Russell Brand slams Olympics opening ceremony 'decadence,' shares favorite Bible verse
Comedian Russell Brand spoke out against the recent controversial Olympics opening ceremony and shared one of his favorite Bible verses in recent social media posts.
"There are times that I've told you when I felt far from Christ," Brand said in a video he posted to Instagram on Wednesday. "This is the verse that brought me back into connection with our Lord."
Brand went on to read Isaiah 43:1, which reads: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine."
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"My feelings of faith have altered lately, because I've had the sense that through fear I might take back my self-will, that I might through fear think I have to be in control of the situation," Brand said. "If you feel that you're being attacked, if you are under threat, it seems obvious, rational, sensible to take back control."
Brand went on to explain that he has found a new freedom in surrendering to Christ in faith and relinquishing his desire for control, which he said is not a concept he understood before becoming a Christian.
"But the sensation of faith — allowing Christ in His sub-molecular potency, right down to the granular, right out into the cosmological to order all things for we are dealing with the King of eternity," he said. "And this is something I never understood before I was a Christian, but you are stepping out of the cubic reality afforded to you by materialism and rationalism and into a transcendent realm where you are given grace — where, once I've accepted sin, and surrendered, and allowed Him to carry me, I'm granted a new freedom.
"'Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I've called you by your name, you are mine.' I don't belong to myself anymore," he added. "And that is true freedom."
In another post, Brand also blasted the recent opening Olympic ceremony in Paris that drew global backlash for its mock portrayal of the Last Supper with , exposed male genitalia, and an obese, lesbian DJ in the place of Jesus.
"I'm pretty down with inclusivity and diversity," he said. "I think people should be able to be who they want to be, whether you've got a traditional or progressive lifestyle. In a decentralized culture, where you're not continually being cajoled and bludgeoned by a powerful state backed by commercial interests, you might choose to be a traditional Christian or a Muslim or a Jew or an atheist. And you might want to be a drag queen or whatever. It's actually no one else's business."
Brand, who has been open about the hedonistic lifestyle he renounced to become a Christian, suggested the spirit of the opening ceremony seemed to fly in the face of inclusivity. He said they represented instead the destructive values he personally fled in the wake of multiple sexual assault allegations against him, all of which he has denied.
"What was extraordinary, I suppose, to me [about the opening ceremony] appears to be the deliberate evocation of Christian imagery in order to — what? Deride it? In order to what? Attack it? Undermine it?"
"What are the values that are being proposed here? Is it hedonism? Is it decadence? Is it individualism? Is it that the self — your own personal set of decrees, desires and edicts — are the apex and supreme hierarchy of ideologies? That there is nothing superior and supreme to which we have to surrender?"
In another post, Brand suggested the Olympic opening ceremony is an example of the pervasive decadence that reminds him of biblical descriptions of the End Times.
During an interview with Tucker Carlson last year in the months leading up to his conversion, Brand said, "Like many desperate people, I need spirituality. I need God, or I cannot cope in this world. I need to believe in the best in people."
He acknowledged that he "didn't have enough self-discipline to resist the allure of stardom" and "fell face-first into the glitter, and I'm only just pulling myself out now."
Brand made international headlines earlier this year when he converted to Christianity following a lengthy public wrestling with faith. In April, he was baptized in the River Thames, along with Bear Grylls and another friend.
During an interview with conservative influencer Benny Johnson at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, earlier this month, Brand said he believes a "spiritual darkness" is becoming increasingly apparent in society.
Jon Brown is a reporter for The Christian Post. Send news tips to jon.brown@christianpost.com
