By the time you read this, Russell Brand will have received his sentence. Last week a jury in London found him guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, following a four-week trial. He was cleared on other counts.
I haven’t been following the trial closely, but the details which I have read are grim—his behaviour towards women often grotesque. Brand doesn’t deny aspects of how he has treated women over the years—describing it as selfish, exploitative and even sinful, yet he maintains there was consent in all of it.
Even so, there is much foulness in these accounts—even in the things admitted. As a pastor, I want those who carry what was done to them to know that God hears them, and that their cries for justice and healing matter to him.
I have never been a fan of Brand, but a couple of years ago I was intrigued to see on social media him investigating Christianity, and then making a very public declaration of his faith in Jesus Christ.
One of the big questions of course is, was he trying to use Christianity to rinse his reputation and soften his guilt? Or did his sense of guilt drive him to look into Christianity?
I don’t know—time will tell the genuineness of it. Prison—when a ‘show-faith’ will be of less use—will give particular opportunity for the genuineness of his faith to be seen and to develop.
But here’s what I will say:
Anyone, even people who have done terrible things, can find forgiveness and transformation through Jesus Christ. The startling truth of the gospel is that you can’t be too bad. Christ’s death would pay for your guilt, no matter how big.
But forgiveness does not mean you are free from the earthly consequences of your actions. A murderer can place his faith in Christ and still rightly spend the rest of his life in prison. Even if Brand’s faith is genuine, it should not lighten his sentence. Consequences aren’t merely punishment; they are justice for the wronged, and God cares about that justice.
A genuine Christian should own up to his past and seek to make restitution for it. Admitting to sin in general terms is easy; owning specific wrongs to the people harmed is what costs. I think this is where I’ve been disappointed. If there is guilt there, I would expect a Christian to admit it in court and not put others through the trauma of testifying. I know of a man, now an upstanding Christian, who is in prison because he came forward to admit wrongs from his distant past which he could have got away with. I admire his integrity.
Time will tell what Russell Brand’s faith is worth. But there’s a question here for the rest of us. It’s easy to measure ourselves against a man like him and feel relieved. The apostle Paul does the opposite. He admits his failure and calls himself the worst of sinners, not for effect but because he had seen himself as God sees him. That admission opens the way for startling good news: Mercy is there for those who admit they need it. And, if we’re honest, that should be all of us.
“Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy… Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.” (1 Tim 1:13,15)
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