Skillet frontman John Cooper has never been one to minimize his Christian faith, especially when it comes to the longtime rock band’s songs, albums and performances. But in a recent interview, the rocker remembered a time when someone almost convinced him to tone it down.
Near the end of an hour-long video chat with the Trevor Talks podcast that emerged on Monday (July 28), Cooper retold the story of how the person in the music business urged him to “stop talking about Jesus” so much in the context of the group. The Skillet vocalist and bassist previously touched on the tale in his 2020 book, Awake and Alive to Truth.
Watch the interview down toward the bottom of this post.
“He did say like, ‘Look, this is what I believe. This is what a lot of people are saying. We think you could be the next biggest band in the world,'” Cooper recalls. “Now, I don’t believe that I could have been the biggest band in the world, but that’s what he was saying — ‘Yeah, you need to stop talking about Jesus so much.'”
The singer continues, “What was really confusing about the conversation … is that he wasn’t saying, ‘Hey, John, deny Christ.’ He wasn’t saying, ‘Deny your faith. Don’t ever talk about Jesus.’ He was just saying, ‘Stop talking about it so much. Don’t do Christian shows; don’t do Christian interviews. When someone asks you what a song is about, don’t start saying, ‘It’s about my faith in Jesus.'”
Building on that thought, the Skillet bandleader brought up the song “Hero” from the band’s 2009 album, Awake.
Because of the tune, “People would ask me on these mainstream interviews, ‘So, who is your hero?'” Cooper recollects. “You know, they’d expect me to say whatever, and I’d say, ‘My hero is Jesus Christ,’ and I would explain it. And he’s saying, ‘Stop doing that because it’s hurting your fan base.'”
On top of that, the person took it one step further by adding a “twist,” the musician remembers.
“He said, ‘If you think about it, John, you can do more for your faith by listening to my advice because as you stop talking about Jesus and as your audience grows, imagine what you can do for the poor if you become rich and famous. Imagine the influence you could have if you become rich and famous.’ … So that was the only aspect of what he said that there is some truth to that; there is an element of truth to what he’s saying.”
Still, for Cooper, “God made it so abundantly clear that even though there is an element of truth [to that], maybe there is [also] an element of prudence —it’s not the Lord’s wisdom. It might be a little bit of earthly prudence, but that is not the Lord’s wisdom. And that was a defining moment for me.”
As if it needs to be said, the rocker most certainly did not begin lessening his Jesus talk onstage — if anything, it might have even made the musician’s convictions that much stronger.
Skillet and Cooper will get back to unabashedly sharing their faith in cities across the United States this September and October when the act hit the road with Adelitas Way for a 24-date tour.
Skillet’s John Cooper Appears on the the Trevor Talks podcast – June 28, 2021
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