On May 4, 2011 christian rapper Jovan Mackenzy took to his blog and posted an open letter to Lecrae andReach Records titled "The Erosion of the Reformed Rapper! Part 1" (you can view the letter in it's entirety below). In the letter Jovan expressed to Lecrae that he believes he has strayed from his bold and unashamed "116" stance as it pertains to music and ministry. Needless to say, the letter sparked much controversy, debate and dialogue.
Are Jovan's concerns valid? Was making matters public the right thing to do? Well, C.E. Moore of The Christian Manifesto (he's on a roll) caught up with Jovan for an in depth interview to discuss it. What's your take? View the letter and hear the interview (66 minutes) after the jump.
Before jumping into the interview, I would like to state that I do not necessarily agree with some of the doctrinal beliefs shared in the interview, especially those related to what is believed to be "word of faith." From experience, what many believe to be "word of faith" is actually not, but is a misguided view, misunderstanding and/or a mis-representation of what this doctrine is. The doctrine I embrace would be strongly classified as "word of faith." Yet, I very seldom refer to those who disagree with my doctrinal beliefs as heretic. Heretics certainly do exist, as well as does false doctrine. But at which point one considers something to be such is a far different matter.
The phrases "damnable heresy," "false church," "false doctrine," "heretic" and the like are thrown around far too loosely these days. Period. Unfortunately many use it as a license to be judgmental. It causes major unnecessary division over non-essential issues within the Church, and generally leads to nothing but strife, confusion, and less fellowship within the Body. Much of what is incorrectly called a "damnable heresy" is actually just a mere difference of opinion over biblical issues that have nothing to do with Jesus' deity, virgin birth, death, burial and resurrection. Someone may strongly disagree over a biblical matter, but having "righteous indignation" doesn't automatically equal a God endorsed platform to label something "damnable" or even someone as a heretic.
Lastly, there is a way to disagree with people over doctrine or a ministry approach. And there comes a point where if you disagree with someone, you agree to disagree, shake the dust and you go on. Perhaps we should take our own advice and do what we say someone else is not doing. Why must they be the ones to do it? Why can't we just do it? God never forces or coerces anyone to do anything. That is simply not His way.
If we focus on ourselves, we won't get so consumed over what someone else is or is not doing. And why come at Lecrae as if he is the only person whom God has called to preach the gospel? Is he the only person who would need to be addressed and made a public spectacle for supposedly doing this ministry thing wrong?
I hardly doubt it. Let's pray for all inolved here.
"Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand." ~Romans 14:4
Jovan Mackenzy's letter to Lecrae: The Erosion of the Reformed Rapper! Part 1
Dear brothers and sisters in the faith, It grieves me to do this, but I have been led by many brothers in the faith including www.carm.org, as well as pastors, rappers, even fans of Lecrae and my church home to address this matter publicly. There has been a growing concern of mine over the last few years concerning the direction of the ministries of many rappers who hold to the doctrines of God’s grace or God’s sovereignty, typically what is labeled as Calvinism. It has been very troubling to see the shift and focus of many of these rappers. This is but a brief introduction on the matter, a bigger look at the background will be coming later. For now I will briefly discuss one rapper in particular in this list of artists and it is Lecrae. I am going to slightly address here my concern with Lecrae (and other artists in general for that matter), going into churches to perform who have damnable heretical doctrine and failing to address both the leadership and the congregation.
I talked with Lecrae last summer about this issue but nothing changed. I also did a blog on why we should hold Christian artists accountable for addressing false doctrine. I sent this blog to Lecrae and others and told them that if they disagree to please show me from scripture why they disagree and if they could then I would withdraw my position. This was to no avail; they could not and did not respond using scripture. I and others have been having concerns about them for over a year. I recently emailed Lecrae and Reach Records with the following email; I will note that this email was edited for grammatical purposes only.
“It is with great concern and love for the brethren that I address you guys one last time on this matter. I was instructed by my brothers to send you one last email stressing my concern. This is not just my concern but many others that I have talked with including fans, Christian rappers and pastors. When I first heard of Lecrae It was right around the time “After the Music Stops.” I was so amazed at the passion of repping Jesus and the 116 unashamed quotes in all the songs. Claiming to be on the frontline and willing to die for Christ and even on rebel such comments as “Lord Kill me if I don’t preach the gospel”!
This interview below did it for me
Lecrae did anything but preach the gospel. Now you may say well I pick and choose when I preach the gospel. How can you avoid such a great opportunity to witness to the Lost? Please don’t tell me it’s to get more of an audience because there is no scripture that supports that type of methodology. Sinners need to hear the gospel. You guys blast secular artists in your music and tell them how wrong they are. For example, “Got Paper”,” 26′s”, “Blow your High”, “Overdose Intro.” I could go on for days. The point is you go super hard on them in your music and then when your opportunity comes in the interview you completely avoid everything you’ve said in the music.
Lecrae said in the interview that the rappers are slaves to their label. No they are slaves to sin and need to be identified as such. I am in no way saying we should treat them with contempt but in a loving matter we should call them to repentance. We should not blow off the opportunity to wait for another. The woman at the well is a perfect example. At the end of the conversation Jesus called out her sin and told her she didn’t know who she worshipped, it wasn’t God. Most secular music is an attack on the cross and should be seen as such, its offensive and God hates it. John MacArthur would never go on CNN with such a laid back approach and not bring truth! You guys make songs about the lost street cats and then you go to churches and rap these songs. Why not rap the overdose intro at the Grammys? Why not rap that verse on the interview with ozone?
My biggest issue with you guys is that you are brothers in the faith with much truth yet you go to heretical churches, collect a paycheck and don’t even let the people know that they are lost in false doctrine. Believer’s house in Virginia Beach, Virginia is a very heretical Word of Faith church, yet you guys have been there about 5 times in the last 7 or 8 months. People called me from the concert saying how you guys were in the bookstore signing autographs but there was nothing but Word of Faith and damnable books around you. This should have been addressed in love. You can’t go to a false church like a Oneness Pentecostal church and not address the trinity and call yourselves ministers of the gospel.
We are not called to make friends we are called to preach the truth and glorify God. Of course we should always be loving in our approach but our approach should always be to speak the truth. I meet many of your fans everyday that I witness to who believe some of the most damnable things yet they are your fans. They range from Oneness Pentecostals to people who deny the deity of Christ to Word of Faith and others as well. They all love your music and say they haven’t felt anything in your music or concerts that would make them think they were in danger. This is a scary thing to do. When we compromise the truth to try to reach people then we will never truly reach people.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. But there is no power if its watered down or not preached. John Calvin said “you are not preaching the gospel if you don’t preach it were the battle rages”. The battle definitely rages in your city of Atlanta and it rages at many of the churches you go to. The truth of God is being attacked all over the world and while you all address truth behind the scenes, wolves everyday are preaching and teaching heresy in public.
Jesus always made it clear that he was against the Pharisees and no one had to guess. The book of Jude tells us to contend for the faith that was once given to all the saints. He wanted to write about salvation but he couldn’t because of all the false teaching. Its way worse today. It’s good to want to preach on salvation but how can you when most of these churches preach damnable heresy. Paul left Timothy in Ephesus to deal with these false men. Notice how Paul never tells timothy to use wisdom because people he knows are following these men. Paul tells timothy to preach in season and out of season.
I love you brothers and I just want to challenge you and encourage you to go harder. God has placed you in a specific platform for a reason. You can go harder, you can be bolder. Yes people will hate you, they hated Christ. I know many brothers who have been falsely arrested in America for calling crowds to repentance and we have brothers and sisters overseas dying and being persecuted for their faith. We cannot just throw around 116 or being on the frontline unless we are truly ready to die as our brothers are showing us daily. This is a bloody gospel and many have been martyred for this truth.
This is not a secondary issue and it needs to be addressed. I will give you guys some time to respond to this email. If you don’t respond by May 17,2011 or if you disregard this warning in love as if you don’t need to address these issues then I will have no other choice but to make this matter public. I am not alone in this email. There are many who agree, many that I will not name right now. I sincerely love all of you brothers and I have been a constant supporter of you all. I pray that God opens your eyes on this matter and that this encourages you to go hard for the truth. Grace and Peace”
Lecrae responded with these simple words.“Do what you must. May Gods truth prevail. A house divided cannot stand.”
Jesus said you will know his disciples by the love they show towards one another, so please love Lecrae and others as well as I, and pray for us as we continue to try to resolve these issues
Lecrae explains why he ministers at certain churches
|
Comments