The Hip Hop Generation and Idolatry

“And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger.” (Judges 2:10-11, NASB)

As I’ve been studying the book of Judges lately in the Old Testament, it’s hard for me not to think of the Hip Hop generation of which I am apart. I also think about the generation that we have produced, which I will call for now, the Rap generation. For those of you who are not African-American, Hispanic, Asian American, or come from an urban background do not make the mistake of ending your reading here. Hip Hop culture and rap music have a global influence on all of youth and young adult culture today. Though the church is in denial about this to a large degree, the corporate music industry is not. Even churches that don’t deny this primarily see Hip Hop and rap as the enemy of the church. Let me go back to Judges and then I will work my way to the connection with Hip Hop and rap.

The book of Judges is about a people disconnected from their heritage and their God. The initial chapters of Judges shows us a younger generation who do evil because they have no sense of the God who brought them out of Egypt and delivered them into the promised land. Out of this ignorance they become an idolatrous people, serving the gods of the people around them. What is very interesting to me is that we see a cycle within Judges. The younger generation does evil in the eyes of the Lord, the LORD sells them (or allows them to be sold) into slavery and oppression, and then delivers them through Judges when they cry out to the LORD for help. If only they would desire a knowledge of their heritage and a covenant relationship with God, they would not have to live within this cycle. Why doesn’t the older generation take greater responsibility for making sure their younger generation knows their history that they might stay in covenant relationship with God?

My generation has not taken the type of responsibility needed with the youth and young adults below us. You could also argue that the generation above me made the same mistake. The tiredness of promises unfilled during the Civil Rights movement caused many African-Americans above me and with me to give into individualism and consumerism. If I gain enough stuff, at least I can become apart of that smaller group of African-Americans that made it.

I must say that I’m very concerned that too many African-American and urban churches have not seen the value of having a full-time pastor to children and youth on their staff. This is a key strategy to reaching a rap generation influenced by the gods of others pursuing them daily. Will senior pastors be willing to sacrifice some luxury in order to have a staff person and a comprehensive strategy for the younger generation enslaved by commercial rap music? Michelle Alexander in her book,” The New Jim Crow” does a great job in connecting commercial rap music and the mass incarceration of African-American males. She also wonders why this issue isn’t a top priority of civil rights organizations. I wonder why it isn’t a top priority of the church.

Commercial rap music today is full of idolatry and mainly is about serving the gods of the people around them. These people around them are corporate heads that are mainly European-Americans who have no interest in the health of the African-American and urban community. They are using the worst of this community to sell a product to a suburban community. I believe that if the African-American and urban church would take responsibility for its own enslavement to idolatry today, we could reach a younger generation that does not know the LORD or the work He has done to deliver African-Americans out of slavery and Jim Crow segregation.

The Power of the Family Reunion

Berry Family Reunion

This weekend, I participated in the Berry family reunion in Houston, Texas. This reunion celebrates my wife’s family on her dad’s side. The theme of the weekend was “legacy.” Besides the very hot weather (100 degrees the whole time), this has been a very powerful time. I love attending family reunions. It was about 20 years ago when my life was greatly impacted thru a family reunion on my mother’s side of the family.

At that reunion I found out that my great, great grandfather was full-blooded Irish and married a woman who was half African-American and half Native American. I left that family reunion years ago embracing that I’m African-American and also multi-ethnic. A few years later, while in seminary, I unpacked further Jesus Christ as the Son of God and as a multi-ethnic Jew, who was the Son of Man (Matthew 1). These two discoveries have had a tremendous influence on discovering my ministry calling.

I wonder how many people are disconnected from their life mission, simply because they are disconnected from their family tree and cultural heritage?

At the Berry family reunion, many people shared on the power of family and the importance of legacy. Our ability to leave a legacy in the earth is deeply connected to an intimate relationship with God and having a deep understanding of our heritage. This, I believe has become a great weakness for many of my European-American brothers and sisters. By becoming White, they have become greatly disconnected from a heritage that could possibly fuel a deeper understanding of life and mission. I believe African-Americans could offer a great gift to our European-American brothers and sisters, by being more public in conversations about the power of heritage and legacy. There are people of all ethnicities who have become disconnected from family and heritage. Allow God to speak to you about discovering the power of your own family heritage and legacy regardless of ethnicity or racial background. You may discover your life mission.

The Importance of African-American Fraternities

Kappa Alpha Psi

As I attend the 80th Grand Chapter Meeting celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, I thought it important to share briefly on both the importance and uniqueness of African-American Fraternities. Let me first say that the same could be written about African-American Sororities as well (My wife is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta).

Many of my non African-American friends think that’s it’s somewhat strange that I still wear my fraternity colors and letters, as well as attend monthly local chapter meetings. When I moved from Minnesota to California last year, one of the first things that I did was make contact with the local chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi. Why would I do this at 41 years of age and having graduated from undergrad almost 20 years ago? This is what makes African-American Fraternities both important and unique.

Kappa Alpha Psi was founded on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana in 1911. A small group of African-American men on a predominately White campus in the heart of Klu Klux Klan country at the time. Graduating with a college degree and founding a fraternity focusing on the achievement and success of African-American males was no small feat. A strong faith in God thru Jesus Christ was an important part of the development of the fraternity (Though there are members today who have lost sight of this).

Though I didn’t face the same type of racism as the founders, I found myself on a college campus in Central Minnesota in the fall of 1988, as one of only seven African-Americans on the whole campus. Faith in God and a deep bond with the small community of other African-Americans got me thru to graduation. One important relationship was with Lee Lindsey Jr. He is now a member of Alpha Phi Alpa Fraternity.

During my undergrad years I would go to the Twin Cities to attend parties on the campus of the University of Minnesota. When I first saw the Kappas, I was drawn to them. Sharp dressers, business minded, and smooth with the ladies. I have to admit, that was my first attraction to them. I should have fully entered the process then, but it was difficult to commute back and forth during the week from St. John’s University in Collegeville to the Twin Cities and keep up my grades.

Years later as a husband, father, and pastor, I found myself attracted to the Kappas for other reasons. I saw a group of educated and successful African-American men tutoring boys in the public schools, raising money for college scholarships, volunteering at the Special Olympics, and talking about the importance of church membership. This time I would make the necessary sacrifices to become a member of this special organization. It was not easy, but well worth it. And I need to say, I never compromised who I am in Christ.

Today in the Oakland Area I’m still very involved in Kappa. Volunteering in elementary schools, raising scholarship dollars, and helping at-risk youth. These are a few reasons why African-American fraternities are important.

Evangelicals Helped By So-Called, “Obama Care”

ECC Annual Meeting

As a Regional Superintendent in the Evangelical Covenant Church, last week I attended our Annual Meeting held in Estes Park, Colorado. During one of the business meetings, I was a bit surprised by one of the announcements made by our Executive Minister of Finance. Let me just quote the announcement made based on the following handout-

“Federal Tax Credit Available to Local Churches-

One of the early results of the March 2010 passage of the Health Reform Legislation (entitled Affordable Health Care Act) is the ability for small employers to receive tax credit for years 2010 through 2013, if they meet certain eligibility requirements…We encourage Covenant Annual Meeting attendees to call this issue to the attention of their local financial officers.”

He went on to report that our churches had already saved $500,000 and next year could save between 2 and 3 million dollars. It looks like so-called “Obama Care” is helping small business and in our case, Evangelical churches. This is not an endorsement of President Obama or the Health Care Plan. What it is, is a wake up call to not be duped or enslaved by political division and rhetoric. As evangelicals we must study for ourselves and be willing to support public policy based on truth and Scripture, not based on reports by CNN, Fox, or  the self interests of the major political parties themselves. When we study the truth, it’s hard to be totally sold out to either of the major political parties. Sometimes a party will get it right and sometimes they will get it wrong. In this case the Health Care plan, which many evangelicals oppose, is actually helping pastors and local churches with the expenses of Health Care coverage. Some are trying to convince us that the plan is and will actually hurt small businesses and churches. Well, so far in the Evangelical Covenant Church, this is not the case.