Person with a Bible in their hands on a field at sunset to illustrate someone coming to faith in Christ and studying God's word. By shine.graphics/stock.adobe.com
Over recent months, a number of influential figures have publicly documented their conversion to Christianity, and other celebrity figures have become more open about their faith-seeking curiosity. While Joe Rogan, Jordan Peterson, and others have expressed a genuine and increasing interest in the Christian faith over the last couple of years, others have confessed Christ and are publicly living transformed lives.
As Christians, it can be a challenge to interpret what is real and honest when evaluating these stories. Convoluted stories like Kanye West’s have resulted in Christians getting burned by embracing celebrities and politicians as their cultural representatives too quickly. So who are these new converts and how should Christians respond to their life change?
Perhaps the most high profile conversion has been that of Russell Brand, the British actor and comedian. Brand became a follower of Jesus in late April of this year, at which point he was baptized, with well-known adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls at his side. Since that moment, Brand has very openly documented his faith journey on his X account, primarily through a series of videos like this one, where he describes his recent learnings from the Bible.
Brand regularly posts new spiritual insights, all of which have stayed within the doctrinal bounds of historical Christianity. His faith is more than just a generic belief in God or an appreciation for the tenets of the Bible’s moralistic worldview. Rather, it is centered on the person and work of Jesus. Brand recently wrote, “To me, the Old Testament is like a dark room that Christ illuminated.”
Brand’s story is uncommon in the celebrity world, but not unheard of.
Nala Ray, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and other Christian influencers
Nala Ray, a former top revenue model on the adult content website OnlyFans, became a Christian earlier this year. Ray posted a video of her baptism and deleted all of her previous adult content. She has also documented her journey through a variety of podcast interviews. Ray, in particular, has been met with a barrage of skeptics and critics, likely because of the nature of her previous lifestyle.
God is working in the lives of individuals in other influential industries as well.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a well respected writer and activist, gained a following for her outspoken stances against the fundamentalist Islam she was raised in. After leaving Islam, Ali became an atheist, and remained so for the last twenty years, until late 2023 when she announced her newfound faith in Christ in an article. Ali states that, “I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?”
In this search for influential Christian representatives, it is worth considering celebrities who are not new to the faith, but may be new to using their platform to share about it.
Just last month, AJ Griffin, a 21-year-old NBA player, retired from the Houston Rockets to devote himself to ministry, stating, “I feel like letting go of basketball is allowing me to, you know, go into full-time ministry and truly serve the Lord with all my heart.”
In December of last year, Daddy Yankee, one of the best-selling Latin music artists of all time, announced his retirement from music so that he could further devote himself to the Lord. In an Instagram post, he wrote (translated into English), “Family: This day for me, is the most important in my life… Tonight I acknowledge and am not ashamed to tell the whole world that Christ lives in me and that I will live for him. This is the end of one chapter and the beginning of a brand new one.”
The podcast world has also become a hub for Christian thought to make influential waves. Within the last 18 months, Joe Rogan has hosted long-form conversations with Christian scholar and author Stephen Meyer and Christian non-profit founder Alan Graham. Cliffe and Stuart Knechtle, a father-son evangelist duo, recently shared the Gospel and defended their faith on celebrity influencer Logan Paul’s podcast.
Three steps for responding to Christian converts
The desire to see strong representatives of the Christian faith in influential positions is virtuous. Simultaneously, Christians have been embarrassed and mocked for standing behind influence figures that utilize Christianity as a mask to advance their own agenda, rather than reflect a genuine life change. Here is a three step guide on responding to high-profile figures that wear the badge of Christian faith:
- Recognize that Christians do not need a “cultural” advocate, since the church primarily expands through personal evangelism and the discipling of the next generation of children in the church. The local church is God’s “plan a” for spreading the gospel (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 2:47). This is not to minimize the potential positive impact of Christian influencers, but we must guard against placing unwavering faith in them.
- Research extensively. It is always great news to learn of any individual coming to know the Lord. But before staking your witness on promoting a celebrity’s newfound faith, ensure you have a holistic understanding of who they are and what the story is. Immediate skepticism is generally unfair, but rapid embrace is generally unwise. There is an appropriate balance of patience and excitement somewhere in between. Give the Holy Spirit time to work and look for the fruit of his presence to either validate or call into question the claims made by these new believers (Galatians 5:22–23).
- Petition the Lord in prayer for each of these figures. It should be every believer’s desire to see new Christians persevere in their faith and to glorify God with whatever platform they have been given (1 Timothy 2:1-4; James 5:16).
Dear Christian, you have a platform for influence, too. Whether it is at home, your job, or your bowling league, there is almost certainly a place in your life in which you need to speak with boldness and courage about your faith. It may not be a platform the size of Russell Brand’s but it may include people that a Russell Brand-like-figure could never reach. How are you stewarding the sphere of influence that God has given you?
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