I Wanna Be A Rebel

Rebel Intro by Lecrae (from his latest album)

I'm in rebellion

Verse 1:
Jesus was a rebel, a renegade, outlaw
A sanctified troublemaker but He never sinned, naw
and He lived His life by a different set of Rules
the culture ain't approve
so you know they had they had to bruise em
that's the way they do
man, they swear they so gangsta but everyones the same
everybody do the same stuff
tattoo, piercing
smokin' up and drinking
money and sex plus them extravagant weekends
if that's the high life
I'll puff puff pass that
you leave evaporated like you missing a gas cap
I guess I'm passed that
cause I am in rebellion
I'd rather have a dollar in my pocket than a mill-ion
I'm scared to worship money, and my wants over Elyon
I'll remain a rebel while the rest of them just carry on
this is what I live fo
this the hill I'm buried on
if Jesus is the truth
that means one of us is VERY wrong
think about it

Verse 2:
No glory in me
all glory to the King on the throne (Jesus)
you either love Him or leave Him alone but you cant do both
yeah, you probably heard that once in song
I pray you hear 10 mo fo ya gone
yeah listen up, holmes
The stage is my corner and my crowd is the streets
That's why I rap the bread of life cause they dyin' to eat
I'm a rebel you know the kind that die in the street
Cause you refuse to conform, won't eat the kings meat
look, if Christ rebelled by shunning the cultured
He eatin' with sinners
givin Pharasies ulcers
He never got married, was broke and plus homeless
yeah that's the God I roll wit
ya boy gotta wife and no I neva cheated
I'm prayin for humility whenever I get heated
forget about the drugs
rebel against pornography
this ain't how it oughta be, homie
this is how it's gotta be
A rebel

And here is an interview with Lecrae. It's long but really insightful as Lecrae and Mark Driscoll help me understand what it means to be a rebel missionary who brings Jesus to people without all the "clothing" that makes Him no longer visible. I've been thinking lately that perhaps our problem so often in witnessing (in my church context) is that we "dress Jesus up" instead of just bringing Him as He is. A good indicator of this is my answer to the question of what I think a non-believer's life ought to look like after being saved. Yes, internals changes are usually manifested externally but are the changes that I most foresee and hope for merely external ones? Clothes they wear? The type of people they hang out with? The type of music they listen to? If so, I'm probably "dressing Jesus up." There's a line I can't get out of my head from this interview. As Lecrae describes how he got saved, he talks about the people who reached out to him. As he interacted with these people, he would over and over in his mind think to himself, "They can't possibly be Christians." Why, I ask? I think it's because the people who had formerly shaped his understanding of Christianity had "dressed Jesus up" and the Christians he was now encountering brought Jesus as He is "with no extra clothing." The irony is that unless we get "dressed up" in the "clothing" of those to whom we are bringing the gospel (becoming missionaries), we will be "dressing Jesus up" because they will see how we are "dressed differently than them" instead of seeing Jesus in us for who He is. May the Lord make us people who non-believers encounter and think to themselves, "They can't possibly be Christians" because all they see is people who love Jesus and love them with the pure gospel of grace without works.



HT: Mark Driscoll