After two high-profile Christian leaders publicly renounced their faith in recent weeks, Skillet lead singer John Cooper responded to the disheartening news on social media.
Cooper’s statement followed Instagram announcements by ‘I Kissed Dating Goodbye’ author Joshua Harris and former Hillsong songwriter Marty Sampson regarding their “falling away” from the faith.
“Why do people act like ‘being real’ covers a multitude of sins?,” the singer boldly questioned in his viral Facebook post. “As if someone is courageous simply for sharing virally every thought or dark place. That’s not courageous. It’s cavalier. Have they considered the ramifications? As if they are the harbingers of truth, saying ‘I used to think one way and practice it and preach it, but now I’ve learned all the new truth and will start practicing and preaching it.’”
Cooper’s charge to “value truth over feeling” and STOP making ‘cool’ worship leaders and influencers the most influential people in Christendom gained widespread attention.
The 44-year-old elaborated on his stance in an interview with CBN News last Thursday.
“If you look the right way, if you sing the right way, if you sound the right way, you can become an extremely powerful person in today’s culture, because unfortunately, the church–me included, my church included, my family included– is looking to be entertained,” he explained, speaking to how celebrity culture has negatively influenced the church. “We are not looking to worship God as he ought to be worshiped.”
Admittedly, Cooper was shocked that his post gained so much attention as he was “just pleading for the church to come back to the gospel [and] the truth of the word of God that never changes.”
“Everybody is so confused about what truth is,” said the singer. “And the Church is supposed to be invading culture with the Kingdom of God. Instead, we are letting culture invade the church—that’s not the way we are supposed to do it. Jesus is the only thing in this world that will never change. Everything else is gonna fall away and change, but His word stands forever.”
Cooper revealed that even he has had to wrestle with questions about God in his own faith walk, but he continues to look to the objective Truth about God’s unchanging character as his compass.
“If I’m struggling with who God is, it’s not God who needs to change, it’s me who needs to change,” he shared. “That’s what Lordship is about, and we are losing that in a generation of young people, and I think we could be doing a much better job of preaching Truth.”
