Award-winning religion journalist Cathleen Falsani is best known for capturing voices where pop culture and spirituality meet and has conducted numerous interviews with celebrities of many stripes from Bono to Obama. She also has authored The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People, Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace and The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers. Her latest book is Belieber! Fame, Faith and the Heart of Justin Bieber; and she recently sat down to talk with YWJ about Justin, the book and why she wanted to write it.
Click here for an exclusive excerpt of Belieber!
YWJ: What prompted you to write this book?
Cathleen Falsani: I was having lunch with one of my best friends…and we were talking about a few book ideas. We were bouncing around ideas, and he said, “I think you should write The Gospel According to Justin Bieber.” We bantered back and forth, but I realized there was a huge opportunity here. This is an opportunity to reach young people.
Not long after that lunch, Justin’s cover story was in Rolling Stone, and it hit my radar. I hadn’t ever listened to his songs, at least not consciously. I didn’t really know much more about him except he was young, cute and knew Usher. I knew who he was and that he was a cultural phenomenon. So, I sent my agent my thoughts, and less than two weeks later had a book contract. It was something they wanted to do and something that needed to be done right.
A couple of weeks later, I took my son to see his film. I was like, “OK, this kid has something really, really special going on; it’s more of a macro-level message, not only how he sings, but how he lives. Basically, his message is: believe, have faith, pay it forward. His message is so real and consistent.
YWJ: Is Justin really a Christian? If so, what kind? How committed is he?
Falsani: I think so. There’s a bit about that in the book about that…He has said that God/Jesus is the one thing that keeps him sane. His mom says he made a commitment when he was 5 or 6 and was baptized when he was 8. She has told him all along that it’s his journey, his relationship, that his relationship can’t be because of hers or because he sees her doing a certain thing.
He’s been involved in “paying it forward” financially and with his influence well before anyone knew who he was outside of Canada.
When there’s this strong of a cultural response, I tend to think there’s something spiritual going on. For example, no one sort of likes the Coen brothers—you either love them or you can’t stand them. All their movies have a spiritual element to them. They ask hard questions in each of their films and often don’t answer them, and there’s a huge appeal in fan base.
I thought that might be the case with Justin. He never tries to posture himself…he’s really authentic and humble.
YWJ: Describe Justin’s faith commitment as you understand it.
Falsani: He easily could’ve gone Christian music route, but he purposely chose not to do that. Patty (Justin’s mother) knew a few people in the industry. She’s such a prayer warrior and takes the guidance of prayer very seriously. When trying to decide which path, in terms of Justin’s music career, she felt that she was hearing from God: “You’re supposed to be a light in the world. How can you be a light in the world if you’re not in it?” As wonderful as Christian music is, it’s sort of preaching to the choir. If it is supposed to be an evangelistic tool, as frightening as it was for Patty, I think she made the right decision. Look at the audience Justin’s reaching.
His mother is such a prayer warrior, and I think he’s seen the way prayer can change things in his own life. He’s so transparent that when he talks about his faith…there’ a lot us older believers can take from that and a lot that his peers can learn, especially when it comes to making mistakes. More often than not when he makes mistakes, he apologizes, picks himself up and keeps going. I don’t think you can ask much more from someone than that. I think he handles himself with such grace.
YWJ: Is his faith a big part of his music, performances and persona?
Falsani: One thing I appreciate about the way Justin talks about his faith is there’s no whiff of triumphalism or that he’s right and wants someone to be on his team. He really does have a living relationship with a loving God. He keeps his feet on the ground and knows God is the source of all that’s come his way. He’s very aware of that.
He also talks in explicit terms and will tell fans: “Jesus loves everyone of you.” He has such a transparency and authenticity that they might really believe him. That’s a big difference from someone at an awards show once a year saying, “I want to thank my friends, family and most of all God.”
With Justin, I do see a real faith; and I see it in the way he chooses to spend his influence. He’s one of the first celebrities to call for prayer when there’s a tragedy, flood, etc. It just seems to be the way his heart is oriented. For his birthday, he doesn’t want people to send him cards and gifts. He doesn’t want them to throw Justin Bieber parties. Rather, he asks fans to raise money for wells for people in the other world parts of the world who don’t have access to fresh drinking water.
YWJ: Is Justin a companion to young people on their journey of faith?
Falsani: Companion? He’s got two or three friends from Canada They’ve walked with him through this, and those are his confidants. People are more often trying to walk with him. (Usher has really come up to support him.)
If you really want to know what’s going on in your kid’s life, read (his or her) Twitter account. What makes Justin’s so unique is that he has a personal and intimate relationship with his fans. Most celebs are so guarded that we’ve never really seen this before. Most don’t open that window into their lives.
Justin’s (Twitter page) goes from the profound to flirtatious. You get a pretty full picture of this kid if you read his tweets alone. He jokes with his fans. He flirts with them. He follows them.
There’s a medium-sized nation of people who follow him, and I believe it’s really because of his message of grace and God’s love. His songs are often about puppy love, but they could be about God’s love for you. What we’re all really looking for is someone who knows us despite the truth about ourselves and loves every bit of us.
YWJ: What impact do you think Justin has on his fans? Are there many adult fans, or does he appeal only to tweens and teens? Why?
Falsani: This is the big secret. According to the demographics, almost one-fourth of the fans are adult woman (late 20s to mid-40s). There are an awful lot of moms who’ve listened to his music either going back and forth to guitar or sports practice. I would say there’s a pretty good-sized adult following.
What’s interesting is the backlash…It was really cool to be a Bieber fan, and now it’s really uncool. Girls really like him a lot, but boys don’t—or at least they can’t admit they like him and his music.
YWJ: Name an artist to whom youth workers grew up listening that we can compare Justin Bieber to in terms of impact and popularity.
Falsani: Bono was also in the industry at a fairly young age. By the time they were in their late teens, they were releasing their first music. Bono’s a Christian and very much steeped in the evangelical church in Dublin. They were challenged early on about how they could be believers and rock stars. People would say, “That doesn’t compute,” and Bono said, “Yeah, we think it does,” which speaks volumes about grace and being the hands and feet and voice of Jesus in the world.
I look at Justin Bieber and see has a similar kind of opportunity, and he’s already seizing it to work for the healing of the world and take on the cause of being a voice for the vociceless. Their music cannot be more different. They are very different types of music, placing very different things in culture; but their platform is the same. Justin’s is even bigger. I’m encouraged by the way he is seizing the opportunity that Bono has been involved in. They both do a lot of things under the radar, but they’re public when they should be public.
YWJ: Why should youth workers know about Justin Bieber? What should they know about him and his influence, and how can they use that information with their students?
Falsani: Justin tweeted two messages in a row to his father asking, “When are you joining the tour again?” “I miss my dad.”
He’s on the other side of the planet, and he misses his daddy; and fans realize the fondness and affection for him, which is so very sweet because he is 17.
He does spend a lot of time away from home. For the past four years, home hasn’t even been home. Justin’s been in Atlanta (vs. Ontario). Scooter (his manager) is deeply religious (Jewish). I think Justin is starting to realize he’s not going to have a normal life again. He’s always going to be the answer to a trivia question even if he disappeared tomorrow.
For that reason and others, his family deliberately surrounded him with people dedicated to keeping him as normal as possible—to goof off, date, eat the wrong foods…They expect him to be polite, respectful, etc.; but the fastest way to get fired from Team Bieber is to indulge him as a superstar. People around him know the goal is to help him become a good man.
He does get lonely. He does want to get in his car, pick up Selena and take her to a movie. He’d like to be able to do that without a team. He was aware of what he was getting into, but he does get lonely. It is possible to be surrounded by the screaming fans and still be really alone.
Also, having that kind of wealth…God bless his mother for trying to usher him into adulthood. She was alone, 18 when she had him, and now he’s a superstar.
I think he has a groundedness that is not superficial. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he’s old he will not be lost.”
When you become a believer at such a young age, it’s not as dramatic as being delivered from heroin addiction. You make the more spectacular mistakes after you’re a Christian. Justin is living and will continue to live through that. I hope he understands that doesn’t make him any less of a Christian. It just makes him more fully human. That’s why Jesus came and why He doesn’t leave us.
When Justin’s unsure—maybe more so when he is sure—it’s important for him to remember there’s not a single thing he or anyone can do that will make God love him any less or anything he can do that would make God love him any more. Patty’s OK because she knows God’s got him—that’s what she means when she refers to the hooks in his heart.
I think he holds that same grace and truth for people in tragedy. I’m looking forward to him getting older and expressing his thoughts in his music more directly.
Believe is his next project, and he’s writing his own music and lyrics for it. I can’t wait to see how he expresses these things. He has incredible talent and platform. So far, he’s making good decisions. I have great hopes that will continue.
He’s showing the world what a life of faith looks like: Not every hair is in place. You do make mistakes. What matters is how you deal with those mistakes. I like that he has an edge to him, that he’s not saccharine. Fans like because he’s not some prefab from Disney/Nickelodeon. People think, “If it can happen to him, it can happen to me.” Fans get that he’s just a regular kid and feel that he understands them because he’s like them. He’s not from a Hollywood family and does not have a birthright to any of this. He represents something we haven’t seen before because media developed as it did when it did. Providence…flings the doors open.
The kind of conversations we have with our kids…about faith, eternal life, vocation, how you share your faith with somebody else…one word that comes to mind is hope. I’m trying to think about the youth minister and kinds of conversation he or she is trying to have. Music and film are the language of this generation. You can’t come at students with pre-millenialism, but you can come at them with a movie. That’s a much more natural point of entry—it’s the cherry on top that gets to the lentil salad underneath. If you can talk about something happening in popular culture, it’s a much less intimidating way to talk about these things.
The things I was passionate about when I was 15 are still things I’m totally passionate about now; and they’re all about God, and they’re all about faith. At the time, I didn’t know how to articulate these things; I was just the weepy kid waiting on U2 to play LiveAid. We have no idea how (interests) will blossom.
I think if we pay attention to kids’ passions—even if we don’t understand and it’s annoying—we should help them find the language to express them. There’s something more to those things to which they cannot deny their draw or attraction.
I hope that’s part of what the book does—to convey that we ARE in the world. So, we need to be able to speak the language. When God’s trying to get our attention, He will use any and all means to do so. I don’t think Justin Bieber is any more an outlandish choice than David, Balaam’s ass or any number of the apostles.
YWJ: What else should they know in order to talk about Justin (or other pop culture figures) with their youth?
Falsani: I think one of the more difficult topics to discuss with kids is sexuality. Justin has made statements in the past about wanting to remain pure until he’s married. There must be unbelievable temptation and opportunity—all these women and girls who would throw themselves at him. Selena had a different but similar upbringing and has made similar statements. This topic is not comfortable to talk about, but we have to. If he is having sex and a Christian, what does that mean? It either can be terrifying or an opportunity for parents and youth workers. Here’s a superstar who faces the kind of things they do. It’s another way, although uncomfortable, to turn into something good; but grace makes beauty out of scary, uncomfortable things.
