I used to a be a huge fan of Skillet back in high school. Somewhere in college, I started digging deeper into God and I realized when I listened to Skillet, I would either a) become super angry or b) become super depressed. The last album I owned and listened to was Awake. Awake was a pretty dangerous album to me, although there were some good songs on the album. However, I was working on forgiveness towards people and SOME (note the word "some") of the songs on the album were not about forgiving, but harboring unforgiveness.
However, who am I to say they aren't Christian? I know that they have decided to lean more into the mainstream, but still say that it's all about Jesus, which I really admire. Lecrae is the same. Although I'm not a huge fan of rap, I have friends who are and after research, Lecrae has a huge mainstream following, but every song he writes is Christ centered. Skillet doesn't write every song on Christ, but still identify themselves as Christians.
Regardless, I think what it comes down to is: What makes a band Christian? Forget the members of the band and just focus on the elements of what makes a band Christian.
Although I personally no longer listen to Skillet, I can't say they are not Christians and aren't followers of Christ. That's not my place to say. I had the privilege of meeting John Cooper at an amusement park and after talking with him for a few minutes, I really liked him based on a few things he had said.
