The Original Hype Man

on Jun 26 in The Good Book Says by admin

Remember the good ‘ol days?  Superstar hip hop artist (Biggie, Pac, Nas, etc) would strut around the stage in all their swagger revealing their inner demons to the world.  Remember the “other guy”?  The dude that ran from side to side screaming into the microphone sometimes doubling the lyric or adding emphasis to certain lines.  He was known as the “hype man”.  His job–tell you (as if you didnt know) how good the rapper was.  Want a good example? Just check out Flava Flav in his heyday.  “Throw your hands in the aaaya and wave ‘em like you just don’ caya!”  Nice.  But do you know who the greatest hype man of all time was?

Peter.  Who?!  Don’t you remember him.  He was the brash, unapologetically male disciple of Jesus.  After suffering the shame of denying Jesus three times, Peter came back to be the ultimate hype man telling everyone with ears that Jesus was the risen Son of God.  Im always intrigued by the disciples.  They were a hodge podge group of guys from every walk of life.  They didnt have divinity degrees.  They didnt have a frequent shopper card at LifeWay Christian bookstores.  They didnt read all of the CJ Mahaney books.  They were just regular dudes that experienced the transforming power of a relationship with Jesus.  They were qualified to talk about Jesus because they lived it.  You dont need an “M.Div” to talk about how Jesus transformed your life.  After the resurrection these men led by Peter dedicated their lives to one truth:  Jesus is the Lord and Christ sent by God almighty.  How’s that for a hype man.

In a society that honors great achievement, knowledge, and notoriety we fall into a habit of praising the gift rather than the giver of the gift.  Just recently, I called into a sports radio talk show to talk about Kobe Bryant imposing himself on the fourth period of the seventh game of the NBA Finals.  I was genuinely impressed and wanted others to know it.  I spoke with confidence and gave well thought out explanations of how he affected several areas of that game even though he shot 6 for 20,000 from the field.  Now I ask you, how many of us take that kind of initiative when the conversation is about spiritual things?  The disciples’ goal and ONLY message:  Jesus was the Lord and Christ.

So what’s the big deal anyway?  Its simple:  the hype man controls the message.  In a world with 24/7 news coverage, blogs (yes I know), talk shows, etc there is a LOT more “noise”.  The hype man keeps the message simple. The hype man gets the message above the “noise”.  You dont think there was a ton of “noise” in the disciples’ day?  There were too many false gods to name AND people genuinely believed that Jesus WASNT God.  That’s “noise”.   Ask any NBA fan you know who the greatest player ever was and you’ll get a well thought out response with a healthy dose of passion.  (especially if YOUR answer is Kobe).  This is how we should talk about the undisputed Lord and Christ.  The disciples looked for an excuse to tell someone about Jesus.  Picture this hypothetical scenario:

Peter walks up on a group of women carrying spices and garments and asks “where are you heading?”  Women:  “We’re heading to Judea to trade our spices and garments for food”.  Peter:  “Did you hear about Jesus and how He traded his life so that you would never be hungry again?”.  Boom.  Now dont get me wrong, Im not saying that we should turn a conversation about where to eat lunch into a “Jesus makes the best sandwich ever” conversation.  My point is something this incredible and life altering warrants more attention.  From all of us.

If Flava Flav can walk around with gold fronts and a walk clock on his neck, we can be a tad more vocal about our Lord and Savior.

“Yeaaaaaahhhh boooyyyeeeee!

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2 Comments

  • OgheneMine James O says:
    September 22, 2011 at 7:08 pm

    What better HYPE can any christian do? How hard is it for us? For our lines/lyrics are simple: The son of God came and for our SINS and on the third day He rose again. He did this for the simple reason of LOVE. Thesame foundation upon which this World was CREATE… Not to say much may God grant us the Grace to GOOD HYPEMEN.

    Reply
  • OgheneMine James O says:
    September 22, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    What better HYPE can any christian do? How hard is it for us? For our lines and lyrics are simple: The son of God came and died for our SINS and on the third day He rose again. He did this for the simple reason of LOVE. Thesame foundation upon which this World was CREATED… Not to say much, may God grant us the Grace to GOOD HYPEMEN for the Gospel’s sake.

    Reply

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