Famous actor Russell Brand recently gave an update in his Christian faith during an interview with conservative commentator Dave Rubin. Brand illustrated that he is “learning” as he continues to deepen his relationship with Jesus Christ, emphasizing that one must center their life around Him.
“Since becoming Christian, I am learning in my choices to recognize that, as Rick Warren, says, ‘It’s not about you,’” he said. “I’m reminded that if my aim is self-fulfillment and if I am the center of my universe, then I am probably going in the wrong direction.”
The actor also addressed the backlash he has received since publicly expressing his conversion to Christianity. According to Brand, he came to the decision to give his life to Christ after it “really hit me in my heart hard.” He emphasized that he truly believes it is the right choice.
“Obviously, the choice I’ve made is because I believe it to be the right choice. It’s something that I’ve deliberated over, and actually curiously, it wasn’t just a choice that I actually made. It was a series of things that unfolded. I was reading about Christianity, I was learning about Christianity, and something really hit me in my heart hard,” he said.
Brand went on, “It has to do with humility. It has to do with loss. It has to do with suffering. But I don’t automatically assume that because I’ve become Christian everyone that’s interested in my content should immediately become Christian. I’ve just done what I believe to be right.”
The Christian Tribune recently reported on a previous message Brand shared on social media, giving viewers an update one month after getting baptized. The actor noted how notable the change in his life was after placing his faith in Christ.
“I’ve been a Christian a month now and it’s been a big change,” he said in a video uploaded to X. “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.”
He added, “No, repentance, to repent, means that you have to continually change and acknowledge that I am in a battle against myself. That I need to surrender myself to an ever-present eternal and accessible Jesus. That mercy is something that’s been given to me, been granted to me, that I live with through love, not something that I can sort of win or achieve by doing good deeds.”
Brand further pointed out that, in times of uncertainty, God provides him guidance. “When I am in doubt, I feel the instruction there is accessible and I know what I am supposed to do and when I don’t do what I am supposed to do, that is even clearer. When I feel myself being selfish or inconsiderate or putting myself first or not thinking about how I can be better to other people, it is as if there is an inner illumination available to me now.”
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