It has been a hot minute since I have theologically examined a Christian song. And so far, I have focused only on songs written for and programmed into corporate worship, many of which, unfortunately, remain uncontroversial in otherwise relatively solid churches.
This “review” will be a departure. Not in terms of the amount of the apparent controversy generated by the song at issue, but in the approach I’d like to take in discussing it.
Three days ago, the Christian rock band Skillet released a new single (technically, two versions) of the 17-18th-century Christmas hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” (their first foray into Christmas music) to streaming services, accompanied by a music video and a promo-length clip of the video for social media. The response to the release has been polarizing, with voices we respect (as well as many we don’t) lining up on either side of its approval.
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” has various historical English translations, and while we could spend time reaffirming the biblical doctrine of its lyrics, this has not been the source of controversy. Rather, the argument seems to be about whether the hard rock stylings of Skillet are an appropriate vehicle for the song and (more broadly) how much, if any, hard rock is appropriate in a Christian context. Considering the band’s refusal to cave to the spirit of the age that has engulfed so many other Christian bands who came of age in the mid-90s and 2000s, a third component of the debate might be the trustworthiness of Skillet’s (and particularly lead singer and bass player John Cooper’s) discernment in the polemical fights of the day, which has had some legitimate concerns.
The Band
I’m old enough to remember when Skillet looked and sounded like a Christian alternative to Oasis, with a 21-year-old John Cooper pulling off a convincing Liam Gallagher aesthetic. I was with my church youth group at Youth For Christ’s DC/LA 1997 DC conference, and was handed a free sampler CD with a bunch of quintessential mid-90s tracks from Christian acts with fittingly quirky 90s names: Bleach, Considering Lily, Grammatrain, Switchfoot, and yes, Skillet, who included a song called “Saturn.”
Following the early 2000s influence of nu-metal (think Linkin Park or P.O.D.), Skillet’s style moved towards the metal and cinematic sound fans know today, with records like 2006’s Comotose and 2009’s Awake seeing wide appeal on both Christian and secular charts.
Fast forward to 2020-present, and Skillet’s John Cooper has become outspoken in the culture wars, most recently writing the book “Wimpy, Weak, and Woke” to address cultural decay and left-wing infiltration of the church. Skillet’s Christian presence in the often depraved and dangerous secular music industry has seen no shortage of debate, conflict, and yes, some discernment misfires. Yet the distinction between the band and so many of their apostasized contemporaries (Switchfoot, Kevin Max, Jars of Clay, Relient K) must not be missed, if for no other reason than it should affect how Protestia or any other ministry approaches our interaction with them as brothers/sisters rather than enemies of the Almighty.
The Song and Video
Skillet’s rendition of “O Come, O Come Emanuel” (we’ll be discussing the first track rather than the “light” version) begins with Cooper’s rock-compressed vocals over cinematic piano arpeggios, as the video shows him in a darkened, sad room beside an empty hospital bed. A shot of what appears to be crystallized snow forming on rocks is interspersed.
The narrative appears to be twofold: the lyrics of the song refer to Christ’s first coming, while the video seems to look forward to His second coming, when He will wipe away tears and sadness from events like losing loved ones. The second verse moves to a dark church, with long-time drummer and singer Jen Ledger adding harmonies and an “Our God is with us” counterline (the meaning of “Emmanuel”) as light enters the dark room, and is shown outside breaking through the clouds.
The third, “O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer” stanza’s “Rejoice” sees the light fill the church and the hospital room, as Cooper and Ledger sing overlapping and harmonic lines. At this point, the arrangement and video could be from just about any Christian musical act.
It’s here where the controversy apparently starts.
The song/video drops the viewer into a desaturated room with a full hard rock rhythm section, flashing lights, quick video cuts, and Cooper offering a downbeat metal scream and an 8-bar instrumental before the song modulates from B minor to a guitar solo “rejoice” and vocal refrain in F# minor as the band rocks out. The song ends with a brief return to the prior piano B minor mode before fading to white.
Some in conservative evangelicalism seem to be under the impression that, when it comes to musical style, once the world has sufficiently linked a particular style with unbiblical ideologies, the style becomes sinful for Christians – not sinful or unwise for corporate worship, mind you, but off limits for Christian production or consumption. Such is one of two options underlying strident objections to Skillet’s “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” itself, but it is not possible to directly derive this view from scripture, which clearly describes a variety of musical/dance/worship expressions that might very well be called off limits by the same voices who opposed “turning it up to 11.”
The other (in this case, distant) possibility is that one might oppose the song because they have objections to the band itself based on any number of potential discernment issues. This has more legitimacy, but it seems not to be the focus of the pushback against Skillet’s first Christmas release.
Discernment Misfires
To be sure, expecting a Christian band to enter the culture war conversation and rub shoulders with outspoken and controversial Christian ministers and movements without missteps is likely as unrealistic as expecting the Rolex of Polemics Watchblogs to not say something about it when they do. We’ve wondered why John Cooper was comfortable sharing the stage of Christian brotherhood with practitioners of false religions (a critique he shared with other brothers who should have known better), why Skillet links arms with purveyors of the false gospel of Rome (along with notably apostate groups like Jars of Clay and Switchfoot).
Legitimate concerns have been raised over the years about the wisdom or effectiveness of Christian bands participating in festivals or concerts featuring groups who actively hate and mock Christianity, yet Skillet has maintained an evangelistic posture for its participation.
While some may not prefer the hard rock stylings of Skillet (and may continue to express concerns about some of the aforementioned issues), there is nothing inherently sinful about turning up the volume, increasing the distortion on the amplifiers, or employing a double-kick pedal. There are valid criticisms of Skillet, but “O Come, O Come Emmanuel is sacred ground” (or “hard rock is inherently evil”) isn’t among them.
