Russell Brand Details Baptism, Says Christ Became ‘Unavoidable’
By Movieguide® Contributor
After sharing on social media that he got baptized at the end of April, actor and comedian Russell Brand went further in-depth into his decision, explaining why now was the time to devote his life to Christ.
“I’ve reached a point in my life where, for a long while, in fact, I’ve known that the material world was not enough…I’ve learned as an addict in recovery [that] the pursuit of my own goals on my own agenda always leaves me cold and always leaves me empty and always leaves me wanting more,” Brand said.
“You can never have enough of what you don’t really want. For me, this is a new discovery. It is a surrender, undertaken in gratitude and in sincerity. I know it’s not something I’ll be able to undertake perfect but for the first time in my life, I fully understand that I’m not at the center of my universe,” he continued.
Brand’s conversion to faith has been a long time coming, fueled by not only his past addictions and hedonism but also by relationships in his life leaving him feeling empty. It is only through Christ that he has found the peace and wholeness that he has been chasing his whole life.
“Baptism. This Sunday I’m taking the plunge!” he posted on April 26, describing baptism as “an opportunity to die and be reborn; an opportunity to leave the past behind and be reborn in Christ’s name like it says in Galatians—that you can live as an enlightened and awakened person.”
“I’ve been on a journey that has been, of course, inspired and impacted by suffering…If you have a loving relationship with a partner that is where you’ll find a great deal of solace but, I don’t know how you feel, sometimes, the material world and human relationships, they’re not enough,” he said.
“I felt a calling and mistranslated it time after time as various forms of addiction, substance misuse and drinking too much and an overwhelming urge to lose myself in concupiscence, continually looking for love in all the wrong places,” Brand added.
The actor feels that his coming to faith represents a wider movement in culture as more and more people, especially in the younger generation, turn to religion to fill the emptiness they are finding in the world. While culture and media insist that the world is becoming less religious, the reality is that more people are seeking religion than ever.
“It’s interesting to me that people on mass, in particular young people, are recognizing that the material world that I sought to find solace in and comfort in is no longer serving that function for many young people,” Brand explained. “That’s extraordinary, isn’t it? People are waking up. People are realizing it doesn’t work, it isn’t going to work.”
“Someone like me, who, for a long time, was associated with, I don’t know, a decadent, hedonistic Hollywood lifestyle, making a move like this. I mean, you tell me what you think about it. A lot of people may be surprised by it…” he added. “[I] feel like we have an opportunity to address why it is that people are turning to faith.”
“For me, I’ve reached a point where the figure, the personage, the presence of Christ became overwhelming, unavoidable,” he noted.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Actor and comedian Russell Brand has decided to put his faith and trust in the Lord and was baptized over the weekend.
“Yesterday, I got baptized, and it was an incredible, profound experience,” he said in an X video posted Monday.
He described how, in the past, he sought tranquility, peace and transcendence through substances. But “something occurred in the process of baptism that was incredible, overwhelming…I felt changed, transitioned,” he explained.
“I feel as if some new resource within me has switched on…this is my path now, and I already feel incredibly blessed, relieved, nourished, held…this is new to me, and it’s a joy to me,” Brand added.
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