Michael Sweet/Stryper

I keep trying to give Michael Sweet and Stryper the benifit of the doubt where it comes to musical decesions. I'm all for Christain bands playing music that honors, and Glorifies God in concerts with secular bands i'm all for witnessing to secular band members. I saw a video on fb the other day with Michael Sweet singing on the same stage with Brett Michaels and Tesla singing Rock and Roll all Night. Is that a song that glorifies God.....that was bad taste..only my opinion of course. I'm sure many here will disagree with me..

After their willingness to make "The Covering" which I personally feel was a very poor decision for their music and ministry, there is nothing that really surprises me. They obviously have a strong love for secular music that does not glorify God and they have allowed that to compromise their witness.

This debate has been going on since strypers first album. I never saw stryper as a "christian" band but as a metal band with christians in it. Michael recently echoed that on " that metal show". He said they were just a glam band singing their message and views. Good for him. I thought the covering was a fantastic album..of course I like secular metal and listen to and buy tons of it. I don't think christians have to listen to music that is only christian and I don't think musicians have to only play christian metal. I believe we are free to live as we want. Some disagree and that's cool. Romans 14 says we are all brothers and sisters and can disagree.

I see both sides of it, I guess. I read an interview with Michael and he said that the reason they listen to that kind of music is because in the late 70's, there weren't really Christian bands palying that style. At the same time, it makes one think that Stryper listens to none of their brothers and sisters that play Christian music. I mean, who wouldn't have loved to hear them cover Saint's Plan II or Sacred Warrior's Stay Away From Evil or Barren Cross's In the Eye of the Fire or...

I'm not a Christian music only kind of guy, but I am pretty particular about what secular music I listen to. Still, as a Christian artist, I wouldn't cover secular music unless it's pretty darn clean, has a Christian applicable message and preferably comes from a band that doesn't have a reputation for producing music that is very offensive to the Christian life. Most of the bands that Stryper covered would not pass that test and I think that is harmful to their overall witness. Kind of like using pagan idols as a means to supposedly reach the lost. It just doesn't make sense to me. Now, having said that, this is just my opinion and I understand that many will disagree with me and I'm ok with that. It doesn't mean I think the guys in Stryper are evil or anything and I will still listen to and support them when they make music that does glorify God.

My mom didn't let me get The Covering because of the secular (EEEEEVIL!!11!!) music on there… that may have been a good decision, maybe not. Either way, I might get the new Stryper album.

I am more in the boat that I would have just rather had a Stryper album with new songs instead of cover tunes of anyone else. That's my biggest complaint.

As for them doing a secular cover tune album, I don't see a problem. In fact, this might help them be heard by more non-Christians who would then pick up their other albums and hear the gospel. The only way this hurts Stryper at all is with "fans" trying to find fault with what they are doing anyway.

I don't think so. I have no reason to want to find fault with Stryper. They've been one of my favorite bands since I was a teenager. I would just much rather see them using their God given talents to glorify God rather than the world.

How do we know that God didn't lay that album on their hearts to do this? I could see this helping them get their message across with some new fans.

Well, I respect the question and the fact that some might think that could be the case, but for me and my studies of the Bible, I just don't see God doing that. Again, it would be like God telling one of his prophets to go out and sell pagan idols to people as an opening for them to listen to him. The Word of God is more than sufficient for the sake of the gospel and we don't need to be imitators of the world to try and make the gospel more attractive. It's one thing to speak to them in their language (metal) but it's quite another to glorify the ungodly in the process. What have darkness and light to do with one another? Come out from among them, that's what it says.

This thread makes me sad.

So for those who insist that Stryper should have never recorded songs from secular artists, or performed with secular artists, can you tell me how that hurts their "witness"?

I don't have a problem with them performing with secular artists, as in playing a show with Kiss or Motley Crue or something like that. If they play Christian songs in those environments, it can be a good witness. On the other hand, for them to cover songs themselves, that are somewhat questionable, by bands that are definitely questionable, it brings glory to those songs and to those bands and lends approval to them and makes the statement that as a Christian there is no need to come out from among them and be separate. (2 Cor. 6:17) Furthermore, that we can be Christians and still be just like the world and entertain ourselves and others with those things that glorify the ways of the world and the desires of the flesh. We are suppose to be something different "a peculiar people" (1 Peter 2:9) I don't know, I mean is there anything we can see that Jesus or the apostles or the prophets did that compares to this? Is this following a Biblical example or is it just feeding the desires of the flesh? In my opinion it's the latter, but others have to work those questions out between them and God. I don't condemn anyone for seeing this different. Again, it's just my opinion.

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I'm not a Christian music only kind of guy, but I am pretty particular about what secular music I listen to.

Just curious...what are some secular metal bands you would listen to?
Also how does your view effect your tv, movie and book decisions? I am just curious?

It affects the other things pretty much the same way. I rarely go to movies and most of the ones I do watch are more about good solid stories and not ones that are based on horror, violence or sex. I see little point in such movies for the Christian. Granted, like any guy I can be tempted by the sexual things, but I do pretty well, most of the time. I don't make a huge deal about if a movie is rated R depending on why it's rated R. I've seen some very good and I would even say important stories that have been related through rated R movies, but if they have such a rating for frivolous displays of debauchery, well, again, I don't see the point of that for the Christian.

On TV I mostly watch things like the History Channel, The Food Network, Animal Planet and NRB, which is a Christian network. A little bit of news and since I have kids, some degree of things like Spongbob, Drake and Josh and other such things. I also enjoy the occasional sitcom, but usually prefer older ones that were less about sex.

With books, well, I'm not big into fiction when it comes to reading, so other than the Bible, I mostly read things about history, theology or other Christian teaching. I will occasionally read a biography and I have read a few Star Trek novels.

Now, as to your first question, what are some secular bands that I listen to. Well, I don't mind most of the stuff from bands like Styx, Journey or Boston, and I've been a fan of the music of The Monkees ever since I was a kid. There are some things from all of these groups that I might not prefer to listen to because of what a given song may be about, but overall, I don't feel they are too bad. I actually listen to a huge variety of music. Everything from metal, rock, country, southern gospel, oldies and even classical sometimes, but I apply the same standards no matter what the style. Back in the day, I was a huge Van Halen fan, but I really felt the need to curb most of that as a Christian. To be honest though, I probably listen to Christian music 90% of the time. I feel there is plenty there to keep me happy by and large.

Edit: Oops! I guess you were asking what secular metal bands I listen to, well, none really. Do you have some suggestions of some that are pretty clean?

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Do you have some suggestions of some that are pretty clean?

I find your classic rock choices interesting. Styx has several tracks based on new age ideas and boston is about partying, smoking, tokin and drinking (I don't have a problem with any of those things if thats what a guy wants to do) and Journey is almost all about relationship and women ...But based on lyrics by Styx, Journey and Boston I might suggest Dokken, Thin Lizzy, the new wasp album (Blackie Lawless is a christian and this album shows it...very popular among Christians) the newer megadeth, Blind Guardian, Saxon, Rainbow ,Michael Schenker solo albums....

As for the rest of your views we would have to agree to disagree but I am glad we are both saved and worship the same God and will spend eternity together.

I only know a couple Boston songs that are about partying and I avoid those. I guess I don't really see a whole lot of new age stuff in Styx music. Maybe I'm missing something. Most of it is about life or relationships. Anyway, I agree that we are both saved. No argument there.

I have a fairly close relationship with 2 members of Stryper. All I can say is that they are firmly grounded in faith. I have no problem with the album. But I agree with alldat, I would rather nave new stuff. BTW, many, many Christian artists have covered secular songs. The list is long.

Hey Tink, long time no see!

That's true, many Christian bands have done that, but usually the songs covered are songs that either have some kind of Christian message or songs that could be taken that way in the right context. Rez is a really good example. They covered Clapton's Presence of the Lord for obvious reasons, but they also covered the Who's Bargain and Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love, both of which could easily be applied to one's relationship with God. I don't have any problem with that at all. I also want to make it clear that the things I say do not mean that I think the guys in Stryper are not Christian, I just think they have compromised their ministry somewhat for the sake of their love for secular music. It's not the end of the world, we all have our struggles with our love for the world, but putting it out there like they have done, well, it's just not something that I would do. I mean, if you struggled with porn, would you publish a porn magazine to try and reach those with the same problem? I don't think so. Now, I know some will probably get pretty upset that I compared the love of secular music to porn addiction, but in some cases, I really don't think there is much difference. Some of the secular music that some Christians are willing to expose themselves to is pretty nasty.

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I just think they have compromised their ministry

Who says it's a ministry? That may be the problem. It's a job to them. But ministry happens. But they are just working musicians.

That's not the way they frame things when they (or at least Michael) do interviews. It never gets stated that it's just a job where ministry may or may not happen and it doesn't really matter either way. They made a career off the name of Jesus and I do think there is some responsibility that comes with that. Unless they were just using him, but I don't think that's the case, so yeah, I think they need to accept some responsibility.

Actually when I saw michael on that metal show he did say they were just another working l a band who wrote music from their point of view. He even said they were not religious which seemed to stun eddie trunk. I never ever saw them as a christian band. I think this whole christian metal genre thing is kinda silly. All bands are just working musicians writing from their views. I don't buy "christian" metal because its christian but because I dig the bands music. Stryper, saint, whitecross or any others could go secular and I would still support them.

Today michael facebooked we should get a musician like ted nugent or dave mustain or david lee roth to run for president.

It occurs to me that no matter what you do for a living if you openly confess that Jesus is the risen messiah and claim your faith in him that is your ministry...and that is all we are called to do. That is the gospel. Stryper does that. Hopefully all of us here on the cmr do the same thing. What sets us apart from unbelievers isn't our behaviour or entertainment choices but our faith in the messiah..JESUS.

I think there's room for every kind of music, so artists can choose what they write and how they come across. Personally I prefer those who say "we're a christian band" rather than "we're christians in a band". For if they say they're a Christian band it means that the lyrics are going to be more openly christian which is what I really want from a band. If they say they're christians in a band then there could be no christian lyrics at all - maybe safe lyrics, but not Christian. And that's something I'm not so interested in.

Golden Resurrection - christian band, great openly christian lyrics which I know I'm going to enjoy.
Impellitteri - christians in a band, great music but some of the lyrics aren't so good!

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