Moved by his grandfather’s death, oft-raunchy comedian Matt Rife is exploring faith.
After admitting he has “never been a super religious person” and finds church “excruciatingly boring,” the 29-year-old celebrity told “History Hyenas” podcast hosts Yannis Papas and Chris Distefano he “want[s] to believe in God.”
Serious about exploring religion, the Netflix jokester said he was baptized “in a dude’s pool” in August. While Rife did not grow up in a Christian home, he said he decided to take the plunge after occasionally attending church services with friends.
The impetus of his exploration, Rife said, was his grandfather’s death two years ago.
“I’ve never been a super religious person, but, when my grandpa passed away, something hit me that I was like, ‘I’ll never see this person again,'” he reflected. “So something has to exist. I skew Christian, so I started going to church a little bit more.”
Rife continued, “I hate church; I find it excruciatingly boring. But I want to believe in God, and it’s obviously a huge part of the process.”
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The “Natural Selection” comedian is undoubtedly rough around the edges, often sharing scandalous stories and reciting vulgar jokes, but his interest in Christianity seems authentic — and he’s hardly alone.
Distefano, a comedian, recommended Rife check out journalist-turned-apologist Lee Strobel’s best-selling book, “The Case for Christ,” in which the author details his conversion to Christianity, a divine result of his effort to disprove the existence of God.
In fact, in February, when Distefano was on HBO personality and fellow comedian Bill Maher’s podcast, “Club Random,” he suggested the “Real Time” host read Strobel’s book, too. Distefano, who was raised Catholic, told Maher the book helped deepen his own relationship with Jesus.
Other comedians, like Russell Brand and Rob Schneider, have recently found faith in God.
Brand, who has faced a spate of sexual assault allegations, which came out as a result of a joint media investigation, openly converted to Christianity earlier this year. The British-born actor and comedian was baptized in May of this year in the River Thames with the help of reality TV star Bear Grylls, who called it a “privilege” to play such a pivotal role in Brand’s Christian journey.
Schneider, for his part, acknowledged he’ll need to clean up his comedy routines now that he’s Christian.
“I know I can’t do the same stuff I used to do,” he told The Christian Post. “Not because I have anything against what I did; I did what I did, and I felt fine about it at the time. I’m not going to judge myself. But I won’t do the same stuff I’ve done. I don’t know what I’m going to do. … I want to come to it from a place of faith, a place of something good in my heart.”
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