Actor Russell Brand is on a spiritual journey that is drawing him closer to Christianity.
“The reason I wear a cross is because Christianity and, in particular, the figure of Christ are, it seems to me, inevitably becoming more important as I become more familiar with suffering, purpose self and not-self,” he said in a social media video reported.
The 48-year-old actor said he has been “reading the Bible a lot more,” as well as Rick Warren’s “The Purpose-Driven Life.” He said that when he was growing up, Christianity appeared to him either “really irrelevant and old-fashioned and sort of dusty” or too modernized.
Things have changed after he has achieved “a certain amount of adulthood,” Brand said.
Making Jesus The Inner Voice. Does this resonate with you? pic.twitter.com/FOb6wAIhRb
— Russell Brand (@rustyrockets) January 27, 2024
“It occurred to me that if instead of always talking to myself inwardly, I could replace one of those voices with an indwelling God,” he said. “It says in Galatians it’s our job to die, so that as Christ died on the cross, he might be reborn in us.”
Brand’s video was met with an outpouring of support and encouragement from users on X, many of whom said they were praying for him. Pastor Greg Laurie responded to Brand by posting a long letter addressed to him in which he explained that he once was put off by Christians until he heard the gospel. Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon wrote: “If he’s not a Christian already, he may get there soon. The important question he needs to answer for himself is not whether Christianity is useful but whether it’s true.”
Brand has suggested in recent months that he is on a spiritual journey leading him toward Christianity as he faces allegations of sexual misconduct from two decades ago. In December, he revealed that he was reading the Bible and “The Problem of Pain” by C.S. Lewis, a 1940 book that explores the role of suffering in a Christian context.
During an interview with Tucker Carlson last year, Brand said, “Like many desperate people, I need spirituality. I need God, or I cannot cope in this world. I need to believe in the best in people.”
Talking about stardom, he shared, “I fell face first into the glitter, and I’m only just pulling myself out now.”
“As much as I might enjoy the feeling of privilege and luxury… I remember what reality is,” Brand said.
As “atrophying and corrupt systems delivering yet more misery to people” continue to leave their mark on society, Brand told Carlson he believes that real cultural change will only come when people explore their hearts.
“I think it’s increasingly necessary that we find new ways of framing the conversation and looking into our hearts when we’re speaking,” he reflected.
–Alan Goforth | MV