GOD IS DOPE

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​I sat on this word for a few days because I wanted to make sure this was something GOD wanted me to release. With that being said, here we go.

Let me point something out about myself that most of you don’t know. I am the kind of person who likes to encourage, build up, and push people toward their purpose, their gift, their calling in GOD. I love to celebrate people regardless of what venture or avenue they choose, especially if, there’s a passion and that’s what a person is called to do. Therefore, I am not the kind of person who wants to shoot something down or be negative. I desire to give constructive criticism that is honest and positive.

The point is, that I love to encourage and edify individuals. It is my high, a pleasure for me to do so. But at times, I notice things that rattle my cage and leave me feeling perplexed and troubled. So, I want to address today in my blog post, this phrase, GOD IS DOPE.

popular t-shirt design

I have to be honest. Whenever I come across this t-shirt design, GOD IS DOPE, my spirit becomes very grieved. For a long time, I didn’t know why this t-shirt design upset me so, until on Monday, March 4, at 1:00 a.m.
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I woke up in the middle of the night and this phrase immediately came to mind and my spirit was irritated at just the thought of it. So, I finally decided to do a word study on this word ‘DOPE,’ and this is what I learned. 
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etymology of dope
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Now, let me start by saying that I get what the designer of this t-shirt is trying to say. But we as Christians have to be mindful that we cannot allow our culture – its practices, attitudes, behaviors, or language, to influence the way we act, communicate, or speak. We as Christians are supposed to influence our culture, not the other way around. And yet, today, our culture is doing just that. Influencing the way Christians think, act, communicate, and speak. Take, for example, our language. Whenever our culture describes anything as ‘good,’ it will say, ‘that’s bad.’ And when it describes something awesome, it will declare, ‘that is wicked.’

When we adapt to and adopt such dramatic changes in our communication style and then try to attach this type of lango to GOD, it misrepresents the pure meaning of our language, while causing much confusion, and distorts the image of a holy and righteous GOD. Case in point, the phrase GOD IS DOPE.

When you do a word study of its origin, you will learn that DOPE has a very diverse and interesting background. Like many words, it takes on many different meanings. Before we get into its slang use which is more widely acceptable today, let’s look at its true meaning.

Dope comes from the Dutch word doop, which means thick sauce during the early 1800s. But by the 1850s, this word starts to transcend from meaning a thick sauce to becoming a verbal insult. For instance, if someone called you dope, it meant that you were a stupid person. I think y’all see where I am going with this but let’s keep going. 

By the 1900s and 2000s, the word transformed again and took on a new meaning. During this time frame, dope was attached to drugs like morphine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana. But it wasn’t until the 1980s that it took on the meaning that we know it today. In the 1980s, hip-hop rap artists like OG Busy Bee and Grandmaster Flash forever changed the meaning of dope from its negative connotation into a positive one. They single-handedly change its meaning from something that wasn’t good to mean ‘excellent.’ From there, it was quickly adopted into the mainstream culture, infusing itself into every sphere, including the Christian community. For instance, dope came to mean ‘good news,’ or when a skateboarder landed a sick trick, or a basketball player performed some monster dump, or a nice sports car, etc. The use of this word is endless but very misleading.

So, let’s take this further, which I am sure some probably will take offense to what I am about to say next and not agree with my point of view. But when considering the word DOPE and making it an artwork on a t-shirt to describe our Creator, we are coming into agreement with society’s description of not only what the word means from our cultural perspective, but we are labeling GOD with that same description. This is what we are saying about our GOD through that particular t-shirt design.

GOD IS STUPID, EXCELLENT, A DOPE DEALING, DRUG HEAD.

So, on one hand, we are saying GOD is awesome. But then, on the other hand, we are saying HE is a drug dealer who believes anything goes. Do you see the confusion it can cause when marketing such a message as GOD IS DOPE? The mixed message we are conveying about GOD when we don’t give careful consideration to the message we display about the GOD we serve. Also, we have to ask ourselves, what message is this conveying about the Body of Christ as a whole, who is MADE IN GOD’S IMAGE? Are we too stupid, excellent, dope-dealing, drug heads?

As designers, we need to be careful about how we create artwork when portraying a holy and righteous GOD. At the same time, buyers, practically Christian consumers, need to be wise in their purchases.
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I can go deeper and further this viewpoint but my goal is not to damage anyone’s reputation, gifts, or creative process. But we must bring to light whenever our creative work expresses a mixed message that doesn’t adequately represent our GOD. Because GOD certainly is not DOPE. HE is good, righteous, holy, merciful, gracious, immutable, omnipotent, perfect, love, faithful, etc.