Silence and Retreat

If you’re a fan of Christian hip-hop, you’ve certainly heard of Sho Baraka. As a founding member of 116 Clique, he and other artists like Lecrae and Tedashii showed the American church that theology and hip-hop can go together. Since then, he’s founded a record label, recorded six impressive albums, and written a book on Christ-led creativity. But he’s not done. Join us as we sit down with Sho Baraka to talk about how he finds spiritual refreshment.

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Silence. Silence and solitude, to retreat, to go away, and to pray. To not always feel like I have to answer every question. To have the courage to say that I may not be your person. Social media has given us this entitlement, and we feel like everybody should hear our thoughts all the time, every day. Even if we know we have no idea what to say about a particular issue, we feel like people want to hear from us.

It’s wonderful to see that Jesus took time to get away. Paul took time to get away. The Bible is replete with examples of people who knew that they needed to get away. Not get away to excuse themselves from responsibility but get away in order to be better at the responsibility when they come back. Retreating should involve seeking the faith of the Lord, praying, and meditating. I think our culture needs a lot of silence and retreating.

—Sho Baraka, activist and hip-hop artist, as told to Rapt Interviews