Justin Bieber Calls Out Pastors Who Put Themselves on a ‘Pedestal’
Pop singer Justin Bieber called out pastors who put themselves on a pedestal and cause the church to be surrounded by them instead of being focused on Christ as the center of the church. In an interview with GQ Magazine, Bieber, an outspoken Christian, stated, “I think so many pastors put themselves on this pedestal. And it’s basically, church can be surrounded around the man, the pastor, the guy, and it’s like, ‘This guy has this ultimate relationship with God that we all want but we can’t get because we’re not this guy.’ That’s not the reality, though. The reality is, every human being has the same access to God.”
In addition to calling out pastors who put themselves on a pedestal, Bieber reminded fans that Christianity isn’t a self-help religion, rather, it is about coming to God for help and letting Him lead and change you for His will, The Christian Post reports.
“I came to a place where I just was like, ‘God, if you’re real, I need you to help me, because I can’t do this on my own. Like, I’m struggling so hard,” Bieber told GQ.
The singer then shared that after asking God for guidance on whether he should make more music, quit music altogether or be more in service, etc., God gave him the certainty he was looking for. “If God forgives me and He loves me, and He set these things in motion, if He put these desires in my heart, then I’m going to trust Him,” he said.
Bieber went on to talk about how God placed Pastor Judah Smith of Churchome, who counseled Bieber and helped him better understand what God wanted from Him in his life. Now Bieber tries to be a light to the lost. But, more specifically, he tries to reach out to the lonely, confused and scared younger self that he was before God saved him. This is why he has switched to making more overtly Christian music and songs about helping other people out.
“I just kept trusting what He said and what He’s saying to me,” Bieber said. “And I just believe He speaks to me. It’s not audible. I don’t hear His audible voice. I don’t know if people do. I know people have said it, and in the Bible, it talks about that, but I just never heard it. It’s more like nudges: Don’t do this. Or: Set these boundaries.”
Bieber recently dropped his Justice album and a surprise faith-based EP on Easter called Freedom.
Related:
Justin Bieber Releases Surprise New EP Featuring Pastor Judah Smith
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Neilson Barnard/Staff
John Paluska has been a contributor for Christian Headlines since 2016 and is the founder of The Washington Gazette, a news outlet he relaunched in 2019 as a response to the constant distribution of fake news.
