Dallas said he believes the COVID-19 pandemic was significant in generating interest in “The Chosen.” The pandemic is “what I think started that convergence between people’s interest in Christ and the availability of a show like this to meet that interest and then ultimately lead to more Bible reading, more desire to know Christ,” he said.
Brand responded that his own conversion was “preceded by brokenness in my case as well, as you correctly diagnosed.” The actor said he thought it was “fascinating” that the pandemic was “intended for bad” but “has ended up being used for good.”
Before getting into the rest of their conversation, Brand invited Amanda to join them to “break bread,” that is, take communion, and he asked the couple what Scripture they recommended he read as they did so. After some discussion, Brand settled on John 6:53-59, which says:
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Brand then asked Amanda to “say some words,” so she said a short prayer. “Well, Lord, what an honor to be right in the middle of where you’re moving and to know new believers and to experience their zeal,” she said. “We’re so thankful for Russell.”
“We’re so thankful for his platform,” she continued, “we’re so thankful for Jesus, though we’re so thankful for what we get to do, what we get to be a part of, what we get to spread to the world. And we’re so thankful for your sacrifice.”
Brand prayed next, thanking Jesus for Jesus’ sacrifice and the redemption he provides. “Thank you that I’m redeemed by your suffering,” Brand said, before thanking God for Dallas and Amanda and for the awakening that has come through the director’s work. “Thank you, Jesus Christ, for your blood. Thank you that you died for me. Thank you that we’re healed by your sacrifice and that we may know eternal life in you. Amen,” said Brand.
Russell Brand’s Journey
Throughout his journey, Russell Brand has received criticism from some who think he ought to learn more about his newfound faith before speaking publicly about it.
Most recently, some have reacted to a clip Brand posted on X in which he said, “Now that we are tethered potentially to continual self, we are going to have to, I believe, learn new ways of understanding Scripture and new ways of receiving him.”
“Because, as the Word was written in the language of its time, anticipating all time,” Brand continued, “for surely, he exists beyond time and beyond space and outside the senses—the ultimate reality is beyond the conditions of our reality as we appreciate and receive it. We, as inhabitants of this realm, are going to have to learn how to operate within technology.”
