What the church can learn from Eminem

I have always been a fan of hip-hop music. One artist in particular has fascinated me since he hit the mainstream in 1999. That artist is Eminem.


Eminem has been a very controversial figure in hip-hop. That could be due to the fact that he is a Caucasian in a predominantly African-American genre of music or because most of his music is filled with foul language and intense emotional anger. But I firmly believe that the church can learn something from this hip-hop artist about how to reach young people who are struggling with their own personal demons.


Eminem grew up in Detroit, Michigan on the border of a very difficult part of town called "the 8 mile." In a recent interview on CBS's 60 minutes he described how difficult his childhood was, moving from home to home, growing up very poor and and surviving a very difficult home life where he never had a father figure and where his mother was somewhat neglectful. Eminem dropped out of high school and repeated the ninth grade two or three times. He fathered a child out of wedlock at an early age and struggled with addiction to cope with this popularity.


Despite those adversities, Eminem eventually hit it big, and has become one of the most popular hip-hop artists since the late 90s. His largest following of fans are youth and young adults and I believe that is because his music resonated with young people in a real way. I mention all of this because Eminem's music has touched the lives of youth and young adults in a way that the mainline church has failed to do. Do not misunderstand me. I am not lifting up Eminem as a saint, however his ability to connect with the emotional feelings of disenfranchised youth and young adults is something the church should sit up and take notice of. Maybe as those who work with young people we need to pay attention to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of young people today that are hurting. We need to do less moralizing (condemning their behavior) and more grace giving.


In his latest album titled "Recovery" one of the tracks is entitled "I'm Not Afraid" where he shares his struggles throughout his life in a heartfelt way and offers to others who might have experienced the similar things a away out. Here's the chorus of that track:

I’m not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you’re not alone
Holla if you feel like you’ve been down the same road

if only we in the church that offered the same promise.