Friday, August 7, 2015

SWAGGER CAN HELP THE GOSPEL: Kirk Frank



Our Good Lord has always used the unlikeliest of
people to bring glory to Himself. Jesus Christ
himself was mocked by the haters in his day
because of who he hung out with and what they
looked like.

It’s probably a good idea to not repeat the mistakes
of those who crucified our Christ.
One of the things I love about being in a community
that shares my hue is that we have always given the
world its sauce! From the Harlem Renaissance to
the electric slide, from the word “fresh” to, of course,
swagger [or swag], popular
culture has always
looked to us to keep them updated and aware. From
every kid in the suburbs to the ones on the block,
we let you know what the world will be wearing or
saying before they are wearing or saying it.

And since what influences the culture doesn’t stay
in a bubble, it influences the faith community as
well. Like it or not, your kids know LIL WAYNE
probably more than your favorite Christian artist. As
a kid we were always trying to explain what the new
slang word meant to our parents, like you probably
tried to explain to yours!
From the rock revolution and the British invasion to
the world domination of hip-hop, every parent or
adult at the time either cursed the movement, or
were at least confused by it.
Well, it’s still happening today.

I have a young group signed to my label. My goal
has always been to find young talent that could
continue to glorify God to their generation. The
group consists of four siblings, two boys and two
girls, who range in age from 18 to 23 years old.

During one of their performances, they apparently did
a sign with their hands that raised eyebrows with
the older more traditional members of the crowd.
When I heard about it online, I was concerned about
what they did.

Was this some sign of disrespect to the holiness of
the church? Were they admitting they were a part of
the illuminati? Were they making a statement of
their allegiance to a different religion inside a
Christian institution? Or did someone in the audience
upset them and they gave the INTERNATIONAL
symbol of frustration that any expert could translate.

But then I learned that the symbol that created so
much disruption in the cyber universe was an “H”
symbol. They simply created the letter H with their
hands.

The kids are from Houston. They were just repping
love for their hometown, Houston. But the online
world claimed they were throwing up gang signs,
symbols of something that couldn’t be Christian, or
something else equally as suspect.

Instead of asking questions, they just assumed the
worst. It would have been so much easier to ask
what it was instead of ASSUMING what it was;
something we continue to do too much to our
younger generations.

My concern is that within the church community, we
often expect the worst from our kids. We view
everything as an attack on the traditional institution
of the church. If it’s something we haven’t seen
before, it MUST be wrong. We have forgotten that
we hated when the elders in our lives did the same
thing to us. It is amazing how cyclical the
negativity we continue to pass down.

And if we’re not careful, the generation that’s the
future will no longer want to fight against the
gatekeepers to communicate Christ to their world.
The hope of the Gospel must be given to them with
their tattoos, nose rings, dreadlocks, and skinny
jeans without killing their swagger.

YOU had long hair. YOU snuck and listened to Elvis
in the basement. YOU even brought a few beers to
the youth retreat at church camp. You know you
did! But look at you now. Yeah, you have some
bruises and some scars, but you still love God.
You’re still hungry for His presence.

Why not give this generation a chance to know their
God as well? As long as He’s the God of the Bible
that saves the world because He loved it, let the
music play loud. Let them dance until their clothes
are drenched. Let them speak with slangs and swag
that you may not understand, but with fruit you
can’t deny.

And don’t kill their fire! Don’t be so proud that you
don’t ask questions. Don’t make judgments about
things you don’t understand. It wasn’t fair to your
generation, and it’s not fair to theirs. If God is being
glorified, if kids are still coming to church, if the
Gospel has a chance of being heard by your
children’s children, go ahead and throw your hands
up, get your swag on, compliment their Romans 8:28
tattoo on their arm, pick you up some skinny jeans,
and throw your “H’s” up in the air for HALLELUJAH
if you’re not from Houston!






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