One Last and (Finally) Orthodox "Creed" for Scott Stapp?

          Members of my high school Christian rock band will confirm it. And I’ll admit it right now: I was a bandwagon Creed fan in high school. I memorized their first two albums (My Own Prison and Human Clay), bought a poster, and, regrettably (but temporally), let their music have a bit too much influence in my songwriting. Why did I like Creed so much? 

          Musically, they struck an appealing and dramatic balance and mixture of acoustic or other guitar ambience with a grunge-like intensity, and their frontman (Scott Stapp), for the most part, actually sang, not shouted. With the rise of rapcore and bands with more distortion- and/or technology-heavy sound, I appreciated Creed’s post-grunge with a touch of Southern rock vocals.

          Spiritually, I only believed the best about them. I really believed (or at least wanted to believe) they, or at least Stapp, were a “Christian band,” even though they disavowed any such stereotypical “agenda.” Nevertheless, Creed’s lyrics (written mostly by Stapp) and liner art dripped with Scriptural imagery and often could at least be interpreted to illustrate a Scriptural truth. Stapp seemingly had a potential testimony that could illustrate God’s grace, and Creed was comfortably in the mainstream and high on the Billboard, where most the stereotypical, agenda-holding and less-mysterious “Christian bands” couldn’t find themselves.

          So yeah, Creed (or at least my self-made image of them) fulfilled all high school visions of what a “Christian band” should be.  

          But then, there were red flags, break-ups and downright scandal. The next paragraph just covers the surface.

          Stapp’s interviews on VH1’s “Behind the Music: Creed” were vague at best and cynical at worst about his relationship with the Christian God. Him and his wife divorced. Creed’s third album, Weathered, to me, was a bit predictable, kitschy and corny (and I kept hearing from critics how much Stapp's voice was imitating that of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder). The band broke up and Stapp had to deal with issues in his personal life (broken relationships, addictions, etc.). I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a band and its reputation fall apart so quickly, my view included. When Scott Stapp reportedly recording a solo track about how inspired he was by Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, I really wasn’t interested in hearing the song. Having already found better exemplary role models for music ministry, I had moved on. This was 7-8 years ago.

          And now I stumble upon The Gospel Coalition’s review of Scott Stapp’s recent memoir, Sinner’s Creed. The review focuses more on and celebrates Stapp’s warnings on the dangers of any type of fame, and a little less on how reformed (with a lower case, mind you) and intentional Stapp seems to currently be with the Christian God. His relationship with the “Faceless Man” (Human Clay) was always mysterious, but maybe it’s finally clear and positive. As for the reunited Creed’s career in our majority hip-hop and techno/pop era? That’s another matter.