Justin and Hailey Bieber’s Fans Mad Over Church Minister’s ‘Invasive, Inappropriate’ Instagram Post
Justin Bieber and his wife Hailey Bieber have been making headlines ever since a post about their relationship needing prayer was made public by a Church pastor and subsequently by Hailey's father, Stephen Baldwin. The founder of All Things Possible Ministries, Victor Marx, raised eyebrows earlier this week when he urged his 350,000 followers to pray for the famous couple on his Instagram page via a now-deleted post, BuzzFeed reported. Fans are disgusted by the pastor and Hailey's father's indiscretion.
In addition to revealing that Hailey's mother was praying for the couple, Marx shared a video of Justin on the guitar, performing the song I Could Sing of Your Love Forever. The pastor wrote beside the video, “Christians, please when you think of Justin & Hailey, take a moment to offer a little prayer for them to have wisdom, protection and to draw close to the Lord.”
As a former pastor, here is my take on this. General principle is a pastor should NEVER do public media posts about members of their church without permission. Especially such a vague post like the one made by Hailey & Justin Bieber's pastor. #Bieber https://t.co/wZEJqYnyyx
— Rev. Patrick Mahoney (@revmahoney) February 29, 2024
Justin and Hailey were later seen on February 28 going to a late-night service at Churchome Church, which is located in the Beverly Hills Saban Theatre. The couple, who are devoted Christians, have always been transparent about their religious views, even having met at a church, but this outing was especially notable since it came after their pastor made this odd social media remark.
“There are special challenges that folks in high visibility positions face and also the enemy doesn’t want them to draw closer to Jesus,” Marx wrote in the cryptic post. “So often regardless of the material things or the accolades they often face spiritual warfare that is intense, and seeks to ship-wreck their faith, marriage, and life in general.”
Just hours after Stephen Baldwin asked the public for prayers for Justin and Hailey Bieber, the A-list couple emerged from church looking stoic. https://t.co/2BrLzmOIxl (🎥: Backgrid) pic.twitter.com/0QLe54ZeUO
— TMZ (@TMZ) February 29, 2024
As a result of the consistent media coverage that followed this post, many fans have taken to social media to dub the post as 'invasive,' considering the two are otherwise a private couple. Marx's remarks were discussed on a Reddit community, where the minister received criticism for his 'inappropriate' conduct.
Stephen Baldwin knows damn well how famous his son-in-law and daughter are and just how much the media tries to attack their marriage EVERY day and yet he still felt it was appropriate to “call for prayers” on something they’ve never talked about publicly?? Adding fuel to fire?? https://t.co/BSIiT0VN4E pic.twitter.com/yLjSR6aOFC
— P 🦋 (@paulinareacts) February 29, 2024
“This is so invasive! High visibility position and you thought it’s a good idea to post on INSTAGRAM?” a person commented, slamming the minister for putting the couple under the spotlight. “If I were Justin or Hailey, I would never talk to this man again. This is so inappropriate,” another chimed in with their disdain. Another fan added, “What an unbelievably out-of-bounds thing to do!” Another person shared that they feel this is a strong invasion of someone's privacy, writing, “Whatever is going on with J&H, this is an appalling invasion of their privacy by their church.”
One more user slammed the minister for name-dropping, sharing, “Name-dropping Justin and Hailey’s mom is so strange to me like this… people will do anything for attention this screams that.” Another fan slammed the pastor for not listening to the Church's own teachings, saying, “So creepy, especially from someone purporting to follow the teachings of a man whose instructions for praying were 'go into your room, close the door, and pray to your father who is unseen.' Is there a portmanteau for Instagram and hypocrite yet?”