MICHAEL SWEET Says STRYPER's 'Calling' Is 'To Go Out And Love Everybody And Be A Light In The Dark'

November 4, 2019

In a brand new interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, STRYPER frontman Michael Sweet was asked how he keeps his Christian faith while being involved in the music industry. He responded: "If you're gonna claim to be a Christian, then you'd better learn about love and God's love and unconditional love and uncompromising love. And know that with that comes acceptance of everybody — not necessarily tolerance; you don't have to agree with everybody, but you need to love everybody. And we do. We go out and we tour with any band and we hang out with them. We go get in Ubers and go to dinner together and break bread together, and we're sitting there having conversations with these guys, and one might be an atheist and one might be a Satanist. And we're hanging out. And that puts people in arms sometimes. Certain STRYPER fans are, like, 'What? How could you…?' And, to me, that's our calling — to go out and love everybody and be a light in the dark and always be a light and always show God's love. And that's what speaks volumes."

He continued: "It's not what you say; it's what you do. Let your life be the light, and we try hard to do that… We really try hard. Do we fail? Yeah, sometimes we do. Sometimes I say something that might not sit right with people, or I do something or post something, and that's just a given — that's life. But I really do try to live a life that exemplifies Christ and who I am and what I say that I am, and I try hard not to be a hypocrite."

Even though STRYPER's third album, 1986's "To Hell With The Devil", made Sweet and his bandmates the first contemporary Christian act to score a platinum album, the group has often felt unwelcome in Christian circles, with some members of the church feeling that Christianity and heavy metal are incompatible.

This past March, Sweet posted a message on his Facebook page in which he expressed his frustration with other members of the Christian community, saying that he is "committed to Christ" and vowing to always believe "in His faith and His salvation."

Formed 36 years ago, STRYPER's name comes from Isaiah 53:5, which states: "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

STRYPER's albums include "To Hell With The Devil", "Second Coming", "No More Hell To Pay", "Fallen" and the band's latest effort, "God Damn Evil".

Find more on
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).