What Should We Make Of Justin Bieber’s Baptism?

Canadian teen pop idol Justin Bieber has been in the news a lot recently. Earlier in the year, the singer has been arrested twice, once for a DUI while allegedly drag-racing down the streets of Miami and once for assaulting a limo driver. The year before had seen the release of a video of Bieber sleeping taken by an alleged prostitute. Then this month a video emerged in which a young Bieber tells a joke that uses racist language against African-Americans. If that wasn’t bad enough, a second video emerged with Bieber using racist language a few days later.

In the midst of the harsh media coverage last week came the news that Justin Bieber had turned to God. Outlets like The Christian Post reported that Pastor Carl Lentz of Hillsong NYC Church had baptized Bieber in a friend’s bathtub. He also appeared in a Christian rap video called “The Pledge,” in which he spoke about his belief in God’s forgiveness. Bieber has long professed to be a Christian, but he certainly seems to be much more vocal about his faith in recent weeks.

The public reaction to Bieber’s literal and figurative Christian immersion has been skeptical to say the least. One comment on the original Bieber story sums up the general view pretty well: “Publicity stunt, shameless little twerp.” During one Fox News segment, the liberal and conservative contributors alike agreed that Bieber’s baptism was a stunt. “Do you really believe… that he’s studying the Bible; that he cares about the Bible; that he cares about anything but Justin Bieber?” asked Fox News’s Juan Williams.

The question for Christian then is this: Are we called to unconditionally accept sinners who profess to be repentant? Are we ever called to express skepticism about the sincerity or their motives? Or is there perhaps some middle ground here?

The rest of this blog comes with the disclaimer that, contrary to what dozens of gossip magazines would say, we don’t have the full story here. Allegedly, Justin Bieber engaged with his pastor for a full week before his baptism, and has been looking to be baptized since February. Ultimately, the decision to baptize Bieber was Pastor Lentz’, who no doubt did what he thought best. Obviously, there’s only one party here with all the answers, and He tends to save His judgments for the next life.

I’ll admit that I’m uneasy with the idea that we should doubt the sincerity of someone who seeks to become a Christian. Part of this uneasiness is practical; how many souls would be lost because well-meaning Christians approached sinners with even slight adversity? It also just doesn’t seem to synch with basic conceptions of courtesy and hospitality. It seems rude to respond incredulously when someone asks your assistance in being led to God. Certainly, I support probing potential Christians about their beliefs and requiring them to renounce their sins as a prerequisite to baptism. But questioning their sincerity seems at first glance to run contrary to the radical hospitality God expects from us.

But I’m also uncomfortable with the proposition that Christians are required to unconditionally give the benefit of the doubt to anyone who comes forward claiming to be repentant, especially if they ask to be baptized. Baptism is an outward expression of Christian faith and a person’s rebirth in Christ. But it also represents that one has entered a community of believers. Christians have a duty to ensure that anyone entering that community is genuine in their repentance and belief. There’s a reason virtually all denominations require some sort of discernment or meetings with a pastor before a candidate can be baptized.

God doesn’t call on us to be intentionally obtuse, but instead to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Consider the following example: Bob constantly grouses to his co-worker Ellen that he hates being forced to work on Sundays. He’s the world’s biggest NFL fan, and he doesn’t have DVR or anything to allow him to watch games at a later date. Ellen mentions offhand that their boss gives her Sunday off because she’s a Christian. Later that afternoon, Bob the lifelong atheist walks into Ellen’s office and says he’d like to become a Christian. It seems foolish to say that Ellen shouldn’t immediately consider the possibility that Bob is more concerned about seeing the New Orleans Saints than the heavenly saints.

That’s an extreme example but consider a more common occurrence. Judy and Frank are in love, but Judy refuses to marry someone who isn’t a Christian. Frank agrees to join her Lutheran church, after a lifetime of non-practicing Judaism. There’s a fairly obvious alternative motive in play here (albeit a fairly benign one). Hopefully Judy’s priest doesn’t turn a blind eye to that motive, baptize Frank, and hope for the best. But I imagine that’s exactly what happens on a regular basis.

So yes, I do think that on at least a few occasions, Christians are called to question the motives of those who present themselves as seekers of the faith. But I am still uncomfortable with the reaction to the Bieber baptism. Mostly, I worry that those who approach it with skepticism do so for all the wrong reasons.

Why are people skeptical about Bieber’s newfound faith to begin with? Is it because he’s in the midst of a public scandal, and he has something to gain by feigning religion? I suppose there might be something to the idea that the timing is suspicious. But at the same time, the timing seems perfectly natural. It’s often when we’re at out lowest that we turn to God. Justin Bieber has the misfortune of having his lowest moment being plastered all over the Internet and television.

I suspect the primary reason many are skeptical of Bieber’s baptism is because of his past sinful behavior. That’s hardly fair. If baptism was intended only for the sinless, John the Baptist should’ve closed shop after he finished with Jesus. There’s no biblical basis for supposing that a sinner is less worthy of God’s redemption because he sinned more often, more publically, or more gravely than other sinners.

The history of Christianity is full of converts who had done far worse than Justin Bieber. I can imagine the shock of the earliest Christians when they heard the news that their persecutor Saul had joined their ranks, and the Book of Acts tells us how the Jerusalem disciples initially refused him. But Barnabas put his trust in God and urged his fellows to accept the new man that was Paul. The mediamocked and doubted Chuck Colson’s conversion when the Watergate-tainted lawyer found God in prison, calling it a ploy to reduce his sentence. Colson backed it up with decades of ministry, focusing especially on the worst sinners among us. And if I may be blunt, I imagine some of those on Fox News who doubt the rekindled faith of one drunk-driving hard-partying rich kid also voted for George W. Bush.

What worries me the most is the sense that many people doubt Bieber’s faith simply because they don’t like him. Put simply, that’s a perspective that has no place in Christian thinking at all.

Perhaps I’m a fool, and Justin Bieber really is using Christianity to sell records. Perhaps we ought to hear about his baptism and harbor some doubts. But at the very least, we owe him an opportunity to change our minds.