When I wrote a column rebuking Christian rapper Lecrae's worldly remarks about the Church of Jesus Christ about a month ago, I knew what to expect from a significant contingent of folks who are either Christians themselves or peripherally familiar enough with Scripture that they wield it recklessly as a rhetorical battering ram:
- "Judge not lest ye be judged!"
- "Why didn't you go press this issue with the man privately and personally first?"
- "Why aren't you willing to give a brother in Christ the benefit of the doubt?"
- "This response lacked grace."
I knew those responses were coming, and once the column was published, I was not disappointed. Not that the comments themselves aren't good reminders for a believer, of course.
- We should never hold another to a standard that we ourselves don't wish to be held to. In this case, I would expect any of my brothers or sisters in Christ to hold me accountable if I made public comments that detracted from the beauty, importance, and significance of the local church.
- When we have been personally wronged by a brother or sister, the Matthew 18:15 instruction of private reconciliation is clear. Of course, when a public figure uses a public platform to make a public statement that misleads the public… well, a public response is merited.
- I always try to give the benefit of the doubt to my fellow Christians, because that is what I would want from them. That's why I entertained both the best-case and worst-case scenarios that prompted Lecrae's statement – both of which were cringeworthy.
But it's that last accusation I find to be of particular intrigue given the events of the last weekend. If you didn't hear, Lecrae decided it was edifying to publicly compare the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to pagan Egypt.
What was that about approaching fellow brothers and sisters with grace?
To be blunt, I don't have strong feelings about Lecrae one way or the other. I have never listened to a single one of his songs because I don't like rap. The appeal of that entire genre is totally and completely lost on me. That said, I understand that many individuals grew up listening to him and being moved by the power and potency of his lyrics. Probably more than a few current students (and faculty) at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary would fall into that category, in fact. That must make Lecrae's unprovoked, mean-spirited blindside incredibly difficult to endure.
From my vantage point, however, it's anything but surprising.
The rapper had begun to tout worldly slogans years ago, appealing not to Almighty God as moral arbiter of right and wrong, but rather some vague, unstructured, manipulatable standard – "the right side of history."
History is amoral and has no sides. History is not God. God is God. That was my first indication that this man, idolized by so many as a voice crying out in the wilderness of rap, was more than just slightly susceptible to the spirit of the age.
When he resurfaced at a Georgia fundraiser and political rally for now-Senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff – two men committed to perpetuating our national holocaust against God's innocent creations in the womb – it seemed more than clear Lecrae's theological conversion was complete.
Godly men may not vote Republican, but they also won't help raise money to facilitate the mutilation and dismemberment of precious babies. Men devoted to the Gospel of Christ don't promote "reverends" who preach that "the meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ," or that we can "save ourselves" by helping others.
That's textbook heresy; sort of like comparing a man like Kyle Howard, who proudly flaunts his own unrepentant racism to Moses, and likens a Baptist seminary to the enemies of God.
Whoever Lecrae once was, this is who and what he has chosen to be now. Discerning, shrewd Christians will respond accordingly.
