Earlier this year, famous actor Russell Brand made the most important decision of his life: placing his faith in Jesus Christ. Since his monumental surrender to the Lord, Brand has made headlines in Christian media as he gives updates on his newfound journey in the Christian faith. In a recent discussion with Neil Oliver, Brand affirmed that he is “in the business” of laying his life down in service to Christ.
“In surrendering to Christ, there is something extraordinary about saying there is this man, another man, entirely God, entirely man. But through some necessary, extraordinary, metaphysical act just beyond the edge of rational understanding came the Creator of this simulation came into the simulation and told us ‘Hello, I am God. I’ve come here. Here are some virtues and values,’” Brand said, discussing insight into the interaction between God and man.
The actor further cited prominent Christian author C.S. Lewis, explaining that he eventually came to the conclusion that he must abandon self-servitude to pursue full submission to Jesus Christ. Highlighting man’s inherent brokenness, Brand discussed how it is a constant battle to fight off the temptation of “egotism,” which brings about desires of the flesh.
“C.S. Lewis talks about the ‘stoics era’…to imagine that one might be able to do always what one can do sometimes. You know, there are times where it’s like…‘I am not in the business of Russell Brand anymore. I am in the business of service. Serve Jesus Christ. And it’s such a powerful idea that I’m held alive by it. But surely, this parasite nature grips me again, and I return to egotism. I return to wanting and longing and fear. And all of those limiting things.”
Since his conversion and baptism, Brand has consistently documented his walk with Jesus Christ. The Christian Tribune recently reported on an update from the actor where he shared what he had learned from reading the book of Ephesians, which discusses the ongoing spiritual battles that is ensuing around humanity.
“This has been what I’m looking at in the Bible today. You know, Ephesians 6:12, one of Paul’s letters — Paul’s letters to the Ephesians — he wrote a lot of letters Paul, he done a lot of miracles, he got a lot done but he still had time for correspondence … I’ve liked this, ‘For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,’” he said.
Brand also informed his followers on social media, how much his life had changed just one month after he was baptized. “I’ve been a Christian a month now and it’s been a big change,” he stated in a video uploaded to social media. “Not that I’ve entirely changed as a person, of course I haven’t, but I’ve taken on a lot of new concepts and it changes you to accept that it’s not like you’re in a game show and by doing really, really good things you can get redeemed.”
Featured image credit: Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Russell_Brand_Arthur_Premier_(5623329891).jpg