As Justin Bieber appears to spiral more and more online, he’s ditching the one thing that used to be a priority in his life — church!
According to The US Sun, the embattled pop star has not attended a service at his nondenominational church in Beverly Hills, Churchome, since March! AKA since it was called a “cult” by the singer’s ex-BFF Ryan Good!
Related: Hailey ‘Begged Justin To Take Some Space’ From Relationship
The church is led by pastor Judah Smith, who Justin has been close with for years. It’s their friendship that supposedly ruined his connection with the stylist. Per TMZ sources, the former friends haven’t spoken in a year due to a fallout over the spiritual advisor, who Justin put on the board of his and Ryan’s co-founded brand Drew House despite the latter’s concerns. The Holy artist has since cut ties with his friend and the company.
Despite leaning on his spirituality in many cryptic social media months in recent months amid drug speculation and rumored marital issues with Hailey Bieber, it turns out the couple has not been seen at a service in three months. The pastor even hinted at trouble in an emotional, rambling sermon this week!
According to the outlet, Judah spoke for over an hour as part of the religious institution’s monthly in-person sessions on Wednesday night. About 250 people gathered at the Saban Theater for the Christhome Experience — in which Judah was late! He apologized before launching into a teary speech, name-dropping his pal, E! News host Jason Kennedy, who was in the audience, while sharing that his friends have been worried about him. He expressed:
“Recently, I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I’m okay. Which, [at] face value, that is a wonderful thing to do, right? A text, ‘Hey, you good?’ ‘Hey, you okay?’ The problem is when they add up, I start to wonder … maybe this has happened to you, wait, am I okay?
So Jason and I went to Miami this past weekend. It was a great time. And I ran into so many old friends I hadn’t seen in a while. And I was kind of taken aback because one person said, ‘Hey, are you good? You okay?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, no, I’m good.’ I’m kind of like, what have you heard? Then another person, ‘Hey man, are you good? Are you okay?’ Should I not be? Yeah, I’m still married to Chelsea. We’re having sex pretty regularly. My kids are 20, 18, 16, I don’t, uh, yeah.”
But no matter what he said, the questioning continued with everyone he encountered:
“And then another person, ‘Hey, you good? You’ve been on my mind.’ Um, thank you. You ever had that? Someone’s like, ‘You’ve been on my mind.’ You’re like, ‘I haven’t thought about them in years.’ You don’t say that, of course. You’re like, yeah, me too. I mean, it’s good to see you.”
He’s been in the media because of the “cult” allegations, so it’s not shocking that he was on people’s minds FYI! But clearly, this was all getting frustrating for him, and making him second guess everything:
Now part of that is like, wow, what a thrill, what an honor, what a privilege. Now, some of you right now, already, I’ve missed you with this message because you’re like, ‘I wish to God somebody would ask me if I’m okay,’ but have you ever been asked so many times if you’re okay, that you started to wonder if you’re okay?”
In the conversations, he insisted he was “great,” but he could tell from his own tone of voice he was not only trying to convince his friends of that but himself.
Judah later broke down in tears talking about the challenges of life in LA:
“And we live in a town where if your friend turns on you, they go to the press. We gotta let forgiveness flow through the streets like rivers. We have still forgiven each other and look at each other in the eyes, say I love you and you know what man, I need you. That’s the irony. I need you.”
And while some are choosing to move away from the city to find more peace, he can’t — or won’t (similar to the pop star):
“We move further and further away. I’ve had Christians tell me I gotta get outta hear, and I’m like, I can’t leave! I don’t wanna leave! This city needs people who care about people. Maybe you’re not okay because you forgot what the prize was and the very individuals that have so frustrated your life might be the individuals you’re called to.”
He added:
“It’s [life] always been about people, but we made it about popularity and we made it about appearances. It’s always been about people.”
He ended with an emotional reminder that God was asking them all to “take care” of each other. Wow. See some of the sermon HERE. He got deep. Obviously, this has been weighing heavily on him… Is this about the cult comments? Is he also worried about Justin’s absence and mental health right now??
Judah previously hit back at the cult allegations, and while churchgoers seem to agree, one person did tell the outlet that the organization has had its struggles. The anonymous male member dished after this week’s service:
“I’ve been coming to this church for five years. I’ve grown so much lot spiritually. Things aren’t always perfect but I know pastor Judah comes from a good place. He has a good heart, he’s the real deal. Haters are gonna hate but I think he has the right intentions. At the end of the day, pastors are also human, they do make mistakes, but it’s up to us to help pray for them and uplift them. I haven’t had negative experiences with Judah but I used to be in the prayer group and that didn’t work out. I’ll leave it at that. But that didn’t discourage me [from coming]. Every church has its issues, there’s mental illness with the people that go there. No church is perfect.”
Hmm.
That “mental illness” comment is inneresting. Wonder what that is a reference to…
As for Justin’s absence, he added:
“He’s a big celebrity, he’s got a busy schedule. And not to mention the health issues he’s going through, everyone here is supportive. He’s participated here, given words here, so we all love him.”
Wait… His “health issues”?? What is he referring to there? His rumored struggles? His previous health battles? Or do they know something we don’t? Huh…
Interestingly, the same churchgoer used to be a member of JB’s former disgraced spiritual community Hillsong, but he insisted they were “two different worlds.” Another person said:
“There’s no pressuring [people] or anything. I’ve seen Bieber here, they help him get in and out without being [mobbed], but we haven’t seen him recently.”
What do U think is going on? Is Justin just opting not to attend in-person services? Did he find a new church? Or is it his rumored addiction issues keeping him away? Tell us what you think (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN & Churchome/YouTube]
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