Skillet’s John Cooper Calls for ‘Reform in the Christian Music Industry’ Following Michael Tait Scandal

“Do you know what it would have been like [if Tait] would have confessed to this a long time ago, in order to bring repair to people, in order to maybe stop people’s lives from being shipwrecked?” said Cooper. “This sort of thing shipwrecks people because it shames the gospel.”

“On this level, with this much heartache and the amount of pain these people have gone through, we have to lift them up,” he added. “We cannot turn a blind eye to this level of alleged injustice. We cannot do that! We we cannot do that!”

Cooper posed the question: “What kind of gospel are we displaying to the world when…our biggest, most passionate, most famous Christian music icons, who are proclaiming the gospel of Christ that sets you free, say, ‘I’ve been living a double life since the beginning?’”

RELATED: Michael Tait Accused of Watching Sexual Assault of a Young Woman He Drugged

“It makes it feel like our gospel is not real,” Cooper answered.

Cooper also said Tait’s alleged abuse deserves a reaction that results in a “full throated condemnation of these acts, not a condemnation of people. We’re not condemning people. We’re condemning actions of people full-throatedly, unapologetically. We do not shrink back.”

The gospel “demands” Christians to stand up for justice, Cooper explained:

The gospel also demands that you stand up for justice. Our gospel is this: If the whole world became Christian and we began to live like Christians, there would be none of this sexual abuse. That’s if you follow through the gospel, that’s what you would believe. Now, do I think [we’ll] literally have a world ever without it? No, what I’m saying is the power of the gospel makes demands on your life…Love your neighbor as yourself. How do you do that?…You live in the law of God to them, and if you step over the line into sin against your neighbor, you repair it, you make restitution, you bring justice to it.

Cooper said he believes the world needs to see CCM (Christian Contemporary Music) “condemn [Tait’s] actions” and not overshadow the “Jesus Freak” singer’s alleged actions with grace. Instead, Cooper said, the CCM world needs to speak up in a way that declares, “This is not the gospel of Christ. We can not continue to do this.”

Cooper emphasized that he wants to believe Tait’s apology “to be real.” But “even if it is real,” he said, “that does not deny that he did some really bad stuff to these victims.”

RELATED: ‘If They Are True, Put Him in Jail,’ CCM Artist Rhett Walker Says Regarding Allegations of Michael Tait’s Sexual Abuse

Cooper then shared how people should be processing this news. “We grieve for the victims,” he explained, “not just prayers. Yes, prayers [but] we need to [also] be giving voice to people like this. We need to support them. We need to continue to call for action. We need to call for justice. We’ve got to call for truth.”

“Recognizing and saying, ‘I’m in CCM, I’m a part of the problem.’” Cooper continued. “I’m not part of the problem in the sense that I knew these things. I did not. I’m as shocked as you are about them. But I’m in CCM. I want to recognize the egregious nature, and we’re not going to candy-coat it.”