Skillet Rocker Speaks Out on
Apostasy: ‘Stop Making Worship and Thought Leaders’ the ‘Source of Truth’
Michael Foust | ChristianHeadlines.com
Contributor | Wednesday, August 14, 2019
The lead singer of the Christian rock band Skillet is urging the church to
stop making worship and “thought” leaders the “source of truth,” saying
feelings and emotions must take a backseat to the truth of God’s Word.
John Cooper, whose band is among the most successful crossover groups in
modern music, penned a lengthy Facebook
post on Tuesday reacting to prominent Christian leaders falling from
the faith. Cooper didn’t list names, but his post came days after Hillsong’s
Marty Sampson said he
was losing his faith and several weeks after bestselling author Joshua
Harris said he
is no longer a Christian.
“It is time for the church to rediscover the preeminence of the Word. And to
value the teaching of the Word,” Cooper wrote.
“We need to value truth over feeling. Truth over emotion. And what we are
seeing now is the result of the church raising up influencers who did not
supremely value truth who have led a generation who also do not believe in the
supremacy of truth. And now those disavowed leaders are proudly still leading
and influencing boldly AWAY from the truth.”
The church, Cooper argued, too often looks to the wrong leaders for biblical
guidance.
“My conclusion for the church (all of us Christians): We must STOP making
worship leaders and thought leaders or influencers or cool people or ‘relevant’
people the most influential people in Christendom. (And yes that includes
people like me!),” he wrote. “I’ve been saying for 20 years (and seemed
probably quite judgmental to some of my peers) that we are in a dangerous place
when the church is looking to 20-year-old worship singers as our source of
truth.
“We now have a church culture that learns who God is from singing modern
praise songs rather than from the teachings of the Word. I’m not being rude to
my worship leader friends (many who would agree with me) in saying that singers
and musicians are good at communicating emotion and feeling. We create a moment
and a vehicle for God to speak. However, singers are not always the best people
to write solid bible truth and doctrine. Sometimes we are too young, too
ignorant of scripture, too unaware, or too unconcerned about the purity of
scripture and the holiness of the God we are singing to. Have you ever considered
the disrespect of singing songs to God that are untrue of His character?”
Cooper added he is “stunned” when former Christian leaders leave the faith
by taking a “bold new stance.”
“[They are] basically saying, ‘I’ve been living and preaching boldly something
for 20 years and led generations of people with my teachings and now I no
longer believe it… therefore I’m going to boldly and loudly tell people it was
all wrong while I boldly and loudly lead people into my next truth.’ I’m
perplexed why they aren’t embarrassed? Humbled? Ashamed, fearful, confused? Why
be so eager to continue leading people when you clearly don’t know where you
are headed?
“… 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.’
So, the influencers become the voice for truth in whatever stage of life and
whatever evolution takes place in their thinking.”
Cooper didn’t name Sampson but took issue with his reference to the doctrine
of hell.
“I just read today in a renowned worship leader’s statement, ‘How could a
God of love send people to hell? No one talks about it.’ As if he is the first
person to ask this? Brother, you are not that unique,” Cooper wrote. “The
church has wrestled with this for 1500 years. Literally. Everybody talks about
it. Children talk about it in Sunday school. There’s like a billion books
written on the topic. Just because you don’t get the answer you want doesn’t
mean that we are unwilling to wrestle with it. We wrestle with scripture until
we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.”
Following is Cooper’s full post:
Ok I’m saying it. Because it’s too important not to. What is happening
in Christianity? More and more of our outspoken leaders or influencers who were
once “faces” of the faith are falling away. And at the same time, they are
being very vocal and bold about it. Shockingly they still want to influence
others (for what purpose?) as they announce that they are leaving the faith.
I’ll state my conclusion, then I’ll state some rebuttals to statements I’ve
read by some of them. Firstly, I never judge people outside of my faith. Even
if they hate religion or Christianity. That is not my place and I have many
friends who disagree with my religion and that is 100% fine with me. However,
when it comes to people within my faith, there must be a measure of loyalty and
friendship and accountability to each other and the Word of God.
My conclusion for the church (all of us Christians): We must STOP making
worship leaders and thought leaders or influencers or cool people or “relevant”
people the most influential people in Christendom. (And yes, that includes
people like me!) I’ve been saying for 20 years (and seemed probably quite
judgmental to some of my peers) that we are in a dangerous place when the
church is looking to 20-year-old worship singers as our source of truth. We now
have a church culture that learns who God is from singing modern praise songs
rather than from the teachings of the Word. I’m not being rude to my worship
leader friends (many who would agree with me) in saying that singers and
musicians are good at communicating emotion and feeling. We create a moment and
a vehicle for God to speak. However, singers are not always the best people to
write solid bible truth and doctrine. Sometimes we are too young, too ignorant
of scripture, too unaware, or too unconcerned about the purity of scripture and
the holiness of the God we are singing to. Have you ever considered the
disrespect of singing songs to God that are untrue of His character?
I have a few specific thoughts and rebuttals to statements made by
recently disavowed church influencers…first of all, I am stunned that the
seemingly most important thing for these leaders who have lost their faith is
to make such a bold new stance. Basically saying, “I’ve been living and
preaching boldly something for 20 years and led generations of people with my
teachings and now I no longer believe it… therefore I’m going to boldly and
loudly tell people it was all wrong while I boldly and loudly lead people in to
my next truth.” I’m perplexed why they aren’t embarrassed? Humbled? Ashamed,
fearful, confused? Why be so eager to continue leading people when you clearly
don’t know where you are headed?
My second thought is, why do people act like “being real” covers a
multitude of sins? 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.” So, the
influencers become the voice for truth in whatever stage of life and whatever
evolution takes place in their thinking.
Thirdly, there is a common thread running through these
leaders/influencers that basically says that “no one else is talking about the
REAL stuff.” This is just flatly false. I just read today in a renown (sic)worship
leader’s statement, “How could a God of love send people to hell? No one talks
about it.” As if he is the first person to ask this? Brother, you are not that
unique. The church has wrestled with this for 1500 years. Literally. Everybody
talks about it. Children talk about it in Sunday school. There’s like a billion
books written on the topic. Just because you don’t get the answer you want
doesn’t mean that we are unwilling to wrestle with it. We wrestle
with scripture until we are transformed by the renewing of our minds.
And lastly, and most shocking imo (in my opinion), as
these influencers disavow their faith, they always end their statements with
their “new insight/new truth” that is basically a regurgitation of Jesus’s
words?! It’s truly bizarre and ironic. They’ll say, “I’m disavowing my faith
but remember, love people, be generous, forgive others”. Ummm, why? That is
actually not human nature. No child is ever born and says “I just want to love
others before loving myself. I want to turn the other cheek. I want to give my
money away to others in need”. Those are bible principles taught by a
prophet/Priest/king of kings who wants us to live by a higher standard which is
not an earthly standard, but rather the ‘Kingdom of God’ standard. Therefore if
Jesus is not the truth and if the Word of God is not absolute, then by
preaching Jesus’s teachings you are endorsing the words of a madman. A lunatic
who said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father
except through me.” He also said that he was alive before Abraham, and to see
him was to see God because he was one with God. So why then would a disavowed
christian(sic)leader promote that “generosity is good”? How would you
know “what is good” without Jesus’s teachings? And will your ideas of what is
“good” be different from year to year based on your experience, culture trends,
poplular (sic) opinion etc. and furthermore will you
continue year by year to lead others into your idea of goodness even though it
is not absolute? I’m amazed that so many Christians want the benefits of the
kingdom of God, but with the caveat that they themselves will be the
King.
It is time for the church to rediscover the preeminence of the Word. And
to value the teaching of the Word. We need to value truth over feeling. Truth
over emotion. And what we are seeing now is the result of the church raising up
influencers who did not supremely value truth who have led a generation who
also do not believe in the supremacy of truth. And now those disavowed leaders
are proudly still leading and influencing boldly AWAY from the truth.
Is it any wonder that some of our disavowed Christian leaders are
letting go of the absolute truth of the Bible and subsequently their lives are
falling apart? Further and further they are sinking in the sea all the while
shouting “now I’ve found the truth! Follow me!!” Brothers and sisters in the
faith all around the world, pastors, teachers, worship leaders, influencers…I
implore you, please, please in your search for relevancy for the gospel, let us
NOT find creative ways to shape Gods word into the image of our culture by
stifling inconvenient truths. But rather let us hold on even tighter to the
anchor of the living Word of God. For He changes NOT. “The grass withers and
the flowers fade away, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah
40:8)