The Hip Hop Church, Connecting With The Movement Shaping Our Culture
by Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson

Review by mmog37

I recently finished reading (and re-reading several more times) The Hip Hop Church, Connecting with the movement shaping our culture, by authors Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson, published by InterVarsity Press.

I found this book to be a thorough concise manual that offers both instruction and insight to the culture known as hip hop. Both Smith and Jackson are the products of the Church and of Hip Hop and collectively they offer insight into the dynamics of both worlds and what the Church must understand in order to engage this culture.

The last book that stimulated my thinking to this degree was The Seven Laws of the Learner by Bruce Wilkinson. A Product of the hip hop era myself I found myself traveling back in time as I read, back to the early days of hip hop looking for the moment when I made the connection to hip hop.

Like both of the authors I too grew up in both worlds Church and Hip Hop, making The Hip Hop Church an extremely relate able read for me, and yet I think it is written in such a way that readers from any era will be able to learn and glean from it.

If I were to ask you what Hip Hop is, what would your answer be? Is it music, is it fashion (a style of dressing), is it an attitude or a language? Yes, hip hop is all of the above and more. Hip Hop is a culture, and for the most part it is one that is often misunderstood. (Even by some of it’s own members)

Thirty years ago Hip Hop was thought by some to be a passing fad. These days that “passing fad” has spanned the Globe and it’s influence can be seen, felt and heard just about everywhere. From the suburbs to the city, the urban to the rural, in all of these places hip hop’s influence can be seen and felt. It’s in commercials, movies, fashion and obviously music, all of which are influenced by the phenomenon known as Hip Hop.

Hip Hop’s growth has not been without it’s challenges and currently it seems to be on a collision course with the Church. Both the Church and Hip Hop are after the attention of young people. Many in the Church identify Hip Hop as negative and repulsive, and blame Hip Hop for misleading and corrupting young people. On the other hand Hip Hop addresses issues and concerns that for whatever reasons the Church has avoided or said very little about.

To further complicate matters some members of the Church have embraced the redeeming qualities of the Hip Hop Culture in an attempt to take the Gospel Message to a Generation in Terms and Methods that they can relate to. These attempts have been met with resistance from the Church, raising a lot of questions;

• Is Hip Hop and the Hip Hop Culture Redeemable?

• Can anything Good Come out of the Hip Hop Community?

• Is God repulsed by Hip Hop and the Hip Hop Community?

Pastors Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson tackle these questions and more in their book, The Hip Hop Church.Connecting with the movement shaping our culture. Without alienating or bashing either group, The Hip Hop Church successfully attempts to bridge the gap between the Church and the Hip Hop Community.

Drawing upon their own experiences with both church and hip hop, Pastors Smith and Jackson reveal the reality of the influence Hip Hop has both good and bad. Smith and Jackson also point out the difference between “the world” and “the culture” which is significant due to the fact that many within the Church equate hip hop to being a part of “the world” and under Satan’s influence and as such it is often treated and seen as a only a “tool of the enemy.”

Bakari Kitwana, Speaker, Professor and Author of The Hip Hop Generation and Why White Kids Love Hip Hop, offers a great summation of The Hip Hop Church in his foreword:

Both the black Church and the Christian Hip Hoppers need to do more to make sense of the seeming conflict between these two worlds. At least Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson think so. They offer hard questions to today’s church leaders: If Hip Hop brings people to have faith, makes youth come to church who previously didn’t want to go, and helps hip-hop kids nurture a relationship with God then why not? If we can go among the prisoners and prostitutes to save souls, then what makes today’s hip hop youth so irredeemable? These are the different questions that Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson take on in this bold book.

The Hip Hop Church, was much more than I anticipated it to be. I found that the tag team approach by Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson to be refreshing and extremely relate able. As I read I was drawn in and found myself at times nodding my head in agreement as the words triggered similar memories of my own. At other times I was forced to stop and pause as they presented me with a perspective that I had not yet considered.

Here’s a brief breakdown of The Hip Hop Church;

Smith and Jackson present the book in three major sections;

1. Why Should the Church Care About Hip Hop?
2. Understanding the Hip Hop Culture.
3. Bringing Hip Hop into your Church.

Why Should the Church Care about Hip Hop?

This section makes a Biblical and Theological case as to why the Church should be engaging Hip Hop. Using scripture as a basis, Smith and Jackson present a solid theology of Church and Culture and then apply it directly to the Hip Hop culture. This section also brings attention to the commonalities between Hip Hop and the Black Church. Both of the authors challenge the reader to put their objections on pause, remove all prejudice and misconception and then take a different look at the Hip Hop culture.

Understanding the Hip Hop Culture

In this section of the book the authors provide a clear and precise understanding of Hip Hop as a culture. It breaks down each of the elements of Hip Hop This section also begins to tackle the notion of of Hip Hop as a post-modern cultural influence. Understanding the Hip Hop Culture, also reveals the founding principles of Hip Hop, it’s historical influence and it’s spirituality as well. This is the best place to start for those who are either unfamiliar with hip hop or the urban community, or for those who simply want to gain a better understanding of the Hip Hop Culture. Tip: If you think hip hop and rap are synonymous or if you think hip hop is something bunnies do…you might want to start with this section of the book.

Bringing Hip Hop Into your Church

This part of the book presents the notion of a redeemed hip hop, or Holy Hip Hop as a culture of it’s own, existing solely for the purpose of bringing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who live in the Hip Hop culture. This section includes Ministry Models, resources and tools to help those seeking to incorporate hip hop into their existing Church or for those who feel led to plant a Hip Hop Church.

I appreciated the fact that throughout the book, the authors did not try to sell everyone on the idea to begin to have hip hop services or to start hip hop churches, but instead they provide a compelling and convincing case to help the Church begin to move forward in it’s understanding and treatment of the Hip Hop Culture. Rather than see Hip Hop as the enemy and the cause of misleading out youth, Smith and Jackson suggest that the Church begin to engage the culture, for the purpose of advancing the Kingdom of God among our youth and young adults.

My final thought is that The Hip Hop Church, Connecting with the movement shaping our culture, is one of my new favorite books. I highly recommend it for all members of the church, but especially for those who don’t have a clear understanding of what Hip Hop is. I also recommend it for those who are involved in Holy Hip Hop or Youth ministry who are serious about ministering to the younger generation. After reading this book I am hopeful that the Church can engage the Hip Hop culture without compromising the Gospel Message.