I am so glad this video with Pastor Doug Wilson and Propaganda happened. Here are three reasons why:
1. This video represents my world
It’s a simplified version of my world, of course. Not only are both of these gentlemen my clients, they also represent two different things that I love. Two major ingredients in my life’s cake. I love hip hop, and I love theology. I don’t really like to mix them too much though. In other words, I don’t want my theology to be “urban” (I hate that word when used that way)… and I don’t want my hip hop to be “theological” (this is not what you think, but I don’t have time to explain it right now). I want my hip hop to be hip hop, and I want my theology to be theology. To use another food analogy (I haven’t had lunch yet), kind of like when the main course and sides mix on a plate. (By the way, I should mention I have no biblical basis for this; It’s just a personal preference—that I’m willing to admit.)
Besides these two very different and personal worlds colliding, there are two reasons why this video should be significant to you:
2. Racial Reconciliation
Both of these gentlemen were at the center of some pretty heated discussions this last year. Perhaps unapologetically, though strategically may be a better word for it.
Doug Wilson was accused of being racist (again) for his book Black & Tan, which is older but somehow made it’s way back into the limelight. I won’t go into it, but I encourage you to read the discussion that took place between Doug Wilson and Thabiti Anyabwile concerning this book. If nothing else it should serve as a model of how to gracefully and respectfully engage in discourse when we disagree.
Propaganda made theologians uncomfortable-in-their-own-skin with his song Precious Puritans, where he exposes tension-causing inconsistencies with our beloved Puritans that we hold in high esteem. Propaganda actually holds dual citizenship in the the two worlds I described in the first point—two worlds that can sometimes be at conflict with each other. The truth is we have a tendency to turn people into icons, because becoming a little-Puritan may be easier than becoming a little-Christ. Christ deserves more respect than we are capable of giving Him, and He offers us the power to do it.
The point is, these two men are seemingly at odds. In other words, Doug has been (falsely) accused of hating black people, and Propaganda has been (falsely) accused of hating white people. Yet… Christ is unifying them.
3. NCFIC Panel
The video of the NCFIC panel talking about Hip Hop has since been taken down, and many of the panelists have reached out to me personally since I wrote the open letter at Rapzilla—so why bring this up? (I don’t think bringing this up should open any wounds. In fact, this new video should be a part of the healing process.) Although that infamous panel brought out the theological heavyweights with their guns-a-blazin’, there hasn’t been anything like this new video yet. Which is, two individuals—from inside and outside of hip hop—having a healthy and respectful discussion in person.
To me, this is what the panel should have looked like. No one is asking Doug Wilson to bust a rhyme, and no one is asking Propaganda to take off his hoodie (other than himself, at an undisclosed time). I love seeing two Godly and respectable men (who are not above controversy or criticism) discussing the one true God, who is above all culturally and socially constructed contexts.