CHURCH LEADERS recently published a provoking article documenting an interview with John Cooper, the lead singer for the Christian band Skillet.
Cooper called out what he labeled “The Rot In Christian Music” on his August 7, 2023 podcast called “Cooper Stuff.” In the article, Cooper highlighted a 2017 article written by Kevin McNeese, founder of Christian music site NewReleaseToday, titled “What The Bleep Is Happening To Christian Music?”
Here is a YouTube video of Cooper’s August 7, 2023 podcast:
The CHURCH LEADERS article may be read HERE.
My brothers and sisters, I love Cooper’s comments in the video that we should be writing songs that glorify God and how we should desire to be more like Jesus every day. This is the bottom line! The issue isn’t (or shouldn’t be) arguments about musical style and instrumentation, but rather, the heart of the musicians and the music, with an emphasis on the truth of the lyrics – which should speak or be consistent with the scriptures and the true character of God.
Let’s never forget that man comes unto the Father ONLY through Jesus.
John 14:6 (NKJV)
“Jesus said to [Thomas], ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'”
As Cooper points out, lyrics filled with swearing and cussing including the “F-bomb” have actually begun to enter so-called Christian music, and this should not be so.
Colossians 3:8-10 (NKJV)
“But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth [emphasis mine]. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…”.
According to Cooper, those who balk at coarse language and swearing are sometimes called “legalists” or “modern-day pharisees.” Christian music invoking or promoting LGBTQ(+) and “woke” ideologies, including the involvement of drag queens, has begun to take hold in certain circles.
Proverbs 18:21 (NKJV)
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, [a]nd those who love it will eat its fruit.”
My brothers and sisters, let’s remember that God does not change – He’s perfect in every way! He desires that we worship Him with praise continually upon our lips. Heaven is filled continually with the worship of God! Amen!
All of us, and all the more so for those who lead worship in music, must be sure that our hearts are Jesus-focused, and that our music and its words are genuinely loving, truthful and in accord with the scriptures and the true character of God!
We are ambassadors for Christ. If you have a “check” in your spirit about a song or its lyrics, then ask yourself, if Jesus were standing in front of you, would you say to Him, “Lord, I sing this song unto You!” If the answer is anything other than YES, then it should not be sung!
Praise Jesus forevermore!
