"What Jesus did when he came to the cross was basically say, “You don’t have to feel any of that stuff.” We could take out all of our insecurities, we could take away all of the hurt, all the pain, all the fear, all the trauma. That doesn’t need to be there. So all this healing that you’re trying to do, it’s unnecessary. We have the greatest healer of all and his name is Jesus Christ. And he really heals." - Justin Bieber, COMPLEX Magazine (Oct./Nov. 2015)

Recently, Justin Bieber has proclaimed to the world his return to how "[his] mom raised [him] to be" - a return to the Christian lifestyle. His cover story for COMPLEX Magazine begins slow, but by the end is a shining testimony of Christ and what He's done in his life. Since 2008, Justin has been mentored and prayed for by Hillsong NY pastor Carl Lentz and Judah Smith of The City Church in Seattle. However, this past year has shown Bieber as a new man, proudly claiming Jesus to be the source of his salvation.

Coming from a Christian perspective, this should be a cause for celebration! Brothers and sisters in Christ, whatever happened to rejoicing in others' salvation? Heaven applauds and welcomes new members to the family, always - so why is it that we so soon turn to criticizing other self-proclaimed Christians?

There are many scriptures in the Bible that prompt us to seek out false teachers within the church and to hold each other accountable for our actions when we stumble. This is no secret. Still, we tend to take it a step further and look to criticize first, putting any concept of "love" on the back burner. In Philippians, Paul calls us to rejoice whenever the Good News of Christ is proclaimed, no matter what the motives for it may be.

For example - let's recall the release of Roma Downey and Mark Burnett's "Son of Man." This film was an example of Christianity infiltrating the mainstream media for the first time in years. It was a realistic and true telling of the story of Christ and a tool that God used to change thousands of lives, drawing His people closer to Him. However, this wasn't on what many of us focused. Instead, we (myself included) pointed out the flaws of this film and tore it apart in a very public manner. We brought our opinions to the forefront of every social media, saying that it didn't do enough or was just a greedy ploy for money created by Downey and Burnett. We ignored all of the good that God was working through this film. The focus was taken off of Jesus and the glory that He deserved. No, the movie did not directly call people to salvation. Instead, it told a story to start the conversation, so that we the Church could step in and finish the process. But as a whole, did we unite and do this? To an extent, yes, but there are more of us that fell short of where we could have been.

The same goes for the story of Justin Bieber now. But that's exactly it - it's his story. Or God's story, rather. Perhaps Bieber hasn't outright praised the church for everything we have or have not done, but he's being real. Maybe his theology isn't completely grounded in scripture yet, but he's learning.

"Welcome all the Lord’s followers, even those whose faith is weak. Don’t criticize them for having beliefs that are different from yours. 2 Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables. 3 But you should not criticize others for eating or for not eating. After all, God welcomes everyone." Romans 14:1-3

I have a newsflash right now for everyone in the Christian community:

JUSTIN BIEBER - one of the biggest celebrities in Hollywood and the idol of hundreds of thousands of girls everywhere - IS OPENLY AND UNASHAMEDLY PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL.

Do you realize what this could mean? Christ has a voice and a vessel to use in the form of someone who the world has been watching for seven years. How can we complain? How can we not be praising God for the great work that He has done in Justin Bieber's life, just like we should be doing whenever anyone comes to accept Christ as their salvation?

I challenge anyone who hasn't previously read the original interview with Justin to read it here.

It's in the last five questions of the interview that you can see his heart changed. He proclaims Jesus to be the source of our salvation and the answer to our suffering. He declares that he wants to live like Christ. He talks about wanting to love God because He loved him first. He claims that he is a Christian not just because he goes to church, but because of his personal relationship with God.

Friends, let's not criticize any longer. Let's do what God has actually called us to do.

Let us rejoice.

"But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice." - Philippians 1:18