Earlier this week, Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae posted a message on Twitter that resulted in a heated back-and-forth with “Not the Bee’s” columnist Peter Heck.
Lecrae’s original tweet asked his Twitter followers, “Why do the politically conservative evangelicals think that sending me hateful messages is somehow a righteous mission? I’m not a liberal. I’m not a conservative. Am I the only black Christian they know? [laughing emoji]” Esau McCaulley, assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, replied: “Yes, you are [laughing emoji, upside-down face emoji, man shrugging emoji]. I know the feeling.”
This exchange apparently prompted an almost four-minute video response from Peter Heck titled “ThE RiGhT sIdE oF HiStOrY — Let’s chat about this whole “right side of history” stuff.’ ” Heck’s video was posted on the super-popular, non-satire side of “The Babylon Bee” called “Not the Bee.” “Not the Bee” focuses on posting real news — most of which is so absurd it’s hard to believe it’s true.
Heck, focusing on Lecrae’s original question, assures his audience that “hateful messages are not good and they are never Christ-like.” The witty columnist then turns his message to Lecrae, asking whether he “considers it to be a righteous mission to taunt others as being on the wrong side of history just because they don’t vote like you do?”
Heck says Lecrae did that by “demeaning politically conservative evangelical Christians” when Lecrae tweeted the day Joe Biden was inaugurated. Lecrae’s tweet that day was: “Feels good to be on the right side of history…Which of course is the anti-racism, pro-life from womb to the tomb, care for the marginalized, anti-Christian nationalism, anti-abuse of power side.”
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Heck says Lecrae’s statement damages the Grammy Award-winning artist’s Christian credibility and claims that he “appeals to secularism’s false god of history rather than the righteousness of God Himself.”
Heck broke down the ways he views Lecrae’s question as confusing, while accusing President Joe Biden as being one who fits the political qualities Lecrae decries.
“Pro-life from the womb?” Heck asks, stating that President Biden repealed the Mexico City Policy, which makes it possible for federal tax dollars to now fund abortion overseas. “Calling on Congress to codify legal abortion?” Heck asks, and calls out the president’s lack of pro-life policies in the womb. Saying Biden’s policies enable the killing of babies in the womb, Heck lists: “scrapping the safety standards on the distribution of chemical abortion drugs [and using] half-a-trillion dollars of COVID relief tax dollars opened up to either funding abortion or abortion lobbying.”
In typical “Not the Bee” fashion, Heck says Lecrae appeared at a fundraiser for Georgia Democratic candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. Warnock publicly claimed as Ebenezer Baptist Church’s pastor that abortion was consistent with his faith. Both candidates would continue to go on to win the 2021 Georgia senate seats.
“It’s silly to pretend that Lecrae was ever too serious about being pro-life in the womb,” Heck says.
Heck proposes another possibility about what Lecrae meant by his pro-life tweet, suggesting maybe the rapper was talking about the migrant crises the Trump administration had been criticized for, which included separating migrant children from their families at the border. To date, more than 300 of those children have not been located to reunite with the families they were separated from. Heck then plays a news clip reporting the surge of migrants entering the country currently, which is on pace to be the largest influx in 20 years under the Biden administration. That includes over 15,000 migrant children in federal custody.
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Continuing to unpack more of Lecrae’s tweet, Heck asserts that the Biden administration interjects Christian nationalism in politics by showing a clip of President Biden addressing the nation after the recent ISIS-K bombings in Kabul, Afghanistan. Thirteen U.S. service members were killed in the attack. “When the Lord says whom shall I send, who shall go for us? American military has been answering for a long time. Here I am, Lord; send me!” Biden quoted.
“Maybe he meant the treatment of people with brown skin,” Heck says, then shows a clip of Afghan citizens walking around in sewage waiting to flee the country, a horrific scene that was a result of the highly criticized U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan led by the current administration.
Heck then references a Twitter follower’s question to Lecrae about his political tweet: “How did you get from ‘Rebel’ to this tweet?” the questioner wanted to know. Lecrae responded: “Same way I went from 5’11 to 6’4…I grew.” Heck says he disagrees with Lecrae’s assertion that he has grown. “A spiritually mature person will resist pride’s temptation to arrogantly boast of being on history’s right side by virtue of their politics,” Heck says.
“Instead, they will acknowledge that the only right side is God’s side,” Heck says.
Lecrae Cools the Exchange; Responds Graciously
Heck’s video collected over 52,000 views on “It’s Not the Bee’s” Instagram page by press time. Lecrae responded to the post and addressed the statements Heck made about him.
“God bless you all,” Lecrae wrote. “Thanks for your graciousness, loving concern and prayers for the best.” He then explained his previous tweet, saying, “That tweet was also not about the presidential election, but I’m sure it doesn’t matter because people are more bent on spreading falsities than understanding.”
The “Don’t Waste Your Life” rapper said, “I’m a Jesus-follower who is African American and my experiences have influenced my views. I’ll always be pro-life not simply pro-birth. I will never be a Christian Nationalist. I’ll always choose the Kingdom over the nation.” Lecrae added, “I’m not a fan of Biden or Trump.”
“I also, like most humans, grow and change. Most get the privilege to do that privately,” Lecrae said, saying it was his choice to do so in the public eye. “I accept the slander and gossip and love you all. I live to please Jesus as a broken and fallen human being. I’ll never get it right, but I’ll die trying.”
Lecrae said Heck’s assumption about his performance at Warnock’s fundraiser was based on gossip. “It was a Vote Early rally. And I was asked to come to perform a song, not promote a candidate.” Lecrae pointed out that in an interview with Phil Vischer earlier this year, he told the VeggieTales‘ creator he thought the event was bipartisan and was told both candidates would be there.