He goes on stage with a typical rockstar image sporting a beard and many tattoos on his arms. Beneath the bad boy looks, Skillet’s John Cooper has been a proud Christian and Bible defender.
In a recent podcast, ‘Be a Bold Witness for Christ,’ the Skillet vocalist encouraged his fans and listeners to strengthen their faith and to make a stand to defend Biblical truth.
Cooper’s faith had deepened through the years. But this level of understanding did not come easy as some people gave him advice that may dampen his faith.
Cooper remembered an incident a decade ago when a businessman shared a piece of unconventional advice. He tried to persuade the Christian rocker to ‘dissociate from Christianity’ and stop focusing on Jesus to attain success.
At first, the businessman praised them for their music and was confident that Skillet would become more famous.
“I mean, he singled me out, and he pulled me aside and said, ‘John, I wanna tell you this ’cause no one else was gonna tell you. You guys, I believe, could be the biggest band in the world. I think you could be the next biggest band in the world. You guys have the look. You’ve got the sound. You’ve got girls in your band.'”
After praising the band, the gentleman’s speech went in a different direction. This time, the businessman pointed out that John’s Christian faith may hold him back from stardom.
“So, it’s your time but you have got to disassociate from Christianity. You’ve got to stop talking about Jesus so much. Don’t do Christian interviews. Don’t do Christian music festivals. If people ask you what your song’s about, I’m not telling you to lie. Just don’t offer up the information about Jesus.'” the musician narrated.
The businessman believed that John Cooper would become more prosperous and famous if he stopped singing about Jesus and writing more mainstream songs.
He said, ‘But, John, think about the good you could do for your faith if you got rich and famous. Think about what you could do for Jesus if you stopped talking about Jesus.'”
The 46-year old hitmaker did not forget about what the businessman said. When he got home, he told his wife about the incident. They concluded that was a message coming from the Lord.
“I told my wife about the conversation. We prayed about it. And it was instant – almost instantaneous, I know that that is not the Lord,” he concluded.
John Cooper is an American singer-songwriter in the band, Skillet. He is a constant member and the co-founder of the band. Since 1996, the band has produced and released ten albums that reaped 12 million units worldwide. Their songs were also famous on streaming platforms and gained 2 billion shares.