Famous actor Russell Brand recently defended his water baptism from critics who argued it was inappropriate for him to be in underwear during the monumental moment. In a provocative rebuttal to the critics, Brand sarcastically asked, “Are these tighty-whities satanic?”
Brand shared several photos to social media in late September, showing him and another man baptizing an individual in a river. However, Brand and the other man performing the baptism were wearing underwear, leading some to criticize it as indecent. He wrote in the post, “It might be a bit soon to be baptizing people, but the Apostles did it on day one, so here we are.”
One person commented on Brand’s post, “Come on.. why is it the one who’s being baptised be the one with shirts on while both of you naked.” Another echoed this sentiment, stating, “Everything that is done in Jesus name is supposed to be done decent and in order that is the word of God . Him in his underwear showing off his body parts is not decent. I pray he gets closer to the father.”
Brand responded to the online criticism, suggesting that, in hindsight, it may have been inappropriate to conduct the baptism in such scantily-clad attire and subsequently sharing the photos to the followers on social media. However, he explained that the baptism was not a planned “photo shoot.”
“I suppose looking at it now, it does look a bit immodest, me doing a baptism in underpants like that. But the truth is, I took off my clothes and my underpants is all I’m wearing underneath my clothes,” Brand said in a video uploaded to social media. “That’s what I’m wearing right now. It wasn’t a planned photo shoot. Some of my mates took photos for their friend, actually. Evan was getting baptized.”
“Anyway, some people thought it was a little immodest and me showing off, judging from the comments,” Brand continued. While acknowledging that he may have been trying to “show off” but it ultimately trying to perform good works in the name of the Lord. “You know, I read the comments below. But what I’d say is this — and I’m a little bit of a showoff — the Lord made me a little bit of a showoff, but it is for Him that I am showing off now, not for me.”
Brand continued, “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.”
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