Should We Turn Up For God?

Last week, my friend sent me a video on Facebook messenger and asked for my thoughts after watching. There’s a lot going on, just a forewarning. Below is the video:

https://www.facebook.com/randal.jordan.5264/posts/467499841102485

From what I can see, this looks like a funeral in a packed out church with three young men rapping in front of the casket. Actually, rapping may be an understatement; these young men are going in and seriously turning up.

I won’t even lie; I had a few not-so-Christian thoughts when I started watching the video:

Black folk.

Ghetto black folk.

SMH.

Is that a casket? Out of order.

Wait, is that someone rolling on the floor? Okay, I’m done.

At first, I watched this video with a heavy “side eye” and quite a few gasps. But as my husband and I replayed the video (disclaimer: you don’t see stuff like this everyday; sometimes you have to rewatch to make sure you’re not tripping and it is real) and I listened to the rappers’ lyrics, I began to think a little differently.

Still black folk, yes.

Still ghetto black folk . . . debatable.

But, hey, at least they’re praising God.

They rapped things like “I had a breakthrough, I done got paid, gotta pay the tithes off that money I made” and “got my spirit right and my mind up, I’m a minister in the club” with a constant hook telling folks to “turn up for God.”

And although they were doing just that not everyone in the comments section approved.

Of course, like my initial reaction, people were confused, shocked, embarrassed, and entertained, all at the same time. But others did not find this video amusing.

One commenter said you shouldn’t allow people to come in church and do that while another said you cannot take the unholy and make it holy just because you sing it in church. Even the person who originally posted this video captioned it “everybody going to hell.”

This video led my friend and I to have an interesting discussion on worship. If you take the video at face value, the young men’s performance resembles any ordinary R&B or rap concert more than what most would consider worship.

Secular Similarities

• They’re extremely hype with a commanding stage presence. The men were up and down the aisles as they performed.
• Two of the men took their shirts off, with one eventually tearing his shirt off, emulating many male R&B and rap artists’ performances.
• The lead rapper jumped up on a pew as he rapped, and we have all seen secular artists hop up on various elevated parts of the stage or even jump into the audience.
• A larger group of young men joined the rappers at the altar during the second song, which looked very similar to the hype men and/or entourage most rappers have on stage. 

The rappers in the video said they were going to “dance like David did,” but was their dancing truly worship? Was it okay to turn up in God’s house, especially in a manner similar to worldly turn up?

I’ll admit that I didn’t think it was appropriate for the lead rapper to be bouncing around the church building in his bare chest even if the song said, “Came in with my shirt off, that’s how I’m praising God.”

And standing on the pew was a bit much as well, but overall, I don’t think these young men were dishonoring God even though they could use some guidance on performing in a sanctuary. I’ve never seen such a turnt up performance at a funeral, and maybe that isn’t what I would do, but I think these men’s hearts were in the right place.

They proudly yelled, “This aint no ordinary worship, we turnt up for God,” and I believe you can see that they mean this as you watch the video. They look passionate and excited and seem to enjoy rapping about their love for God. 

And it was refreshing to see them go just as hard for Jesus as most young black men go for the secular rappers who create vulgar, misogynistic, and violent music.

Their controversial actions led me to think about someone else who turned up before God. In 2 Samuel 6, David had recently become king of Israel, and he set out to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. After a few delays, he’s finally able to bring the Ark home, and as he does, the Bible says, “And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.”

David openly and proudly worshipped the Lord as the Ark was led into Jerusalem, although his wife Michal did not view his worship as appropriate.

Verse 16 says that when Michal saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. And she even confronts him in verse 20, saying, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

But watch how David responds. He boldly tells Michal that his dancing, even to the point of nakedness, was before the Lord—the God who chose him to lead Israel, God’s people—and he will celebrate before the Lord.

And if that wasn’t enough of a “let me check you real quick,” David adds a proclamation that has inspired songs, sermons, and praise breaks to this day. He says:

I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. 

David said, oh you think that’s embarrassing? You think that’s not how royalty should act? Watch me go even harder for the Lord.

via GIPHY

I know that God accepted David’s worship, and I cannot imagine that He wouldn’t accept it from another authentic, passionate heart, even if it’s one hyping up visitors at his mother’s funeral. Though in poor taste to some, who knows how many people were inspired and brought closer to Christ after witnessing their worship?

Their performance was certainly what some would call undignified, but just as they say you cannot understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes, I think we have to know what God has brought someone through to understand why they worship the way they do.