by Johnny Johnson

If you say you are a Christian, should you be cussing, talking about homosexual sex, and trying to show other guys how tough you are by your immoral acts? Should you threaten to kill someone, or to rape his sister?

I apologize for being so graphic, but, as a black man looking from the inside out, I think about these things as I listen to music awards shows on TV. I listen to these rap artists say, “Thank you Jesus for blessing me!” And I really have to ask, What are you thinking when you say that? Are you from a different planet than I am? Having sex outside of marriage, killing people, raping women—How can you thank Jesus for blessing this?

I heard the Christian Dove Awards nearly honored kanYeWest for a song he recorded that used the name of Jesus. I guess the Dove Awards people had heard only one song; then they discovered there was more on that CD and cancelled their plans.

Compare the immoral lyrics of most rap music to these words of the apostle Paul:

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

“But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light . . . and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible” (Ephesians 5:1-14, NIV).

If you are a Christian, but this is the first time you have ever read this, all I can say is, now you know the rest of the story!

If, after reading this, you still don’t care what the Bible says about cussing, raping, and killing, then what can I say? Maybe God will soon speak to you in a way that you have to hear what He is saying.

Remember the late rapper Tupac? He was smart in writing words that touch the young black kid in the ’hood. He knew how to guide them into a higher level of thinking, but he also lowered them to a killer mentality. Like Malcolm X in the 1960s, Tupac had the ability to lead young men wherever he wanted them to go. Also like Malcolm, he was surrounded by older and younger men who were driven by hate and half truths about white people and the small world they lived in.

At age 36, when he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Malcolm learned that not all white people are “blue-eyed devils.” But by then it was too late; he was marked by the men he helped to train in blind hate. (If you want to get a clear look at how poor African-American boys are led down the wrong path, please read The Autobiography of Malcolm X.)

As a black man, I have seen close up how men of color are led down the wrong road of hate. They are not able to think outside their neighborhood. I have lived in two worlds—the white and the black—and I know the good and bad in both.

If Tupac had lived five more years, he might have turned his rap words around. Snoop Dogg almost did. But the people you hang around with will keep you locked up in your old thinking.

Here’s what Paul said about that: “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character’” (1 Corinthians 15:33, NIV).             

The point is this: Your words and actions speak louder than your calling yourself a Christian. If you are a born again, spirit-filled, God-believing Christian, and if you study your Bible, then you know the music of most rappers in the secular world will lead where you don’t want to go. Don’t be blinded by their lies.  

Johnny Johnson earned a BA degree in Broadcast Communication from Metro State College in Denver, Colorado. Completely blind, he has worked in local television for years, first on the public access channel in Denver, and then on the PBS station that broadcasts across the state of Colorado. His entertainment show appears three times each week. He also has two radio shows on ACB Radio, an Internet radio network sponsored by the American Council of the Blind. Johnny’s newest radio show is called “Sunday After Christian Mix.” It is on ACB Sunday night from 10 p.m. to midnight pacific time. To find Johnny’s radio shows and to learn more about ACB Radio, go online to www.acbradio.org.