Is Justin Bieber a Born Again Christian

It'southward 2014 and Justin Bieber is staying with Carl Lentz, pastor of Hillsong Church building, New York. The world is at the acme of Biebermadness and stories near all kinds of antics are appearing in the tabloids.

One night, it seems, everything that'southward happened over the past decade catches up with him: the stories, the drugs, the women...Bieber has striking rock bottom. And in that location, in Lentz' apartment, the biggest pop star on the planet drops to his knees and, while sobbing, says he needs Jesus.

So Pastor Lentz and Justin pray. Justin Bieber and the pastor of Hillsong NYC – praying Bieber'south mode into the kingdom. And when they've finished praying, Biebs says two words: 'Baptise me.'

Lentz starts to search for a date and time for this to happen, but Bieber isn't having it. 'I want to practice it now.' That's baptism, right? Bieber realises he can't continue to live the manner he'southward been living and realises that right now, in that very instant, he needs a fresh start. If this is some biblical illustration, Lentz has get Philip and Justin Bieber is the Ethiopian eunuch (we might need to leave that detail piece of imagery there).

Hillsong NYC has a swimming pool in a Manhattan hotel that it regularly uses for baptisms. (Of course information technology does.) When they plow upward at the hotel, the press and hundreds of fans are already there – word has got out. And then Lentz calls one of his friends, this particular friend existence i of the best basketball players in the globe, Tyson Chandler. Chandler'due south building has a pool. So they shoot over to New York's Upper West Side only to discover there'southward no access to the pool. Bieber is getting itchy baptism feet.

Only there's another affair almost Tyson Chandler. He's absolutely massive. 7ft1in. So Chandler is one of the handful of people on the planet whose bathtub is big plenty to baptise Justin Bieber. Off they caput to Chandler'due south apartment. Chandler's wife prepares nutrient and lays down towels and Bieber, soaked through, is on his knees in an NBA thespian'due south bathtub, sobbing into a Hillsong pastor's chest, reborn.

THE Rise OF BIEBER FEVER

After being discovered on YouTube in the late 2000s, some canny marketing and support from major labels and huge acts (including Usher) saw the singer speedily sell out shows and delight teenage fans across the world. Bieber's 'Baby' became one of the most popular music videos ever.

'We have the greatest healer of all and his name is Jesus Christ'

With acclaim came both derision and terrifying fandom. To many he was the epitome of the constructed pop star – a money-spinning persona created for the pre-teen female person market – and Bieber became the butt of a 1000 cruel jokes. Meanwhile he produced a devotion among his fan base of operations that verged on hysteria. On Twitter, trending topics were dominated by followers talking about his latest songs, and in 1 scary incident, #CutForBieber, young 'Beliebers' cocky-harmed in an endeavor to get the star's attention.

Unsurprisingly, Bieber found it hard to adjust to his heightened contour, quickly going off the rail and hit tabloid front pages on a regular basis for teenage pranks, drugs, turning up late for gigs or smashing upwardly sports cars. If ever a pop star needed a miraculous turnaround, it was Bieber.

Then allow's take the two extremes of Bieber and bring together the dots: the teenage kid who everyone realised was a wrong'united nations, and the 20-something crying in Tyson Chandler'southward bath. Somewhere in the interconnect betwixt those two orbits, Bieber befriended the hipsters' mega-pastor of option, Seattle'southward Judah Smith. How did this happen? Here's what Smith told Premier Youthwork a couple of years ago: 'His mom came to a briefing and heard me speak. She got a couple of my cassette tapes, and would play them for him while he fell asleep at nighttime. When we first met several years ago, he said, "Yous used to put me to sleep with your preaching." I said, "Justin, that's non what preachers want to hear."'

So Smith and Bieber strike upward this pastoral friendship and a little later, when Bieber is really struggling, Smith calls up Carl Lentz in Bieber's hometown, NYC, and says he needs some aid. And that's how Justin Bieber ended up in Tyson Chandler'due south bathtub.

FINDING PURPOSE

Here's what Carl Lentz recently said about Bieber: 'This male child is 21. He's in a horribly toxic world. He is trying to do his best to figure this out. He has never been anybody only who he has professed to be, which is a work in progress.'

Bieber by numbers

As of 2015, Justin Bieber had sold 46.v 1000000 records in the United States, including 10.7 1000000 albums

He is worth $200m and earns $60-80m per year, according to celebritynetworth.com

His My Globe album went platinum merely 3 months later on its release

He gains an boilerplate of 207,788 fans on Facebook a week

He was listed three times by Forbes mag amongst the tiptop ten Nigh POWERFUL celebrities in the world in 2011, 2012 and 2013

Work in progress is an apt description of Bieber in 2016. His latest album Purpose was released concluding year and was not but his virtually honest, personal work to engagement, merely also his best. Purpose sees him request the same questions most life and faith as many of us, likewise as facing up to his headline-grabbing mistakes. 'Sorry' sees him address this clearly, with the lyrics: 'I know that I permit you down, is it as well tardily to say I'm sorry now?'

Reflecting on the terminal few years, Bieber recently told Complex: 'I shouldn't exist on the planet still. I call up information technology was by the grace of God.' Afterward in the interview Bieber said: 'My faith has gotten me to where I am. My organized religion has brought me to a whole other level. I love talking about my faith. I recall that with Christians, they've left such a bad taste in people's mouths. Merely like, overly pushy with the subject, overly churchy and religious. I'1000 not gonna permit [my vox] not be heard anymore. I'm gonna utilize my vox for a reason.'

Information technology was at this bespeak in the interview that he started preaching: 'I just wanna honestly alive like Jesus. Not be Jesus – I could never – I don't want that to come across weird. He created a pretty awesome template of how to love people and how to be gracious and kind. If you believe it, he died for our sins. Sometimes when I don't feel like doing something, but I know it's right, I think, I'thousand pretty sure Jesus didn't feel similar going to the cross and dying so that we don't have to feel what we should take to feel. What Jesus did when he came to the cross was basically say, "You lot don't take to feel any of that stuff." Nosotros could have out all of our insecurities, we could have away all of the hurt, all the pain, all the fear, all the trauma. That doesn't need to be there. And then all this healing that y'all're trying to practise, information technology's unnecessary. We have the greatest healer of all and his name is Jesus Christ. And he really heals. This is it. Information technology's time that we all share our voice. Whatever you lot believe. Share it. I'k at a point where I'yard not going to agree this in.'

POP STAR PREACHER

In the run-upward to Christmas 2015, with Bieber having dominated the charts and seemingly heading towards the coveted Christmas number ane position, he threw his support behind the NHS Choir, tweeting: 'For 1 calendar week information technology's ok not to be #1. Allow'southward exercise the right thing & assist them win. Information technology's Christmas. @Choir_NHS adept luck.' Gone was the egotistical, selfish brat. He'd been replaced by a mature young person who seemed to empathize his place in wider society.

The most extraordinary track on the Purpose album is 'Life is Worth Living'. Lyrics from this song include: 'God sent an affections to help you out. He gave y'all direction, showed you how to read a map only that long journey ahead said it ain't never over even in the midst of doubtfulness...They try to crucify me. I ain't perfect, won't deny. My reputation'due south on the line. So I'm working on a amend me…People make mistakes. Only God can judge me.'

Equally if all this wasn't enough, at a recent LA concert, Beiber invited Judah Smith on phase and once once more preached. The LA Times reported information technology like this: 'He talked virtually the importance of maintaining a positive spirit and surrounding himself with encouraging people. He credited his connection with God for helping him to become back on his feet afterward a cord of widely publicised tabloid troubles. And when a fan in the audience – 1 of a dozen or so selected by the singer'south team for a question-andanswer session – asked if he had whatsoever communication on how to go through a romantic break up, he demurred, flashing a flake of the humility that every religious leader knows is crucial in establishing a bond with one'southward flock.' Similarly, in a contempo interview with Billboard magazine, Bieber took the announcer to church, hugging the reporter while singing 'How He Loves Us'.

Bieber took the journalist to church

This isn't an isolated story. At an issue on the night of the Paris attacks, Bieber stopped to lead the crowd of tens of thousands, as well every bit millions watching at home, in prayer. 'God, we just give thanks you and so much through all the pain and all the darkness,' he said, optics shut, his right hand nervously clutching his left bicep. 'God, you lot even so shine your calorie-free. Help us to just focus on you through it all.'

PEDESTALS AND PROGRESS

So, what exercise we do with Bieber? Invite him to our churches to preach? Hail him equally the 21st-century Cliff Richard – a pop star reaching the masses with a Christian testimony? Put him on a pedestal that he'll inevitably fall from? As tempting as information technology is, we need to avoid that. Despite exciting baptism stories and the confidence of a young human being prepared to use his platform to share his faith, let's atmosphere our expectations of Bieber (and other celebrities who confess a Christian faith). Rather than put all our hopes and expectations on this fellow, allow's celebrate that one of the most famous young people on the planet has found Jesus. Let's rejoice when we hear him inviting pastors on phase and quoting Bible verses midway through gigs. Only we take to avert the flip side as well: allow's not spring on him when he (inevitably) has a wobble, or cast him out of our cosy in-crowd. The Church has already done that to Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and a host of other pop stars. We heralded them when they had a conversion feel, then castigated them when they failed to live up to our expectations.

Having said all that, allow's let ourselves a moment to remember how swell this is…Justin Bieber is singing about grace, hope and redemption. He's sharing the 'work' that is 'in progress' with the globe. And gloriously, his baptism seems to take resulted in him hitting his creative superlative. Bieber is no longer a punchline; he'southward a story to be shared and celebrated. He's not someone to warn our young people confronting, he's condign an example for them to follow – a story of a life transformed via a huge bath and some brutal honesty.

We're all Beliebers now.

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Source: https://www.premierchristianity.com/home/belieber-how-justin-biebers-christian-faith-got-reborn/2332.article