Russell Brand recently gave another update on his faith with Christian influencer George Janko, discussing why he eventually changed his mind about Jesus Christ. Brand recently made the monumental decision to put his faith in Jesus Christ earlier this year, getting officially baptized.
Ever since, Brand has been outspoken about his newfound faith, making a number of podcast appearances where he shares his testimony and the lifelong journey with Christ he has embarked on. In the recent podcast episode, the famous actor addressed topics such as resisting Christ and eventually realizing that he needs to submit to him. Brand began the podcast by discussing key concepts of the Bible, such as narcissism, false idols, and the biblical figure Paul.
“And to start with that compliment about Paul is really apposite and heartening, because I suppose all personal narcissism might, in its own way, be certainly an attempt to be your own god, and even if you don’t want to go as extreme as narcissism, self-centeredness or individualism, not saying that we’re not all individual and that there isn’t a great beauty in our diversity and our distinctions and our differences,” Brand said.
However, he noted that his walk with Christ has changed his perspective on this issue. “But as a Christian, I’m learning that when it comes to the most important matters, we are all redeemed. We are all forgiven, that there is no significant individual merit about among us, that we are all forgiven collectively. I love this, and I loved it when I heard that if it had just been you, if it had just been you, Christ would have come and sacrificed himself for you individually,” Brand stated.
Brand continued, discussing the idea of having his heart softened when turning to the truth of the Gospel and turning away from false idols. “When these kind of ideas and these kind of truths softened my heart very deeply now in my sort of self-infatuation, which, again, it wasn’t entirely consuming, because I’ve been in recovery now for 21 years, and you can’t stay free from drinking drugs without acknowledging a very important truth beyond whatever attachments you might have to alcohol or drugs or behavioral addictions, by which you know not to be cryptic. I mean, it could be pornography or food or sex. You have made those things false idols.”
Janko introduced the conversation, asking, “What did that feel like? Surrendering to Jesus versus other spiritual gods?” Brand responded, “More direct, more clarity, like a sort of the personal relationship dynamic made it more vivid, like I can surrender all day long to a sort of spirit of the universe and to the limitless powers of the deep poetry of quantum mechanics. But that ain’t the same as a as a surrendering to someone who gives their life for me, who is a human being, as well as a god, how it has felt different as well is not only the way I conceptualize it, maybe there’s a difference in the way I conceptualize it, in so much as it’s someone that I see and someone that I can talk to, and someone that I can feel,” Brand said.
Watch the interview below:
Note: Featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.