“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.  And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.  To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.  And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

    I was feeling amped for no reason!  I was whizzing down I-59 on my way to Best Buy to look for a certain TV that I had been eying for quite some time and the price had been dropping.  I was blasting my music from my iPhone at decibels that would make it seem like I almost had no regard for my eardrums; plus I was driving my green ’97 Parker like I [had] stole[n] it…  R-Swift is on and I hear him say in a verse in his song Anthem on the album Anthem,

“I’m on some, Back to the basics;
Church lost passion,
Turned our backs to the faithless…”

And all of a sudden, I got an epiphany.  The church has lost passion and we’ve turned our backs to the faithless but we’ve also turned our backs on those who minister to the faithless in their own language.  What do I mean?  Reader, I’m so glad you asked!  We refuse to be “downgraded” so that we may reach folk where they are…  For those of you who don’t know who R-Swift is, he is a Christian urban poet who ministers by using the art form commonly known as “Rap” to convey the message that rests on his soul: that Jesus died for sinners and eternal life is available to all.

No, this is not a commercial for “Gospel/Christian” rap and this is not a promotion for a particular agenda.  Nor is this an idolized pet opinion of the writer.  Rather, this is a challenge to Christians to take an objective look at outside the box ministries and think twice before we ridicule those who minister to particular subcultures. 

Urban ministries seek to mingle and blend in with their urban settings and seem no different from their target group except in their message.  Campus ministries’ personnel enroll and take classes and study the same books and take the same tests as those they are trying to reach.  So too, those in the Gospel/Christian rap scene understand their target and make the necessary adjustments and package the Gospel in a way that those on the street can at least identify with.  Naysayers may come with rebuttals of every species but when I go to the Book I see a God who downgrades the Good News so that fallen finite and feeble humanity might look, comprehend and live!  For the sake of time and your attention span and you getting back to your Facebook chat or whatever, I’ll just list two examples…

Have you ever stopped to think of the wise men who came bearing gifts to the Savior?  These were astrologers, soothsayers, down right magicians.  Not some Harry Potter, movie make-up magicians, but the real deal!  They practiced a so-called “science” forbidden by God.  They used the stars to predict the future and connect with ancestors and such… Yet God “downgraded” the Gospel and used the very art they were familiar with to herald the message of the newborn King!  Hmmm…. Wrap your mind around that….  However, no other example of “Let me downgrade you” is more powerful than the example of Yeshua haMeshiah Himself…  “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8, NASB).   One of my favorite Christian authors puts it this way,

“…the [human] race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and Christ took upon Himself the infirmities of the degenerate humanity.  Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation” – The Desire of Ages, p. 117.

‘Nough said… Is there any downgrade lower than that?  What’s even more striking is that urban ministries often meet the same kinds of responses that Jesus did.  On the one hand, His own didn’t receive Him and ridiculed and ultimately crucified Him; and on the other, only few of those who needed it most responded positively.  Today, the church says, “they’re trying to be worldly… you’re mixing godly things with ungodly things.”  And on the other hand, the world says, “These guys are ‘wannabees…’”  But God who sits up high and looks down low is asking, “Will you let me downgrade you, to upgrade a dying world?”  Reader, hear me out: you don’t need to be a rapper or a college campus backpacker, all you need to do is ask, “where can I be downgraded?” and watch God downgrade you to sober up a world inebriated!  Let Him downgrade you and He’ll raise you and your mission field up!

-Samuel Jeudin 

Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Sam pastors the Soso and Macedonia SDA Churches in Soso and Laurel, Mississippi.
Hobbies:  Reading (especially Black History), Barbering, Bass, Baking, Collecting Bow ties...Soon Photography
He is passionate about music, worship and people.

1 Comment

1. Anonymous on March 26, 2013 at 2:48 PM

   I'm feeling this.