Transcription
Comedian Theo von is getting real about his struggles and his faith. On his podcast this past weekend, the 46-year-old opened up about battling behaviors he's not very proud of and crying out to God for change. He says he's simply asking for a new story. Let's watch what he had to say.
"You know, I've been struggling, man. I've the past like couple years I've had, you know, it's been a struggle. You know, sometimes I I realized for myself, I would pray to God to to help me get away from certain behaviors in my life. Uh but at the same time that I was praying, there would be a part of me that knew I was probably going to do those things again. And there's a story called John 5, and it's about a guy who's at these pools. There's a sick man there, and he's been sick for a long time. And um and Jesus a and Jesus asks him, "Do you want to be healed?" He asks him, "Do do you want to be healed? And that's a crazy question because you know, if I get healed, then I'm different. So, that's just been something that I've been having to ask myself. It's like, yeah, do I want to be healed? Do I really want something different? And sometimes a a lot of the answer is no. I don't I want something different, but I don't want to. I don't know if I'm scared of it. I don't know what I am. I don't know if I don't want to do what it takes to get. I I can't even tell what it is. It's hard for me. This Some of this stuff's a little bit hard for me to say. I think I don't even know why, but I I think I want a new story."
All right, Raj, that was actually really interesting to watch on so many levels. One of the things that really struck me and when people are feeling something deeply when when they're speaking, they pause, they collect themselves, they think. Sometimes they're going to get emotional, so they pull back. And there were numerous moments where Theo was doing that where you could see he was really grappling with whatever the struggles are, whatever he's dealing with, and we all have struggles, right? It's so relatable. He's being really open about that because when you're in a position like he is, it is often so much easier to not be open, to not share, to not let people know you're struggling. And I love the fact that he's like, "Look, I'm struggling." And he and he went deep on it. And I really appreciated that.
>> Absolutely. I really appreciate the authenticity and the realness. My goodness. Uh Theo, God of heaven, Yeshua Hamashiach, the Alpha and the Omega, he is pulling on your heart, my friend. I am praying for you, brother. But let me encourage you in a couple things. First off, uh what you read, the pool of Bethesda, uh chap John chapter 5, that's a a very real place. Like they found it. Uh you can go visit it. There's a there's a church St. hands I believe right there in Jerusalem and you can go down in this little archaeological park and see the colonads and see the steps going into the pool. Um this isn't Middle Earth or Narnia or Hogwarts. This is a very real place uh that you can see in Jerusalem in Israel. And so my encouragement to you, my friend, um is to go uh and see these locations because I think that'll really bolster your faith. This isn't allegory. This isn't fantasy. This isn't even um myth. This is history. Uh this is a very real place that this event happened.
Um, but then I was thinking all right God like this is such a a tender um authentic thing that that Theo is sharing like what what what what could I add to this conversation and and God said you know flip the page and I flipped the page to uh John chapter 6 uh when when God's in Capernaum and um when Jesus in Capernaum and I was like huh that's interesting but let me read it real fast just a couple lines. Um Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." And I then I feel like this is what everyone's striving for uh in Hollywood, in entertainment business. It's like, "Sir, they said always give us this bread." It's and I think that it's just like, "Hey, like we're hungry. We we know we we're missing something that we're not complete. Like no matter how much success or fame or clicks or notoriety or whatever I get, it just it's not it's not filling me. It's not working. I thought I all the accomplishments that I wanted to accomplish, I've accomplished. And it's like it's not it's not doing the thing that I thought it would do. I've I've peered over the mountain tops of fame and fortune and success and there's nothing there. Sir, give us this bread."
And here's my um encouragement to you, Theo. Then Jesus declared, "Oh, I am the bread. O, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." He's not just the Messiah, which is the how you say Messiah in uh Hebrew. He's not just um the way, he's the way. He's the truth, he's the life. Um he's not just the good father. He's not just the alpha and the omega. He's not just the the the mighty one coming on the clouds of glory as Daniel talked about. If you read all elsewhere in G in in John, it's I have called you my friends. He's He is able to empathize because he experienced all the things you've experienced. He's close. He's near. He wants communion with you. And that thing, that itching, gnawing, just just thing inside of you that can't be satisfied. It's one word and it's Yeshua, which is Jesus's when Jesus was walking the word, walking the the land, he wasn't called Jesus. That's a Greek way of saying his actual name, which is Yeshua, which means literally in Hebrew, God saves. Um, so yeah, man, Theo, he is he is the bread of life and whoever comes to him will never be thirsty or hungry. So that's my encouragement to you, Theo. Yeshua Hamashiach, Yeshua of Nazareth. Um, he is that thing that you're looking for, my friend.
You know, I'll just close out with this. You know, we all we all want a new story. And even when we have a new story, there may still be struggles. You know, Paul still dealt with and and of course there's a debate about what the thorn was that he was dealing with. Was it persecution? Was it something physical? Was it, you know, people will debate that and they can debate that, but the point is, you know, if you're looking for perfection, you're not going to find perfection, but you can find freedom. And you can find freedom in those struggles, but you may still have something that God allows to be there to draw you closer to him. But I want to encourage you with Isaiah 43:19 because this verse I've always found powerful. It says, "See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland." You know, there's always a way forward even when it feels like there's not. So, I don't know what those struggles are. I know that God has redeemed things in my life and he has the power to do any of it. And so, lean in, pray, and trust you're on the right path doing that already, Theo. So, we uh we wish you well.