Pray for Justin Bieber
When a celebrity says they follow Jesus, be slow to criticise and quick to pray.
We all know them – Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Mel Gibson, or the politician who says he believes the Bible. At one point or another, many famous personalities have professed Christian faith and belief in God. But they don't always seem to follow through with their beliefs. Sometimes they even outright deny things we would say are core Christian beliefs.
We may have initially been encouraged to see Christians standing up in the public sphere saying that they believe in Jesus, and so we can then get frustrated and annoyed at their seeming lack of follow through.
Be slow to criticise
Have you ever seen a self-proclaimed public Christian do or say something, and thought…
“Seriously, you call yourself a Christian and then say that!”
or
“How could you give Christians such a bad name by doing such and such!”
But is this the reaction we should be having? Or is there something more godly we can be thinking and then doing?
The answer is yes – stop and pray.
Be quick to pray
The Bible calls us not to use words that tear others down, rather to use our lips and words for talk that is “good for building up … that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).
We are also urged to pray for all people, “for kings and all who are in high positions ... this is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).
God wants us to pray for these personalities, because it is He who changes hearts and He who forgives when they stuff up. But it is also good to pray because it is a reminder to us that we are no better. We sin too; it just isn’t captured by the paparazzi’s cameras and shown to the public.
But it is known and seen by God. So when we pray for Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Mel Gibson or that Christian politician, we can also stop and pray for ourselves, for forgiveness where we have failed and for strength to not fall again.
What to pray
In the future, there will be more public figures who declare their faith in Jesus. When they do, here's a few things to pray for:
- Give thanks for their boldness (2 Corinthians 3:12)
- Pray that they might remain strong in Christ (1 Corinthians 16:13, Ephesians 6:10)
- Pray that they might continue to be a good witness for Jesus in their field and to all the people that look up to them (Colossians 3:17)
And if they fall and sin (like we all do), we should not judge them. Rather we should stop and pray for them, that they might be restored and might again become a good witness. How about you stop and pray now for someone that you know of who is a Christian in a prominent position.
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