The black rap star came on the white evangelical’s radio talk show to discuss his memoir, a tale of surviving drugs, crime and sexual abuse. Only a few days after its release last month, the book by Grammy-winner Lecrae had already hit the New York Times bestseller list.

But within a couple of minutes, the interview took a turn. Host Eric Metaxas raised a controversy from a few days earlier, when liberal black comic Larry Wilmore used the n-word to refer to President Obama at the White House correspondents’ dinner. “Can I say what he said to the president of the United States?” the preppily dressed, 53-year-old Metaxas asked his younger, T-shirt-wearing guest. “Surely if he said that to the president of the United States, I can say it?” Lecrae said gently, “I’m pretty sure that’s not a good idea.”

Lecrae then chuckled and the collegial interview went on, just two traditional evangelicals chit-chatting about the greatness of God...READ MORE