampling of materials used in the course.

12
Albuquerque, NM. What were the foundational models of engagement? There are at least

four (4) levels of engagement to look at: 1) a Personal Preparation Level (between me

and the Lord),21 2) a Ministry Venue Level (see below), 3) a Ministry Gift Mix / Serving

Capacity Level, and 4) a Disciple Replication Level (using Jesus model of engaging His

disciples from initial encounters through to deploying them in building His kingdom).

What does / will that look like? Occasionally being willing to move out of (and more

often be unwillingly moved out of!) my comfort zone. Bridging generational gaps to

engage youth and young adults already in my church (African American congregations),

as well as through camp, retreat and conference ministries. Locating and encouraging

aspiring rappers and lyricists within each of these groups, but not limiting myself only to

that particular set. Engaging and encouraging those with creative abilities: musical arts

(vocal & instrumental), visual arts (all sorts of media: from origami to floral arrangement

to videography and beyond), kinesthetic arts (praise dancing, drama, mime, signing),

academic arts (tutoring, P/SAT assistance), technical arts (sound system, media

production, mixing, computer skills, website development and maintenance, video

editing, etc.), speaking arts (teaching, emceeing events, dramatic readings, poetry slams,

etc.), entrepreneurial skills (this ones wide open!), leadership / interpersonal skills

(mentoring, motivational ability, counseling, etc.), intra-personal skills (writing

[essayist], journalist, publishing, blogging), athletic skills, etc. Attending and / or

sponsoring Christian open mic nights / rap / hip-hop spoken word events / concerts.

Organizing a Christian coffee-house ministry. Attending a youth / young adults-oriented

hip-hop-oriented / street-flavad church service (Tha House in Chicago, IL [Pastor Phil

21
See J. Robert Clinton, The Making of a Leader (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012), and
preparation material in the extended Appendix section (email bob.hepburn@gmail.com for the link).

13
Jackson], Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia, PA [Pastor Eric Mason] or Epiphany

Fellowship in Camden, NJ [Pastor Doug Logan], Crossover Church in Tampa, FL [Pastor

Tommy Kyllonen a/k/a Urban D], Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, MN

[Pastor Efrem Smith], etc). Tagging along with a group to the recording studio. Getting in

on the recording session!? Branching out into the community through each young

persons relationship network (to update the old adage, love people [i.e., develop and

maintain good and healthy relationships] / use things dont use people [or your

relationships with them]). Using social networks (e.g., Reformed Rappers on

Facebook), and being online (where most up-and-coming rap artists have now moved

their craft). Other starting points: follow a young person through their school day,

volunteer at that school, contribute ones time and talent at a church youth ministry or

community youth organization, bring your skill set to an already established youth

ministry. Who has ever felt adequate in doing these things? Not me, thats for sure. But

one thing Ive found is that my greatest blessings time and again been invariably

preceded by my greatest reluctances.

The course material has been developed from extensive field experience through

some 36 years of ministry, and stays fresh through constant contact with the streets,

those on the street (a set of street trend early-adopters and hip-hop headz), as well as

books and the Internet.

Proposed Ministry Model: The Gospel / The Street (TGTS) 2.0

My proposed ministry model is essentially a completely customizable curriculum

that can be presented in a wide variety of formats from a 45-minute presentation, to a

14
morning seminar, to a full-day workshop all the way up to a full semester 3-credit

graduate level course. A full-semester course version now exists at the undergraduate

level at the Center for Urban Theological Studies in Philadelphia, PA, where it has been

offered as an elective every semester since the Fall of 2009 as a 3-credit weekend

intensive course (HUM 304C).22 The course is titled, The Gospel / The Street: Bridging

the Gap between the Church and Street Culture 2.0. Early on it met on five (5) full

Saturdays each semester from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm for a total of approximately 42 hours

of class instruction. The response from the students was overwhelmingly positive, and

inquiries have been made by other theological training institutions seeking to develop a

similar course. Plans are in the works to present the material in workshops to be offered

at churches, as well as in other academic venues. Much of the material has been brought

into other two similar-themed Masters level courses I teach at Eastern University

(Apologetics for the Urban Youth Context Urban Youth Culture, Christ and the

City, etc.). In the future I hope to bring it to other schools as well. The course material

has long had its own life outside the academic setting in seminar format and has been

available to churches, conferences, community groups, etc. for some 30 years now.23

Students who take the class are generally asked to fill out a pre-course assessment

form to ascertain their knowledge of hip-hop, what kind of ministry they are involved

with, what they would like to see covered in the course, etc. They also were asked for

feedback mid-way through the semester and will be doing a post-course assessment.

22
See Chapter 4 for the LBC@CUTS Spring 2014 syllabus for The Gospel / The Street. At the
time of this writing, the course has been offered about six or 7 times at either Lancaster Bible College (or
formerly Geneva College) at the Center for Urban Theological Studies in Philadelphia, PA.
23
A descriptive brochure for The Gospel / The Street 2.0 (TGTS 2.0) can be found at
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9pzs6wjd6mqbxnv/TGTS_Brochure_v_2_PDF.pdf?dl=0.

15
Plans are in place in contact former students in the class to assess the impact of the course

in their ministries and to suggest what could be done to improve the course. The final

assignment in each iteration of the class has been a paper laying out a vision for what the

student plans to do in applying what they learned in class hopefully resulting in some

sort of ministry development, or deep-seated change in ministry approach. Most of the

students in the class are already involved in urban youth ministry and / or are parents of

young people / young adults who are influenced to various degrees by hip-hop culture

and its most visible (um, audible!) component: rap music.

What Does the Course Do?

Create a breaking of, a burning within and a burden of the heart for those who

live, move and have their being (to varying degrees) in hip-hop culture. At the conclusion

of this class the student should:

understand the Biblical and theological foundations that undergird culture

specifically hip-hop / urban youth / street culture

understand the importance of being a student of culture locally, nationally

and globally and to understand both the subtle and not-so-subtle roles social
systems and structures have in the lives of urban youth

understand and appreciate the ever-changing and complex social dynamics of

urban adolescence, and to more effectively minister to those who lives are either
influenced, governed or dominated by hip-hop / urban youth / street culture (be
they young people in the church or not) -- and being cognizant of how
generational differences factor in

be able to access, assess and address the worldview / belief system / value
system of hip-hop / urban youth / street culture

have sharpened their exegetical and critical skills as interpreters of the

messages and values communicated through the mediums of music, mass media
as well as other technological innovations

16
 be equipped and launched out with practical skills, strategies, ideas and
insights for better understanding and effectively invading, ministering, surviving
and enjoying (!) ministry to those whose lives are impacted by hip-hop / urban
youth / street culture

Why Philadelphia?

The primary field for this research project will be the city of Philadelphia, but will

also encompass the Delaware Valley, possibly including other cities in the Middle

Atlantic region as well (from New York City down to Washington, D.C.). In many ways

Philadelphia was the national center for Christian hip-hop cultural and ministry

activity, due largely in part to the presence of one of the pioneer Christian rap groups,

The Cross Movement. As there are a number of theological training institutions in the

area, these two factors make Philadelphia an ideal location for conducting this project.

This research will benefit the church by training its present leadership but also by

fostering new leadership within local congregations (leaders equipped for ministering to

3rd Millennial post-moderns) as well as leadership for the global church (hip-hop has

been exported throughout most of the world). The research will also benefit theological

training institutions by acting as a catalyst for changing training paradigms and

modalities for 21st century Biblical ministry. It could also create positive opportunities for

those institutions to interface with gifted prospective students who are usually

overlooked. It will benefit urban street-level believers who, already capably handling the

rigorous challenges of doing ministry in places most churches and training institutions

have difficulty reaching, are asking for more tools (and troops!) as they minister on the

front lines. Prayerfully, this research will heal, open and lift up the eyes of Christian

17
believers to see a hip-hop-readied harvest one that Hes prepared with the most

unlikely ingredients (!), and to see it in a whole new way.

Hip-Hop Culture: A 21st Century Roman Road System

Broadly speaking, hip-hop culture is akin to a Roman road-like system in our

day (as also the English language24); it is maximally accessible, and, as we will look at in

the next chapter, has some surprisingly deep Biblical roots. We need to avail ourselves of

the dynamic insights and contributions of those Eldad and Medad-types the Lord has

raised (and is yet raising) up. Although they are still confined to the outskirts of the camp,

the Spirit of the LORD is on them and the church and its training institutions need to

come alongside them in the work of the Harvest. C.T Studd put the challenge this way:

Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time of waiting is
past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In Gods Holy Name let us
arise and build! The God of Heaven, He will fight for us, as we for Him. We
will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the
gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we
fear? Before the world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby
Christian world, we will dare to trust our God, we will venture our all for Him, we
will live and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable
singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only our
God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position the battle is
already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real
Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts;
we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus
Christ.25

24
See, for example, Leslie Dunton-Downers revelatory The English Is Coming! How One
Language Is Sweeping the World (New York: Touchstone / Simon & Schuster, 2011).
25
C.T. Studd, accessed December 12, 2011, http://www.rescuepoint.org/SayingsofCTStudd.html.

18
 CHAPTER TWO

BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS

The Preponderance, Significance and Redemptive Intent of Poetic Orality:

Gods Word Re-Lensed through Oral Culture

A Biblical Theology of the Imago Dei, Fully Realized as the Poetry of God
________________________

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10
________________________

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the dynamics, delivery and distinctives

surrounding the concept of poetic orality in Scripture and explore its organic connections

with oral-based / oral-oriented cultures1 (rap, hip-hop, street, urban youth, Muslim, global

South / Two-Thirds World, et al). For the most part, orthodox Biblical and theological

exegesis in the Western world has been primarily focused on the written text (and rightly

so),2 but sometimes to the neglect of considering and exegeting two other facets of Gods

1
The form we find in biblical poetry is not unique to Israel, for the structure of the Psalms is not
dropped from heaven, but is rather a culturally common form in Israels part of the ancient world. In
addition, many of the metaphors used even for God are part of the poetic language of the surrounding
culture and are not unique to the Old Testament. ... This should not bother us any more than it would if we
discovered that the most beautiful and acoustically perfect church building in our city was designed by a
non-Christian architect, or if we discovered that this non-Christian architect had donated his services to the
members of the church. Jerram Barrs, Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the
Arts (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2013), 42.
2
Language is the soul of a nation, the custodian of the goods and treasures of humankind, the
bond that unites human beings, peoples and generations, the one great tradition that unites in consciousness
the world of humankind, which is one by nature. But just as the thought embodies itself in a word, so words

19
revelation of Himself, viz., through His spoken Word from which the written Word3 is

largely derived, and the Living Word the literal (!) embodiment / incarnation of the

spoken / written Word: i.e., the Person of Christ Himself.4 While it is true that all we

know (and need to know!) about these other two dimensions is derived from the written

Word of God, this chapter endeavors to probe Scriptures poetic, lyrical, epic, lofty and

rhetorically memorable5 orality6 and connect that with ministering in oral-based and/or

are embodied in scripture. And language itself is no more than a body of signs, audible signs. And the
audible sign naturally seeks stability in the visible sign, in writing. The act of writing is actually the art of
recording signs and, in this broad sense, while it occurs among all peoples, has gradually developed from
pictograms through ideograms to alphabetic script. However refined and increased in precision, it is
inadequate. Our thinking, says Augustine, fails to do justice to the subject, and our speech fails to measure
up to our thoughts; so there is a big gap between the spoken word and the written word. The sounds are
always only roughly reproduced in visible signs. Thought is richer than speech, and speech is richer than
writing. Still, the written word is of immense value and importance. The written word is the word made
permanent, universal, everlasting. It communicates the thought to those who are far from us and live long
after us, and makes it the common property of humankind. It depicts the word, this speaking to the eyes. It
gives body and color to the thought and at the same time confers on it permanence and stability. The
written word is the incarnation of the [spoken] word. Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics:
Prolegomena (copyright 2003 by the Dutch Reformed Translation Society, Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Academic, 2004), 377-378.

3
The words (all Scripture is God-breathed 2 Tim 3:16:) carry within
them the essential notion that all ( ) of Gods written words () are, at their very core, God-
([]-) spoken / (literally) breathed (spiritual) (-) words, produced by the divine Person, Who
delivers them with intended meaning, purpose and consequence. That the LORD God breathed into mans
nostrils the breath of life (Gen 2:7) indicates a further organic connection between the Creator, His Word,
and the creature He made in His image (Gen 1:27).
4
The LORD God also reveals Himself in less explicit ways in His creation (the realm of nature),
in human beings (the imago Dei) and even within culture (the products or artifacts that human beings
produce out of what God created in the realm of nature and are, in themselves human responses to Gods
revelation of Himself). Precisely speaking, human beings do not and cannot create things, they can only
arrange and re-arrange what God has already created. In the Bible the verb create is only found paired
with God as the subject. The objects of His creation are not capable of creating something out of nothing.
5
Sober prose, as everyone knows, is hard to memorize or to repeat with any accuracy, whereas
poetry, or the scintillating epigram, can be repeated with remarkable ease and faithfulness. Elton
Trueblood, The Humor of Christ (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1964), 27.

20
oral-oriented cultures.7 Ministering in cultures that place a high value on orality8

necessitates paying closer attention to the oral dimensions of Gods Word9 than would

ordinarily occur ministering in print-based cultures which place high value on the printed

text.10, 11, 12 This does not in any way diminish or devalue the primacy or need for the

6
A notion which adds new urgency to Jesus statement, Take care then how you hear, for to the
one who has [hearing?], more will be given, and from the one who has not [hearing?], even what he thinks
that he has will be taken away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Luke 8:18, Matt 11:15 (ESV)
7
In their provocative, somewhat controversial book, The Lost World of Scripture (an important
tome serious theologians will have to reckon with), John H. Walton and D. Brent Sandy propose two
important truths pertinent to this discussion: 1) effective communication must accommodate to the culture
and nature of the audience, and 2) Jesus proclaimed truth in oral forms and commissioned His followers
to do the same. John H. Walton and D. Brent Sandy, The Lost World of Scripture: Ancient Literary
Culture and Biblical Authority (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013), 39-40, 128ff.
8
See Lynne L. Abney, Orality Assessment Tool Worksheet (based on Walter Ongs work in
Orality and Literacy), accessed January 17, 2014, http://www.orality.net/media/420.
9
To fully appreciate this concept, the reader is strongly encouraged to vocalize here and there
what he or she is reading, especially those passages that are lyrical and/or poetic. The simple act of saying
something out loud is a much different experience than simply reading it (which is usually done just to get
past and move on to other things). Oral culture is a time-consuming entity in the fast-paced, get-to-the-
bottom-line world we live in, but there is both a surprising and refreshing upside to doing so. The exercise
has merit verbalization involves more than just ones eyes and brain; it brings into play ones breathing,
vocal cords, mouth, tongue, teeth, ears, etc., along with the very personal and palpable sensation of ones
diaphragm, chest, neck and head moving and resonating with the sound of spoken words. In a very real
sense, words become flesh when they are verbally articulated (as opposed to when they are just read). A
new appreciation of the Apostle Pauls exhortation to Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of
Scripture should result. (1 Tim 4:13).
10
The highly-esteemed British poet Geoffrey Hills extended poem, Speech! Speech! (which The
Daily Telegraphs Rachel Polonsky called an awe-inspiring feat of sustained poetic thought, a single poem
in one hundred and twenty stanzas that enacts the death struggle in which poet and public are bound to
engage) literally has to be in read in print form (visually) to be fully comprehended and appreciated.
Geoffrey Hill, Speech! Speech! (New York, NY: Counterpoint / Perseus Books Group, 2000), back cover.
This challenging poem evoked an excellent 294-page detailed annotation: Ann Hassan, Annotations to
Geoffrey Hills Speech! Speech! (New York. NY: Glossator Special Editions, a division of Punctum Books,
2012 by Ann Hassan), accessed April 10, 2013, http://punctumbooks.com/titles/annotations-to-geoffrey-
hills-speech-speech.
11
In contrast to oral-based cultures which place high value on poetic expression (largely for
mnemonic, pedagogical, rhetorical, artistic and entertainment reasons) print-based typographic cultures
generally rely on utilitarian prose to conduct their business, essentially shunting poetry off to the side. Neil

21
printed text, but rather to acknowledge a significant facet that the Western world13 has a

tendency to lose sight of.14 In a very real way the distinction between orality-based and

print-based cultures is similar to that between the proverbial spirit of the law and the

letter of the law (and in Christ yet another category must be taken into account: the

Fulfillment () of the law [Rom 10:4]). The spoken Word / written Word / Living

Word (coming to the human race in that order) are all necessary and normative and are

applicable to every last possible existential and situational consideration.15 To that end

Postman posits that the rise and dominance of typography subtly wrought other transformative societal
shifts as well: Typography fostered the modern idea of individuality, but it destroyed the medieval sense
of community and integration. Typography created prose but made poetry into an exotic and elitist form of
expression. Typography made modern science possible but transformed religious sensibility into mere
superstition. Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business
(New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1985), 29.
12
When reading the printed page, it is both fascinating and telling how the eye is immediately
drawn to indented text, whether it be an extended quote, excerpt, or poem.
13
Interestingly enough, Western world societies appear to be moving toward becoming image-
based cultures with the advent of smartphone, tablet and e-reader technologies, being subtly ushered away
from substantiveness through small screens, distraction-filled lives, shortened attention spans, 140
character-max tweets, information / big data deluge, etc. In 1995 Gilbert Ansre wrote, At the close of the
20th Century, we are witnessing the coming of a new age, one that we could call the Post-Literacy Age,
in which even those who can read and write well are not doing so. The epoch of the audio-visual, termed by
some the Multi-Media Era, has set in. Gilbert Ansre, The Crucial Role of Oral-Scripture: Focus
Africa, International Journal of Frontier Missions 12, no. 2 (April-June 1995): 65-68, accessed April 19,
2013, http://ijfm.org/PDFs_IJFM/12_2_PDFs/02_Ansre.pdf.
14
Part of the reason for this may be attributed to the enlightened Western worlds proclivity for
fastidiously following the dictates of a purportedly pure rationalism, cool logic and the possibilities of the
scientific method all the while claiming to have a full, open-minded, objective viewpoint of all reality
to the point of foolishly forgetting the urgent demands for a living faith, real emotions and the possibilities
of a still-being-worked-out, much larger, grander Story than human history in, of, and all by itself and
therefore being unable to admit its myopic, close-minded, utterly subjective viewpoint.
15
John M. Frames helpful categories regarding the triperspectival nature of knowledge (the
normative pertaining to God, the situational pertaining to the world, and the existential pertaining to the
self), laid out in The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God: A Theology of Lordship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R,
1987), 165ff.

22
then, for example, Jesus use of Aramaic16 rhythm, rhyme and parallelism and His

hearkening back to and leading out what is new and what is old (Matt 13:52) of the Old

Testaments17 poetry, prophecy and historical narrative has more to do with rap, hip-hop,

street, urban youth, Muslim, and global South / Two-Thirds World cultures than would

first appear.18, 19 The missiological implications are profound, and it is this writers hope

16
There is no solid agreement among scholars as to which language Jesus spoke: was it primarily
Aramaic (the Semitic lingua franca commonly used throughout 1st century Palestine and certainly in the
northern region of Galilee), or was it Hebrew (the original and official language of the Jewish nation used
in worship in Jerusalem and in synagogue worship)? Greek is a less-likely possibility for cultural reasons
(some suggest the possibility as a result of the earlier spread of Hellenistic culture [thanks to Alexander the
Great some 300 years before] and its use as a common trade language in the ethnically diverse settlements
around the southwestern side of the Sea of Galilee [the Decapolis]. It was the lingua franca of the Roman
Empire. Suffice it to say Jesus was certainly familiar with and uses Aramaic (e.g., Mark 5:41) and
Hebrew (e.g., Luke 4:16-30). His use of Greek, however, is harder to ascertain as His words are inscribed
in koine Greek in the New Testament. (N.B. He does converse with a Roman centurion in Matt 8:5-13 and
with Pilate in John 18:38). His hometown of Nazareth wasnt that far from the well-to-do Romanized larger
city of Sepphoris, where Jesus might have done work as a carpenter. Greek would certainly have been
spoken in the marketplace there. Peter, Andrew, James and John all successful commercial fisherman
would likely have been familiar with Greek as they plied their trade on the shores of Galilee. See Mark D.
Roberts, What Language Did Jesus Speak? Why Does It Matter? Patheos.com (blog), accessed April 10,
2013, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/markdroberts/series/what-language-did-jesus-speak-why-does-it-
matter/. Dunn says [t]here is no reason to question the very substantial consensus that Jesus gave at least
the bulk of His teaching in Aramaic (citing a number of authors) ... and that Jesus knew at least some
Greek and may indeed have spoken Greek on occasion (citing Porters Criteria [pp. 157-163] which sets
forth seven conversations in Matthew, Mark and John). James D. G. Dunn. Jesus Remembered:
Christianity in the Making, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 2003), 315. It is generally
agreed that Aramaic was the common language of Palestine in the first century AD. Jesus and his disciples
spoke the Galilean dialect, which was distinguished from that of Jerusalem. (Matt. 26:73) Allen C. Myers,
ed., Aramaic, in Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1987), 72.
17
Using a plain text version of The Holy Bible (English Standard Version) published by Crossway
Bibles (2002) without study notes or marginalia other than occasional textual footnotes the Old
Testament comprises about 77% of the Bible (809 pages out of a total of 1040), and the New Testament
about 23% (236 pages out of the 1040).
18
Elisa New, PhD and Powell M. Cabot Professor of Literature at Harvard University, notes that
the Puritans used poetry extensively during the 17th century:

Poetry pervades Puritan culture. One encounters poetry in every institution of Puritan culture. ...
[I]n reading the scripture, one encounters language that, in many of the books of the Bible, is
patterned, is formed. Biblical parallelism will become important for the Puritan poet. The psalms

23
 which inspire the Puritan hymns will be important to the Puritan poet. But even the smallest
Puritan toddler will learn about the human condition through poetry [in] ... The New England
Primer, the ABC book used by Puritan parents and Puritan educators to teach children to read.
The little lamb doth skip and play always merry, always gay. The whales the monarch of the
main as is the lion of the plain. The Puritan child, of course, is reading poetry not only designed
to stimulate his imagination and tickle his sense of playfulness, but poetry devised to help him
understand whats really primary. That is to understand the ABCs of his spiritual condition. And
so, just after we finish with Z in The New England Primer, we'll read, the praises of my tongue I
offer to the Lord, that I was taught and learned so young to read his holy word. [T]he spiritual
curriculum, and the curriculum in literacy are both achieved through poetry.

Reading any Puritan history well find poems. poems written not for the idle hour, poems
not written simply to improve life ... [but] the poems of a culture that thinks of poetry as an
essential tool in daily living. This is a poetry surprised by beauty, and chastened by dangers
a poetry that dwells in the seen world, in the literally encountered world, [but] also a poetry that
dwells in the unseen world. New England poets, and especially Puritan poets, are very, very
attentive to the invisible as well as the visible world. ... That activity makes even those who don't
write poetry poets, since the ordinary lay person is always looking for hints, for images, for
evidences in this world of the world beyond, of the world to come. [O]rdinary Puritans dwell in
a world of similes and metaphors. Ordinary Puritans are constantly making connections between
what they see and what they imagine heaven must be.

Elisa New, Introduction to the Poetry of Early New England (Week 1 lecture of the MOOC, Poetry in
America: The Poetry of Early New England [HarvardX: AI12.1x]), accessed November 2, 2013,
https://courses.edx.org/courses/HarvardX/AI12.1x/2013_SOND/, or https://www.edx.org/course/harvard-
university/ai12-1x/poetry-america-poetry-early-new/937.
19
The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur G.
Bennett (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975, 2009) is a wonderful and worthwhile book of prayers.
Bennett prefaces the collection by noting that [a] poetic form has been adopted throughout as an aid to
easier comprehension and utterance. Each prayer consists of a number of main clauses with subsidiary
clauses that illuminate and enlarge the subject. In this way an opportunity is provided for pauses and
reflections. The editor is thus responsible for the structure of the prayers as here printed. (viii) An excerpt:

THE VALLEY OF VISION

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown (xv)

24
 CHAPTER THREE

HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS AND CURRENT CULTURAL CONDITIONS

Call Me Mykhael
A Lament (a/k/a the Blues); an Appeal1

Dialogue with a Formerly Anonymous Street-Oriented Young Urban Black Male:

A Research-Supported Narrative: Liminally, Etically and Emically Imagined

Prologue

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to

remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day
be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship,
or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a
nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other
of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is
with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all
our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There
are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations,
cultures, arts, civilizations these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of
a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and
exploit immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we
are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that
kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have,
from the outset, taken each other seriously no flippancy, no superiority, no
presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for
the sins in spite of which we love the sinner no mere tolerance or indulgence
which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.

C. S. Lewis2

[W]hile we cant demand that the world love our [Black] flesh as we do, we can
and must! demand that it stop pretending that its hatred of it is some cultural
chimera concocted by a racial grievance industry. We can demand that the data

Excerpted from Rapologetics: How the Gospel of Christ Takes On the Street by Robert C. Hepburn 2016
1
Akin to David Walker, Walkers Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the
Coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular, and Very Expressly, to Those of the United States of
America, Written in Boston, State of Massachusetts, September 28, 1829 (Boston: Revised and Published
by David Walker, 1830), accessed February 19, 2015, http://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/walker/walker.html.

2
C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (New York: HarperOne / Harper Collins, 2009), 45-46.

151
 around racial bias, which stretches across society, be accepted as fact rather than
opinion. We can demand the right to call hatred by its name and to its face. We
can demand the right to exist, fully and freely, in the wholeness and beauty of our
own humanity. We must see the brilliant light in our beautiful darkness and love
the brown bodies that the world would just as well mark and discard even the
thugs.
Charles M. Blow, New York Times writer3

Most black youth are law-abiding and God-fearing, more God-fearing than the
typical white youth. The values of black youth are quite consistent with the
mainstream culture in most respects. They are very individualistic. They take
responsibility for their own problems. This is one of the most moving things we
found. Survey after survey, when they are asked, why do you have these problems,
they answer: Well, you know, we screwed up. We made the wrong decision.
They are critical of many aspects of the behavior which we think of when we
think of the inner city. One of the questions we are often asked, quite legitimately,
is why is there so much violence? And one thing we did is ask, why isnt there
more violence? What weve been able to show is that a great majority of kids
want to avoid violence. They want nothing more than to have a peaceful life. But
its very stressful living there, and they expend a great deal of cultural energy and
ingenuity in knowing their culture. You have to know your culture so you avoid
getting shot at.
Orlando Patterson, Harvard sociologist4

If you preach the Gospel in all aspects with the exception of the issues which deal
specifically with your time you are not preaching the Gospel at all.

Martin Luther5

I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye
reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the
experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure
it bends towards justice.
Theodore Parker, abolitionist (1853)6

3
Charles M. Blow, Of Bikers and Thugs, New York Times, May 21, 2015, accessed May 22,
2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/opinion/charles-blow-of-bikers-and-thugs.html.
4
Orlando Patterson (quoted by Joel Brown), Examining the lives of black youth, Boston Globe,
December 7, 2014, accessed December 18, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/oe84ojs.
5
Martin Luther, found in Relevance of Reforming in Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, by
Charles R. Swindoll (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 80.
6
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, 50 Years Later: Whither the Moral Arc of the Universe?
Huffington Post, August 23, 2013, accessed September 28, 2013, http://tinyurl.com/kdmzzev.

152
 How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends
toward justice.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)7

There are many who say, Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD.

Psalm 4:6 (ESV)

Mr. Cummings, sometimes I feel like Im in my casket, clawing to get out.

16-year-old Black youth, Baltimore, MD8

This growing sector of [teenage and young adult black males from the underclass]
still remains unchurched and untouched. Where do they lodge their cry? Who
comes to their aid? Who walks with them? Who talks with them? Who develops
them? Do they feel heard in hip-hop? Do they feel loved by hip-hop? Has hip-hop
become their pastor?
Ralph C. Watkins, Columbia Seminary9

Im here. Can you see me? Cause I feel like Im invisible like this whole place
is invisible. If it werent for the nightly news, no one would even think of this
place. But down here, things look different. Down here, our spirits are bright and
our dreams are vivid, and if given a chance, thats what the world would see.

Anonymous young man, YMCA TV ad10

He has told you, O man, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 (ESV)

Whats good?

Street greeting

7
Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, 50 Years Later: Whither the Moral Arc of the Universe?
Huffington Post, August 23, 2013, accessed September 28, 2013, http://tinyurl.com/kdmzzev.
8
Paul Schwartzman and Rachel Weiner, Bullhorn in hand, Rep. Cummings works to heal his
beloved Baltimore, Washington Post, May 4, 2015, accessed May 5, 2015, http://tinyurl.com/oyavkr8.
9
Ralph C. Watkins, Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It: Whats Really Goin On? in Keep Your Head
Up: Americas New Black Christian Leaders, Social Consciousness, and the Cosby Conversation, ed.
Anthony B. Bradley (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2012), 94.
10
YMCA, Places, television advertisement, Park Pictures, directed by Seb Edwards, January 23,
2016, accessed January 31, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EsVHtJOCYg.

153
 Introduction: Me, My Tribe n the Milieu

Call me Mykhael.11, 12 Since you mentioned this might go into print13 and then

get tucked away onto a library shelf (making it doubtful your readers are likely to ever

11
Who is Mykhael? Prima facie: A composite character embodying the experiences of hundreds
of street-oriented young urban Black men in the U.S., primarily from the East coast. Many are now fathers,
husbands, pastors, ministers, church leaders, youth workers, educators, social service workers, office and
store managers and employees, tradesmen, laborers, entrepreneurs, artists, IT specialists, students, in the
military, in the entertainment industry, in security, law enforcement, emergency service workers, lawyers,
technical services, etc. Others are looking up just to try to see the bottom of the barrel. Still others are
involved in the underground / shadow economy. Some are addicted, others are incarcerated, and sadly,
others are in early graves some from health issues and others who were murdered while still in their
twenties. The composite character technique unifies and streamlines the narrative keeping things personal
while trying to prevent the supporting data and statistics regarding the street-oriented young urban Black
male from being unwieldy and overwhelming. The fact remains it is! While those referenced throughout
this chapter were interacted with via participant observation (over some 37+ years, in just about every
aspect of life imaginable and in just about every venue imaginable), the main focus is on what they face
now as a people group / tribe one that is challenging to reach and is literally an endangered species.
See Jewell Taylor Gibbs, ed., Young, Black, and Male in America: An Endangered Species (Westport, CT:
Auburn House, 1988); Jerry L. Buckner, Black Males: An Endangered Species, accessed April 21, 2016,
http://bit.ly/1TUEcTG); El Fantasma, Chicago Hope / The Black Man Is An Endangered Species in
America, July 18, 2013, accessed May 1, 2015, http://bit.ly/24k8Hpa. Secunda facie: A keenly-observant
street-seer servant doing a 21st century Acts 17:16ff-like or Nehemiah 1-2-like in-depth investigation of
the historical precedents and current situation his tribe faces (all reflected in hip-hop culture and rap music).
Tertia facie: The writer (as urban missiologist). Quarta facie: The reader: You never really understand a
person until you consider things from his point of view... until you climb into his skin and walk around in
it. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird (New York: Grand Central / Hatchette, 1982), 39. Ultima Facie:
The Lord Jesus (incognito, re: Matt 25:31-46). Issues raised in this existential and situational exploration
have been addressed by Scripture (the normative) and await being more fully addressed by the saints.
12
Rather than simply laying out statistical and anecdotal data (which tends to render social issues
abstract and impersonal), this chapter is meant to flow like a street conversation. Street vernacular will
show up in the text, while most of the supporting statistics and data will be found in the footnotes. The
result is an acavernaculardemic style, whose intent is to keep the reader engaged without being inundated
by too much information (a/k/a the data dump). This approach is intended as a statement. Human beings
are not just social science subjects to be studied, quantified, categorized and mined for data which is
then generally aggregated and used in impersonal ways so as to reveal and ameliorate some kind of social
situation. No, human beings are, first and foremost, personal i.e., possessing all the complex aspects and
dignified bearings of full personhood and personality: self-determination and self-reflection (see James W.
Sire, Discipleship of the Mind, Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1990, 42). Accordingly, each ought
to be as entitled to the full possibilities of human flourishing as the next person and not just to see how they
measure up (or dont) with the next. To that end, this chapter demonstrates how street culture handles
challenging matters, giving them a human face, helping the reader see the real-time, flesh-and-blood
situations and ramifications street-oriented young Black males face. The challenges they face are well-
documented, but generally confined to one or two topics or specific issues. Unless it is a compilation effort,
comprehensive examinations of all thats goin on and gone on are rare. This effort seeks to do just that.

Also, Mykhaels and his tribes situations and interests are best represented, served and delivered in an oral
context. This is a given in street culture, as opposed to a dry, clinical, quantitative data dump (how most
scholarly social research is rendered). [Accordingly, well follow C.S. Lewiss helpful categories regarding

154
hear it spoken orally),14 its Mh-ka-el. My fam n crew [friends] call me Kai.

Yeah! Sure, you can call me that. We coo. To be culturally and demographically precise,

I am a street-oriented15 young urban Black male.16, 17 I and most of the members of my

the three (3) types of language expounded earlier (in chapter 2). This chapter toggles between ordinary
language (talking personably, with occasional forays into the preferred vernacular: street language),
scientific language (of the social science sort, found largely in the reports, studies and statistical data
supporting Mykhaels presentation again, usually in the footnotes), and poetic language (wordplay,
alliteration, parallelism, etc). It is left to the reader to ascertain which of the three resonates best with the
street-oriented young urban Black male.] We take this tack with the intent that [a] damaging system of
[scientific] representation can only be dismantled, not by a sudden dose of the real, but by another,
alternative system of representation, whose [more personal] form better approximates the complexity of the
real [social] relations it seeks to explore and contest. Stuart Hall, Assembling the 1980s: The Deluge
and After, Shades of Black: Assembling Black Arts in 1980s Britain (Durham, N.C.: Duke University
Press, 2005), 17. At the end of the day, the intent is the reader will understand why how and why rap music
and hip-hop culture became so significant, integral and vital to the street-oriented young urban Black male
and his perennially contested place in American society.
13
Freal. This stuff doesnt sell. While there might be peripheral interest in the material, there is
nothing particularly marketable in this material no dollars to be made here. The issues covered in this
chapter cannot and will not be solved quickly or easily (which is exactly why this stuff is so important).
Had another American demographic faced these historical precedents and current situation, the most likely
response would be to declare it a national emergency. But it is. Jeremiah lamented, Is it nothing to you, all
you who pass by? (Lam 1:12 ESV), as do many today. As there doesnt seem to be a great deal of interest,
concern or political will regarding the state of street-oriented young urban Black men, it is precisely that
which morally, ethically and Biblically warrants a consideration such as is offered here.
14
The reader is encouraged to vocalize here and there what he or she is reading, especially lyrical
and/or poetic passages. Subtle as it may be, the act of saying Mykhaels name out loud is a very different
experience than reading it silently. Oral culture is a time-consuming entity in our frenetically-paced world,
but there is a surprising and refreshing upside in doing so. The exercise has merit; verbalization goes
beyond using ones eyes and brain to bringing into play ones breathing, vocal cords, mouth, tongue, teeth,
ears, etc., along with palpable sensations in moving the diaphragm, chest, neck and head, resonating with
the sound of spoken words (finger snaps!). In a very real sense, words become flesh as they are audibly
articulated (as opposed to being read silently). Never underestimate verbalizations cathartic, liberating,
therapeutic and medicinal (Prov 16:24) abilities. Pauls exhortation to Timothy to devote himself to the
public reading of Scripture takes on added significance when observed (literally!). (1 Tim 4:13)
15
An admittedly relative term as there are varying degrees to which one can (and needs to) be
oriented toward the street environment. Everybodys been impacted by it, multitudes are influenced by it,
many are governed by it, some are dominated by it and there are those utterly consumed by it. See 2Pacs
(Tupac Shakurs) lyrics for Me Against The World (http://tinyurl.com/nn2frdz), and the tragic story of
Anthony Tupac Davis life and death (http://bit.ly/1Uglgz5) each as good a summary as any of the
street-oriented young urban Black males outlook on life. As public spaces in all areas of the city are
governed by known and unknown social rules, values, mores and conventions (see Elijah Andersons The
Cosmopolitan Canopy), so too the street and its attendant culture. Successfully navigating and participating
in a given social environment depends on factors generally well-known, adopted and taken for granted by
those immersed in that environment, as opposed to those who are unfamiliar with them. Acclimation and
proper orientation are essential to going forward within a different culture, be it traditional (?) middle-class,
white, suburban Main Street culture, or (financially and commercially speaking) Wall Street culture
(see Kevin Roose, Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Streets Post-Crash Recruits for a

155
tribe tribe being an apropos postmodern buzzword for people group18 remain

largely anonymous to most people,19 save for those within the closed and confined orbit

fascinating read on whats going on with Mykhaels peers a world away at the completely opposite end of
the socioeconomic spectrum), or (politically speaking) Beltway insider or K Street culture, or (higher
educationally speaking), hallowed halls of academe culture, or (socio-aquaculturally speaking), Maine
coast lobster gangs territorial turf culture (see James Acheson, The Lobster Gangs of Maine); each
carries with it proprietary aspects and elements that need to be learned, subscribed to and utilized by those
wishing to successfully navigate and participate therein. To be vaguely aware is to remain an outsider to
be more fully immersed opens doors. So too the street, especially as it has been traditionally understood in
American culture. Our focus here is to help Christians better incarnate Christ in street contexts.
16
The age range of this group is between thirteen and thirty. Indeed, the age range can (and does)
extend downward and upward. One often finds younger people who, because of harsh life experiences or
an unstable family structure, have been prematurely thrust into dealing with their environment on an adult
level. And, of course, the age range can (and does) extend upward (an arrested development). It is not at
all uncommon to find older adults who have extended adolescence into middle age as a result of having
been damaged in life denied opportunities or even an affirmingly legitimate place in society. More often
than not, hurt creeps into Black childrens eyes when they reach twelve or thirteen years of age and sense
that they are trapped [Since the time that observation was made, the age of realization has gotten
younger.] (Time, 1988a, 22). Bob Hepburn, Penetrating an Urban People Group, Urban Mission 6, no. 4
(March 1989): 33-42, accessed November 2, 2015, http://tinyurl.com/nlkvr6p. See also Kay S. Hymowitz,
The Saturday Essay: Where Have the Good Men Gone? Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2011,
accessed December 4, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/ojbs2zj.
17
The intent of this categorization is to keep the focus on this distinct people group (or tribe
[using the term colloquially as an aggregate of individuals of a specific kind] see next footnote).
Etymologically, the word category has particular resonance and relevance to the street-oriented young
urban Black male: category (n.) 1580s, from Middle French catgorie, from Late Latin categoria, from
Greek kategoria accusation, prediction, category, verbal noun from kategorein to speak against; to
accuse, assert, predicate, from kata down to (or perhaps against; see cata-) + agoreuein to harangue, to
declaim (in the assembly), from agora public assembly (see agora). Original sense of accuse weakened
to assert, name by the time Aristotle applied kategoria to his 10 classes of things that can be named.
Category, Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed October 5, 2013, http://tinyurl.com/pdr4ejm, and
Tribe, Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed October 5, 2013, http://tinyurl.com/q2g5oyf.
18
We view the terms tribe (a Biblical term) and people group as interchangeable. A people
group is a part of a society that has some basic characteristics in common which cause it to feel a sense of
oneness and set apart from other groups. It may be unified by language, religion, economic status,
occupation, ethnic origin, geographic location, or social position. Sverre Dalland and Goran Dalhov, eds.,
The Word of God: A Human Right (a world map of unreached people groups; Monrovia, CA: Missions
Advanced Research and Communications Center / Sweden: Bibelen for Alle, 1985). See
http://www.worldcat.org/title/word-of-god-a-human-right/oclc/32984524 (accessed November 5, 2015).
19
About 40 percent of white Americans and about 25 percent of non-white Americans are
surrounded exclusively by friends of their own race, according to an ongoing Reuters/Ipsos poll. The
figures highlight how segregated the United States remains in the wake of a debate on race sparked by last
months acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of unarmed black Florida teenager Trayvon
Martin. President Barack Obama weighed in after the verdict, calling for Americans to do some soul
searching on whether they harbor racial prejudice. There are regions and groups where mixing with people
of other races is more common, especially in the Hispanic community where only a tenth do not have
friends of a different race. About half of Hispanics who have a spouse or partner are in a relationship with
non-Hispanics, compared to one tenth of whites and blacks in relationships. Looking at a broader circle of

156
of our self-preservationally-minded tight-knit circles. Most of what you likely know

about us has prolly [probably] been picked up through the media, largely through pop

culture music,20 sports, TV shows,21 movies22 n whatnot but more likely (and more

acquaintances to include coworkers as well as friends and relatives, 30 percent of Americans are not mixing
with others of a different race, the poll showed. Lindsay Dunsmuir, Many Americans have no friends of
another race: poll, Reuters, August 8, 2013, accessed January 17, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/l9myyg2. See
also [Reuters] Poll: Race in America, August 8, 2013, accessed May 6, 2013, http://tinyurl.com/o8tdhge,
Gene Demby, Some of My Best Friends Arent Black or Brown or Asian... National Public Radio,
August 11, 2013, accessed January 17, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/ogonxw2, and Christopher Ingraham,
Three quarters of whites dont have any non-white friends, Wonkblog (Washington Post blog), August 25,
2014, accessed December 13, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/qh4elbd.
20
Primarily rap music, whose commercial success originated within, is attributed to, is reflective
of, and sustained by the difficult socio-economic and cultural issues laid out in the following pages. Its a
needful conversation. It informs how and why rap is so important to street-oriented young urban Black
males. The thematic and lyrical content of rap music over the past 43+ years essentially boils down to the
same sorrow as that expressed in blues music; it is a lamentation welling up from a races shared
experience of suffering in a strange land. Foundation-rattling, amped-up, bass-ed up, woofer-ed up,
wassup-ed car sound systems signal its presence throughout the land.
21
The Wire, David Simons critically-acclaimed HBO series, is particular noteworthy an epic
portrayal of inner-city life once characterized as a modern day Greek tragedy (see Chris Love, Greek Gods
in Baltimore: Greek Tragedy and The Wire, Criticism 52, nos. 3-4 (Summer/Fall 2010): 487-507). Anmol
Chaddha and William Julius Wilson write, The Wire is fictional, not a documentary, though it takes
inspiration from real-life events. It draws on the experiences of its creator David Simon, a former reporter
at the Baltimore Sun, and his co-writer, Ed Burns, a former police detective and public school teacher in
Baltimore. It is part of a long line of literary works that are often able to capture the complexity of urban
life in ways that have eluded many social scientists. One need only consider works by Richard Wright, Italo
Calvino, Ben Okri, and Charles Dickens, among many others, as examples. As a work of fiction, The Wire
does not replace rigorous academic scholarship on the problems of urban inequality and poverty. But, more
than making these issues accessible to a broader audience, the show demonstrates the interconnectedness of
systemic urban inequality in a way that can be very difficult to illustrate in academic works. Due to the
structure of academic research, scholarly works tend to focus on many of these issues in relative isolation.
A number of excellent studies analyze the impacts of deindustrialization, crime and incarceration, and the
education system on urban inequality. It is often implicitly understood among scholars that these are deeply
intertwined, but an in-depth analysis of any one of these topics requires such focused attention that other
important factors necessarily receive less discussion. With the freedom of artistic expression, The Wire is
able to deftly weave together the range of forces that shape the circumstances of the urban poor while
exposing deep inequality as a fundamental feature of broader social and economic arrangements. Anmol
Chaddha and William Julius Wilson, Way Down in the Hole: Systemic Urban Inequality and The
Wire, Critical Inquiry 38 (Autumn 2011): 165-166, accessed February 13, 2014, http://tinyurl.com/qfrrd76.
Taking to heart Chaddhas and Wilsons observations about David Simon using the freedom of artistic
expression in The Wire, so too do we in our discussion of the current situation surrounding the street-
oriented young urban Black male, best understood in light of historical precedents.
22
Spike Lees Do the Right Thing (1989) and John Singletons Boyz n the Hood (1991) are
among the first major Black films that broke through to wider mainstream audiences, portraying complex
long-standing social ills (inner city poverty, racism, violence, gangs, etc.), doing so with an unflinching eye.

157
significantly and influentially) through the news.23 Rest assured, I havent made the

evenin news n dont intend to. As a people group were a lot more complicated and

nuanced than how were somewhat monolithically represented in the media quite

different and more variegated from the way it generally tries to paint us and the way

outsiders perceive us. One of the things me n my tribe most often get associated with is

rap music and hip-hop culture. Were actually kind-a proud-a that despite the woefully

sad n sorry state these two commercially-co-opted, corporately-exploited entities are in

at the present time. This decidedly urban music and culture play a huge and significant

23
Twenty-four-year-old writer Antwuan Sargent is poignantly en pointe and personal in laying out
how young Black men are perceived in America today: the media violence that has played out across news
broadcast with reports that have called young black men crack babies, predators, dropouts, absentee fathers,
and thugs. Reports that have captured the American imagination, and created moral panic. Reports that lead
most of America to believe that the scene of the crime was not in historical processes and institutions
located in American history but in black neighborhoods with black men. These reports and the media
figures that delivered them have sought to construct the Black male identity for the large part of the last 40
years. It is a construction that makes black men suspicious because the media has pathologized the way we
talk, act, and dress. Media violence has produced a construction of the black male identity that has made
it more difficult for us to get jobs, walk down the street, buy skittles, soft drinks and think ourselves equal
in this world. It is a construction that has created fear in our hearts. Fear we are not allowed to talk about
because there is no place for black victimhood to be acknowledged amid all the media scrutiny that has
made us the perpetual aggressor. So when people look at us, we can't help but think do they see us as thugs
and are our ambitions, because they sometimes lie outside the traditional American success narrative, not
worthy of pursuit. Even though, as Ta-Nehisi Coates pointed out in a recent column, at the most basic
level, there's nothing any more wrong with aspiring to be a rapper than there is with aspiring to be a painter,
or an actor, or a sculptor. It is a construction that has informed everything I have done in my life and
everything I will ever do. It is a construction that I tried and failed many times to make peace with. But the
humiliation that comes with the suspicion of my blackness in my everyday mundane life seems only to get
worse, and I have the media portrayal of young black men in part to thank for that. In the aftermath of the
shooting death of a face down unarmed Oscar Grant by a white police officer and the shooting death of
Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, the media again seeks to define who black men are. People like
Don Lemon, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity have yet again placed us under scrutiny that holds us to a
different standard than our white counter parts. These reporters have superficially scrutinized our
appearances, which entice their audiences to do so as well. Their attacks on black young men also influence
their audiences to believe that problems like black male disproportionate involvement in the criminal
justice system or the insane gun violence taking place on the Southside of Chicago is not tied to failed
social policy and must be corrected. When I was in Kindergarten my teacher gave us a poem. It was a kid
version of the I Am Somebody, poem written by the civil rights activist Reverend Williams H. Borders.
The poem had a little black boy stating to the world, I am somebody, over and over again. At the time I
didnt understand why we, the boys, had to memorize the poem and recite it to the class. I do now.
Antwuan Sargent, Don Lemon and Media Violence against Young Black Men, Huffington Post, August
3, 2013, accessed August 3, 2013, http://tinyurl.com/o4k8yo8.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

MINISTRY MODEL

Background

Having done years of cross-cultural ministry in the mid-Atlantic region with

urban youth summer camps, retreats and conferences, church youth groups and choirs, a

bevy of street outreach ministries, and doing organizational work with a nationally-

recognized Christian rap group (the Cross Movement), I started moving into teaching as

opportunities were presented at the Center for Urban Theological Studies (CUTS) in

Philadelphia. Having taught a number of humanities and Bible courses there for 18 years,

I got to know a good number of saints, their churches and their ministries throughout the

Delaware Valley. As the African American church at that time was still wrestling with

what to do about (or with) hip-hop culture at which point in time it was looked at as the

opposition and needed to be exorcised (as per G. Craige Lewiss EX Ministries)

many of us connected with the Cross Movement were trying to find ways to bridge the

gap between the saints in the church and hip-hoppers. The 2004 Student Missions

conference at Westminster Theological Seminary, Contextualizing without

Compromise: A Case Study in Reaching the Hip-Hop Culture, was a watershed

moment, as we brought together a collective of Christian street-oriented communicators

(rappers, visual artists, label executives, producers, etc.), students and professors from the

Seminary, as well as pastors and church leaders from all over the Delaware Valley (and

beyond!) to chop it up (discuss) the topic. Afterwards, our hopes were to have the

three-way conversation continue between the street, the church and the academy, and so

414
we soldiered on with a number of community meetings with pastors, church and youth

outreach leaders, trying to keep the conversation going. It was at that time that the initial

idea for this project began. Follow-up efforts from the WTS conference eventually

petered out, and although the original Rapologetics project proposals intent was to

continue trying to set up mechanisms for continuing the three-way conversation, the

reality was a couple of momentum-shifting changes took place with two of the three

entities we had hoped to see involved (Cross Movement Ministries and the Seminary).

Those changes made the initial proposition less tenable and doable, so I had to take

another tack. The result was an elective undergrad course offering titled, The Gospel /

The Street: The Church and Hip-Hop Culture (TGTS in earlier iterations and then

TGTS 2.0 in later updated versions), intended as an extension of what we were trying

to do at and after the 2004 missions conference. Teaching the course at the Center for

Urban Theological Studies allowed me to continue connecting with African American

church leaders in Philadelphia and from throughout the Delaware Valley, continuing the

conversation started at Westminster.

I had taught several youth ministry courses at CUTS (which at that time was

affiliated with and accredited through Geneva College in Beaver Falls, PA), and proposed

The Gospel / The Street as a course offering during the 2009 Fall semester. It was a 3-

credit intensive course that fulfilled the required 42 seat hours by meeting from 9:00 am

to 5:00 pm on 5 Saturdays, evenly distributed throughout the semester.1

1
This was the original class meeting format for the course used while CUTS was affiliated with
Geneva College. After the schools affiliation changed to Lancaster Bible College in 2013, the class
meeting format changed to evening class sessions, meeting once a week for four (4) hours over five (5)
consecutive weeks. In my view, this arrangement was less-than-ideal as students were now having to do
their writing assignments within a shorter span of time, alongside of working their way through online
presentations (PowerPoints, Prezis, videos, documents, article links and the like). This is necessary to fulfill
the Pennsylvania State Departments requirement of 42 seat hours for a 3-credit hybrid course). All the

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 TGTS 2.0 Course Content and Materials: Development Overview

Content for the class had been in development for a number of years, primarily

through having done nearly 30 years of urban ministry in the African American

community those already inside the sanctuary (church youth and young adults), and

those outside it (street-oriented youth and young adults who continue to be surprisingly

open to the Lord but closed to the church). [What became increasingly clear over time

(and particularly fascinating) is how much church youth and young adults have to order

their lives according to the streets codes all are invariably influenced by its codes,

others governed by them, and some gone so far as to be dominated by them living

undercover lives in the process. The majority of urban church youth / young adults have

to wrestle with complex catch-22 challenges presented by street environments.] I had also

developed a website (YUBM [Young Urban Black Male] Ministries, www.yubm.org)

that seeks to address the tension between the church and hip-hop culture.2

Central to my approach to the TGTS 2.0 class was to bring theology and

sociology together, developing innovative practical ministry connections in the process. I

have long been a fan of Elijah Andersons immensely helpful ethnographic street-related

writings which led to using his Atlantic Monthly May 1994 essay, The Code of the

work for the class was to be completed within a 7-week timeframe and became a somewhat onerous task.
Bear in mind also that CUTS students are generally adult learners returning to school later in life, many
working full-time jobs, involved in church ministries, as well as raising children and/or grandchildren so
generally speaking theres not a whole lot of discretionary time to work on school assignments. In this
particular arrangement of the shortened term, I would present a descriptive overview of the topics listed in
the syllabus (in each of the five modules) and ask students which particular ones they would like to have us
cover in class. I would then use that input in shaping in-class presentations, figure out what to put online at
the course website (at the time it was http://lore.com/a#!/TGTS-2.0:.1), and which material to bypass.
2
The website (www.yubm.org) is very much in need of a massive overhaul and updates, but
finding the time and resources to do so is a bit difficult at present.

416
Streets (a precursor to his 1999 book, Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the

Moral Life of the Inner City)3 in the class. It is an insightful, harrowing, demystifying

analysis that is now considered a classic in urban ethnography. Bakari Kitwanas The Hip

Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African-American Culture (Basic

Civitas Books, 2003) was my next choice as does a great job laying out the generational

divide between the older Civil Rights and younger hip-hop generations a divide that we

examined extensively in each iteration of the class. Over the eight (8) different semesters

I taught this course, it became increasingly clear that the battle lines between the church

and the street were more generational than anything else, with cultural conflicts arising

out of those generational differences (hence the development of the 5 generations chart

used in class). Efrem Smith and Phil Jacksons The Hip-Hop Church: Connecting with

the Movement That Is Shaping Our Culture (IVP, 2005) is an excellent text offering

practical ways of developing ministry with hip-hop-influenced youth and young adults. In

later iterations of the class Ralph C. Watkins, et al.s text, The Gospel Remix: Reaching

the Hip-Hop Generation (Judson Press, 2007), was offered as an alternative to Smith and

Jacksons text, which addresses similar issues as their text but from a more provocative

and prophetic perspective. Also included were articles I had written that documented how

I had been introduced to rap music and hip-hop culture (Rap Music: A Window into a

Culture and Rap Music: Give Me My Respect, Man! both published in Urban

Mission). The Bible was / is our go-to text throughout each semester, and working our

way together through the Biblical texts (see chapter 2) was always a delight.

3
Again, I want to express my profound gratitude for his friendship and indebtedness for his
helpful input in my life through the years.

417
 TGTS 2.0 Course Objectives

As a result of taking this course the student should be able to do the following:

1) identify the Biblical and theological foundations that undergird culture specifically

hip-hop / urban youth / street culture, 2) recognize the need for being a life-long student

of culture locally, regionally, nationally and globally specifically in understanding

both the subtle and not-so-subtle roles social systems and structures have in the lives of

urban youth, 3) comprehend and appreciate the ever-changing and complex social

dynamics of urban adolescence, and to better understand and empathize with those whose

lives are either influenced, governed or dominated by hip-hop / urban youth / street

culture (be they young people in the church or not), being cognizant of how generational

differences factor in, 4) develop critical thinking skills in accessing, assessing and

addressing the worldview / belief system / value system of hip-hop / urban youth / street

culture through exegeting and interpreting the messages and values communicated

through the culture and its music (aurally, lyrically, visually, technologically, social

media-wise, commercially, philosophically, etc.), and 5) be equipped and launched out

with practical skills, strategies, ideas and insights for better understanding and effectively

engaging, ministering to, surviving and enjoying ministry with those whose lives are

impacted by hip-hop / urban youth / street culture.

TGTS 2.0 Course Research: Focus and Methodology

Research for this class started with laying out the Biblical and theological

foundations of culture (specifically, hip-hop culture). I imported a number of theological

paradigms developed for other classes taught through the years paradigms still being

418
tweaked to this day looking to connect them socio-culturally and anthropologically,

with a particular focus on their missiological implications and application. What good is

all this material if there is no go ye into all the world dimension to it? Researching

matters pertaining to poetry (which Scripture is chock full of and what rap is), and

matters pertaining to cultures of orality (which Scripture reflects in typographic form

and which hip-hop is a prime example of) were (and still are) of prime importance. I have

a profound new appreciation for the concept of orality in Scripture, but was a bit

challenging at the first in trying to get the concept into print. Why was that? Mainstream

First World cultures tend to be more typographocentric, focused more on what is being

visually presented (and archiving) information and imagery and generally less so on

how it is being aurally presented. This is a critical matter for those living in oral cultures

especially when they are embedded within dominant First World cultures (as is the case

with Africans in America). Working within that essentially oral-oriented culture and

seeing the Biblical text from that oral perspective widened, deepened and extended the

borders of my appreciation and respect for both.

It was somewhat surprising to discover that some of the more helpful writing on

poetry was done years ago, when imaginative, poetic and rhetorical art forms played a

much larger role in society especially during the typographic era. It was a time when

imagery was accomplished verbally, allowing for imaginative fluidity, and not portrayed

visually, rendering things fixed and frozen. It would appear nowadays that information

culture is concerned more with rational, prosaic and data-oriented print orientation

(studies, reports, statistical analyses, big data, etc.), which, although challenged by a

more technologized digital image orientation, still dominates the larger cultures

419
operations and decision-making. To those with more of an oral culture orientation, this is

more of a cultural challenge than first appears; the group either adapts by assimilating to

some degree or it can go another way and be countercultural to varying degrees.

Learning the disciplines of and practicing the art and science of hermeneutics in

studying the Scriptures was (and is!) a delightful endeavor, and over the course of time I

began to realize that those same hermeneutical principles can be extended into other

academic disciplines: theology, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, culture, technology,

science and nature. How so? Because everything in this creation is Gods creation, and as

He is the Logos, He Himself is Meaning, and therefore everything He created has

intrinsic meaning built into it because He (Meaning) created it. Consider the matter of

culture (what man does with Gods creation): we can apply the principles found in 2 Tim

3:16 (teaching [whats right], reproof [whats not right], correction [how to get right] and

training in righteousness [how to stay right]) and apply them to our study of culture

(whats right about a given culture? whats not right about a given culture? how does a

given culture get right? how does a given culture stay right? This insight provided a new

way of looking at Gods stage (His creation) understanding the interconnectedness of

everything He has made and finding exciting new facets of His glory throughout every

aspect of His creation. Being aware of this allows for a broader view in understanding

reality with tremendous implications for how we pursue academic disciplines not just in

an enlightenment way, but in a divinely illuminated way the pathway for our feet lit

by the light of His Word (Psa 119:105).

During the years I was teaching this course I began looking more into the

importance and prominence of story-telling in rap music and hip-hop culture, looking

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 CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSION

Figure 2. Graffiti, Northeast Philadelphia. Photograph by Bob Hepburn.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

What if a relatively small countercultural movement got started in an obscure

tucked away place a social setting looked down on, discounted, scorned and generally

forsaken by the rest of society and that movement were to eventually grow to the point

where it could no longer be ignored by the establishment? What if it were to grow to

where it became well-known and controversial enough that it had to be reckoned with a

movement now boldly in the face of the rest of society that had earlier disdainfully

tried to ignore it? What if, over time and after realizing its benefits and vast potential,

447
mainstream society gradually got acclimated to it, largely accepted it and even adopted it

eventually co-opting and then leveraging it to its own advantage, turning that formerly

obscure small movement into a surprising global (and even lucrative!) juggernaut whose

impact was felt everywhere even in the obscure, tucked away, discounted, scorned and

generally forsaken places of the world?

The name of that small and obscure countercultural movement? Christianity.

It is striking that hip-hop culture and rap music share a similar trajectory, and yet

because of their undeniably worldly focus and corrupting influence, they have rightly

been kept (for the most part) outside and away from the church. Thats wisdom. But as

crucial and as essential as it is to maintain separation, it is equally important Gods

people not just demand younger hip-hoppers acquiesce to the ethos and cultural forms of

their elders and come back to the church or simply write off the younger generation and

hope Jesus comes soon but take the time to seriously examine why hip-hop and rap

have become what they are to street-oriented youth and young adults. Hip hop is now

central to American popular culture, says Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture

at Syracuse University in New York state If you get a hip hop artist who can establish

a name and a basis of fame and wealth and then theyre smart enough to ... make sorties

into other parts of the culture ... that seems a typical American story1 and one that is

strong, comprehensive, convincing and compelling enough to induce others to see if they

too can get in on it.

1
Robert Thompson (via AFP), Dr. Dre: From LA gangsta rapper to Forbes top dog?
Alarabiya.net, May 10, 2014 accessed May 10, 2014, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-
style/2014/05/10/Dr-Dre-From-LA-gangsta-rapper-to-Forbes-top-dog-.html).

448
 Why do rap music and hip-hop culture have the influence they do? How has hip-

hop supplanted much of what the church historically used to provide? What have the

saints ceded over the past 40+ years that cost them their witness? What is it about the

church and its culture now that turns hip-hoppers away to look for something else? What

do hip-hoppers find in the constructs of their culture that apparently seems to satisfy

(although it really cant)? Dare we ask these and other honest and harder questions

unflinchingly of ourselves doing that first before being critical of those outside the

walls of the church? It is tough to do, yes, but absolutely necessary. The upside is, once

we start doing that, we begin finding our way back to being what the church was meant to

be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, an unhidden city set on a hill (Matt 5:13-

14). Once that starts taking place, we can begin to earnestly seek authentic ways to reach

those whose lives are influenced, dominated and even governed by the street, hip-hop

culture and rap music. Mixing in a number of other ideational influences (among them

materialism, hedonism, naturalism, relativism, postmodernism, etc.), hip-hops cultural

context became the primary de facto socializing schemata for an entire generation,

seismically shifting significant segments of society into some seriously skeptical, shape-

shifting states of mind each with their obligatory side of spurituality (a spurious

spirituality, specious and suspect). And so the street (and the larger society as a whole)

finds itself in a spiritually confused state of affairs; things are murky and muddled, much

like what was going on in Israel at the end of the book of Judges where each man would

do what was right in his own eyes (Judg 21:25 ESV).

The surprising thing about the street, though, is this: it has been pre-wired for a

church homecoming in a couple of ways. The first is the Black churchs well-

449
 APPENDIX A

The Gospel / The Street 2.0: Sample Syllabus

Figure A.1. Graffiti by Gerald Dial.

Lancaster Bible College at the Center for Urban Theological Studies

The Gospel / The Street 2.0: The Church & Hip-Hop Culture
HUM 480 (3 credit undergraduate class) Spring 2014

Class Dates: Mondays (5) March 31st, April 7th, 14th, 28th and May 5th, 2014
Class Time: 5:30 pm 9:30 pm, Monday evenings (20-hr. seat time but each 4-hour
time slot start-time is negotiable)
Location: Deliverance Evangelistic Church Room: 209
2001 W. Lehigh Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19132
CUTS Administration: 215.329.5400 / Bookstore @ D.E.C.: 215.226.1596
Instructor: Bob Hepburn phone: (215) 549-0844 (leave a message)
email: bob.hepburn@gmail.com YUBM Ministries: www.yubm.org
Office Hours: As requested. Stay updated @ class website: http://lore.com/TGTS-2.0:.1.

Course Description: An in-depth examination of hip-hop / urban youth / street culture in

the United States its Biblical and theological foundations and its unique and complex
sociological dynamics, with a particular focus on the values, attitudes, norms and rituals
of several sub-cultures found in urban contexts. The significant role popular culture plays
in shaping U.S. urban youth culture will also be explored, especially in regard to the
entertainment industry. The emanative impact of urban youth culture on young people
living outside of cities in the U.S. (as well as on youth cultures around the globe) will
also be considered, along with the impact of globalization on U.S. urban youth culture.

Course Objectives: As a result of this course the student will be able to do the following:

identify the Biblical and theological foundations that undergird culture specifically
hip-hop / urban youth / street culture
466
 recognize the need for being a life-long student of culture locally, regionally,
nationally and globally specifically in understanding both the subtle and not-so-
subtle roles social systems and structures have in the lives of urban youth

comprehend and appreciate the ever-changing and complex social dynamics of urban
adolescence, and to better understand and empathize with those whose lives are either
influenced, governed or dominated by hip-hop / urban youth / street culture (be they
young people in the church or not), being cognizant of how generational differences
factor in

develop critical thinking skills in accessing, assessing and addressing the worldview /
belief system / value system of hip-hop / urban youth / street culture through
exegeting and interpreting the messages and values communicated through the culture
and its music (aurally, lyrically, visually, technologically, social media-wise,
commercially, philosophically, etc.)

be equipped and launched out with practical skills, strategies, ideas and insights for
better understanding and effectively engaging, ministering to, surviving and enjoying
ministry with those whose lives are impacted by hip-hop / urban youth / street culture

Required Textbooks:

The Bible. Your preferred translation (ESV, KJV, NASB, NIV, NKJV, etc.).

Required: Kitwana, Bakari. The Hip Hop Generation: The Crisis in African
American Culture. New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2003. Kitwanas book is required
for everyone in the class. Students must additionally choose one (1) of the following:

Option 1: Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson. The Hip-Hop Church: Connecting with the
Movement Shaping Our Culture. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005.

or

Option 2: Ralph C. Watkins, et al. The Gospel Remix: Reaching the Hip-Hop
Generation. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2007. (Note: If you choose to do a
Review & Response paper to this book, you must pair it with Elijah Andersons
article, Code of the Streets [see Recommended Resources below])

Other pertinent articles, lyrics and other materials will be handed out in class.

Recommended Resources: (an extensive bibliography is posted at the class website)

Anderson, Elijah. The Code of the Streets, The Atlantic Monthly, May, 1994:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/05/the_code_of_the_streets/6601/

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 APPENDIX B

TGTS 2.0: Course Content: Module 1 (1 of 5)

Figure B.1. Graffiti by Gerald Dial.

The Gospel / The Street 2.0:

Bridging the Gap between the Church & Hip-Hop Culture
An Anthropological / Socio-cultural / Missiological Apologetic Approach
Via an Ideational Expeditionary Curriculum Guide & Resources 2016 R. Hepburn

Preface

The following material is arranged and presented in a moderately structured way with the
intent of providing content and resources for the instructor to select and shape for their
own particular context, as opposed to locking everything into a curricular grid. There is
much, much, much to process in the 42-plus-year-old cultural phenomena called hip-hop,
and the specific needs of each learning community in which this material is presented
must be fully taken into account. So, in the true spirit of hip-hop culture, the instructor is
strongly encouraged to free-style in how this material is presented with intentional
emphasis placed on dialoguing / trialoguing their way through the material. Lecturing
will simply not work; it is more important that the instructor and the class chop it up
i.e. discuss which, in turn, literally means to dash to pieces, to agitate. As indicated
below, this is a class taught at the Center for Urban Theological Studies in Philadelphia,
PA (CUTS now affiliated with Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, PA). We have
never been able to get to everything found in this document, but I am not convinced that
really matters. But oh, the stuff we do get to! always a really great time dealin with it.
Stuff is real, impacts are palpable, worldviews change and students launch out into their
own continuing studies of the subject after finishing the class. (Continuing education is
the name of the game.) I also hope lyricists, poets, rhymers and even doggerelists will
find this material useful in their pursuit of perfecting the spoken word through rap. While
there is much more material used in class that is not included here (PowerPoint and Prezi
presentations, photos, diagrams, videos, handouts, etc.), instructors will hopefully find
more than enough material to work with in this particular chapter (as well as earlier
ones), the bibliographies, and online.
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 Introduction

The Gospel / The Street 2:0 Course / Brochure Description

Yo, Saints! What U got for those young people ya see, hear, know n love that can
help em win over the Goliath they face every day?

The street. Most of our young people are full-court-pressed daily to respond to the high-
pressure, peer-driven power plays put on em while they out there. Most learn to adapt to
the code of the street n adopt a suitable set of street survival skills some harmless,
some helpful n some that arent. Facin incredible odds, they tryin hard to pass
safely n sanely thru the dually difficult wildernesses of urban adolescence n the
demands made by the street.

Freal, freal. The task aint easy, and small is the tribe of adults ready, able n willin to
enter in alongside them in their struggle. Thats where this material come into play. The
Gospel / The Street 2.0: Bridging the Gap between the Church & Hip-Hop Culture is a
unique curriculum designed to engage, equip n empower the saints (both young people
n adults) to better understand n minister to those whose lives are influenced by the
street & hip-hop. Creative n compelling, TGTS 2.0 is an up-to-code can-do / can-
opener-type of presentation, packed with practical insights, strategies, ideas and skill
sets for effectively engaging, ministering to and enjoying those impacted by this unique
dynamic culture.

No fear. Proverbs 29:25. Hip-hop is usually perceived as a foreign n hostile culture

which is true to an extent but we must realize it is not beyond Gods reach (nor His
Churchs). Hip-hops origins, operating principles, situations n solutions are all
revealed in Scripture, and even though it has an obvious downside (as does any human
culture), theres a surprising upside as well.

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;

to search [check] out a matter is the glory of kings.
Proverbs 25:2

Gods not left Himself without a witness within hip-hop culture. His glory is often
revealed in the most unexpected places in the most surprising ways His image having
been creatively woven into the cultures fabric like a fine gold thread. Hip-hop culture is
populated n propelled by individuals personally n purposefully created for His glory
precious people for whom Christ died n was raised to life again. Hip-hop is the
dominant force impacting young people today n it presents the Church with a
tremendous ministry opportunity, despite its outrageous, oppositional n opportunistic
nature. It remains a largely unreached culture because of its intimidating reputation
which is just frontin taken to whole nuthuh level. If we truly believe that the Lord
working through His Church is the only valid mechanism for any real n lasting change
in our streets, then why dont we act? Wheres our faith concerning this Goliath?

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In times of change, learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves
wonderfully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. Erik Hoffer

Session Topics (5 Weeks / 5 Sessions 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm):

Theres no way well have time to fully get at all of these, but heres a full listing
of what were ready to try and cover during the course. What we dont get to
below will hopefully get you thinking and searching out things!

Module 1

Intros / Syllabus Review / Theological Foundations: Grasping the Biblical Meta-narrative

(Seeing the Big Picture / Seeking a Full Accounting) / The Challenge of Competitive
Meta-narratives / Expanding the Hermeneutical Spiral: Six Authorities Awaiting /
Inviting Exegesis / Pauls Exegesis of the 5 Authorities in Acts 17 / The Roots (!) of
Culture and Culture as Theological Response / Christ and Culture / The 4 Elements of
Hip-Hop as Socio-Economic and Cultural Statements / Some Additional Hip-Hop
Elements to Consider / Wrap-Up

Introductions (All the way around the class: tell us about yourself)

TGTS 2.0 Survey (See the extended Appendix section available online. Email
bob.hepburn@gmail.com for the link.)

Syllabus Review

Theological Foundations

Grasping the Biblical Meta-narrative (Seeing the Big Picture, Seeking a Full Accounting)
/ The Interconnectivity of Everything / Full Awareness of the Stage (Including the Street)

The earth is the LORDs and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.

Psa 24:1 (ESV)

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 Theological Foundations

Paradigm 1

Expanding the Hermeneutical Spiral: 5 Authorities Awaiting / Inviting Exegesis

Note the hierarchy in the hermeneutical spiral: each authority (or text), when properly
understood and submitted to, is ideally under the authority of those above it:

Five (5) Authorities Awaiting / Inviting Exegesis (A)

Authority Reference J. Frames

Categories
(1) Written Word Spoken Word Gen 1, 2 Tim 3:16, Normative
Heb 1:1-3, 1 John 1:1,
Rev 21:5, et al
Living Word John 1:1-4, 14
------------------------- The Creator / creature distinction ------------------------
(2 & 3) Human Beings (Self & Others) Psa 4:4, Phil 1:9-11 Existential
(4) Culture / Technology Num 13, Acts 17:16ff and
(5) Nature Psa 8, 19, Luke 12:27 Situational

Five (5) Authorities Awaiting / Inviting Exegesis (B)

Authority Discipline J. Frames

Categories
(1) Written Word Spoken Word Theology Normative
Living Word Christology / Anthropology
------------------------- The Creator / creature distinction ------------------------
(2 & 3) Human Beings (Self & Others) Philosophy & Sociology, Existential
Anthropology, Psychology
(4) Culture / Technology Politismology: Humanities, and
Arts & Sciences, Natural &
Social Sciences, Technology Situational
(5) Nature Natural Sciences, Ecology

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 Being Biblically, spiritually and devotionally well-grounded in the Christian life

is important, but being well-grounded needs to be complemented with being well-

rounded. Rightly recognize, respect, relate and respond to each of the authorities (or

texts, if you will)1 above and learn how to read them and keep them in their proper

order note the hierarchal arrangement each one subject to the authority / authorities

above it.2 Hierarchies are an important reality, even in postmodern times when flattening

1
The use of the term texts here is not intended to imply that all six texts have equal weight and
authority they most certainly do not but there is no question that each text carries with it a certain
degree of authority, i.e., it exercises or exerts some degree of influence and/or power over a particular
sphere. The term is used to help illustrate that each text or authority is, in its own right, something
meaning-full something that can be read, comprehended, exegeted, understood, connected to a larger
framework, put (and kept) in its proper place and responded to properly in the overall context of Gods
sovereign rule. The earth is the LORDs and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.
(Psa 24:1) Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness endures to all
generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. By your appointment they stand this day, for
all things are your servants. (Psa 119:89-91, emphasis added) Each text exercises some degree of authority
in a persons life, whether one is doing his or her own thing (as an autonomous self), seeking
acceptance from a social group (others), allegiance to that groups collective behaviors (culture), interacting
with ones environment (nature), etc. Each of these is an authority or text established by the Creator
within His creation, and, in a fallen world, can easily take on more authority than is warranted, resulting in
all sorts of matters getting out of line, out of place and out of hand. The astounding thing about Christs
incarnation is that He enters into this fallen rebellious world although He was in the form of God, did not
think equality with God something to be grasped (Adams, Eves and their descendants propensity, along
with Satans), but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men,
humbling Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross (Phil 2:5-8). In His
incarnation, Jesus submits Himself to the authority of Gods written Word (the Text) which was given to
the Scriptures human authors (sometimes orally), who themselves lived in a world (nature) He spoke into
existence (the spoken Word) and had commanded human beings (selves) to populate (others), subdue and
have dominion over (via the cultural mandate) and dies on the cross in order that the written Word may
be fulfilled. It is finished! He cries, (), as everything is put back in its proper place in His sight
(righteousness, as someone once defined it, is being in the right place with God), while we (by faith)
see and participate in that realignment as it works out in medias res. The purpose of a well-rounded, Christ-
honoring, cross-disciplined education (the word choice there is intended to give the reader pause it is
meant to be a double-entendre, begging to be unpacked for full impact) is to get at not only the meaning
behind all the multitudinous phenomena we experience in the course of our lives, but to get to know
Meaning Himself: the Lord Jesus Christ.
2
Consider the (Gentile) Roman centurions faith when he sent friends to say to Jesus [who was
already on His way to heal his servant who was sick unto death], Lord, dont trouble Yourself, for I do not
deserve to have You come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to
You. But say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers
under me. I tell this one, Go, and he goes; and that one, Come, and he comes. I say to my servant, Do
this, and he does it. When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following
him, he said, I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel. Then the men who had been sent
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