Skillet frontman John Cooper fearlessly confronts society's "brokenness" and the "cesspool" of social media, revealing how these themes inspired their hit new single and his unique advice for Christians online.



The frontman for the band Skillet isn't afraid to tackle topics that can spark debate, whether he's talking about his Christian faith, the state of society or life in general.

But once he’s shared his thoughts, he rarely sticks around to read the responses. As far as he's concerned, there's little value in it.

“There's no reason to, because people find a sick sort of satisfaction in being as rude as they can,” John Cooper told Crosswalk Headlines.

Cooper’s critique of social media is partially the inspiration behind the band’s new hit single "Scream," which is a commentary on society’s brokenness and humanity’s response to the chaos. He describes social media as a “cesspool where people are constantly yelling at each other.”

“Everybody is telling you how to live,” he said, adding that while some of the advice can be benign, much of it can be more destructive, with messages such as, “I hate you because you don't agree with me, and you are ruining the world.”

“All of these things, man, they just beat you down,” he said.

His advice for fellow Christians on social media is two-fold.

“Number one, don't spend your whole life on social media. Just don't do it. I mean – I hardly ever go on. If I say something about something I believe, I'm just not going to read all the comments.”

The tendency of everyone wanting to argue, he said, is “proof” of mankind’s sin nature.

“Limit your time. Maybe don't do it at all.”

Second, he said, Christians on social media should respond with love and grace toward those with whom they disagree.

“Before you start judging someone else, judge yourself,” he said before adding, “This starts with me. This is what I'm trying to do.”

“If I can just be loving towards people that disagree with me – and just disagree well,” he said, then social media would be a much healthier place.

“Just say, ‘Hey, that's not what I believe – because I'm a Christian. … But that doesn't mean that you and I can't be friends. It doesn't mean I hate you. I'm not saying you're ruining the world. … I want to show the love of Christ to you the best way I can.’

“How can I be part of the solution rather than be part of the problem while still speaking what is true?”

This year is shaping up to be a banner year for Skillet. The band is gearing up to release new music this fall and is preparing for a 24-city headlining tour beginning Sept. 30. It’s been dubbed the “Comatose: 20 Years, Still Screaming Tour.”

Meanwhile, the band is celebrating its biggest hit of all time, "Monster," recently crossing 4 billion streams and joining Spotify’s Billions Club. It’s the only song by a Christian artist to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify.

“Nobody is more shocked than me of Skillet’s success,” Cooper said, laughing.

When it was released in 2009, he thought "Monster" was a good song but didn’t think kids, and especially moms, could enjoy it, he said.

“I had never considered that a soccer mom would hear 'Monster' and say, ‘Yeah, I feel that way, too.’ So it was kind of shocking to me. But I do think that there's something about the lyrics that I think everybody can relate to.”

The chorus features the lyric, “I must confess that I feel like a monster” – although not every Christian accepted the song’s premise, Cooper said.

“[But] I think it's a very Christian message because we are born into sin,” he said. “In Christ, we are simultaneously sinners and saints. We are saints in terms of our legal standing before God because of the work Jesus did on the cross. But I know for my life, every single day I am sinning, and I need Christ every single day, or I'm not going to make it.

“If I don't have a daily meeting with Jesus to focus myself and say, ‘God, I want You to be reflected in my life, and I want to put myself to death today’ – I am not going to make it, and I just think that's a very biblical message. So I think that's why people can relate to the song.”

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