Singer-songwriter Mike Posner has publicly opened up about his Christian faith, revealing that he committed his life to Jesus Christ about a year ago and was baptized several weeks ago.
The Grammy-nominated artist, best known for songs such as “Cooler Than Me” and “I Took a Pill in Ibiza,” shared his testimony Wednesday in a lengthy Instagram post to his 1.4 million followers. The post also included a video showing his baptism in calm water at sunset.
“A year ago, I got down on my knees and gave my life to Christ,” Posner wrote.
The 38-year-old singer said his journey toward Christianity began after several unusual experiences that he described as “a series of Christ-based synchronistic events.”
Posner recalled that one friend appeared to know details about events in his life without having been told about them. During another experience at a small church service, he said he felt what seemed like “electricity” moving up his spine and was left with “a deep feeling of Oneness.”
He also described an encounter in which a Christian friend unexpectedly mentioned an event from Posner’s past that had been on his mind only moments earlier.
“I interpreted [these] signs as signals for me to take a step towards Christ,” he wrote. “I did so.”
Rather than focusing on whether the experiences could be explained as coincidence, Posner said the greater significance was the change that followed.
“The veracity of these events and whether they could be pure happenstance versus ‘signs’ from God is not that interesting to me,” he wrote. “What is interesting is what happened afterwards.”
Following his decision to give his life to Christ, Posner said he began studying the New Testament and reading works by prominent Christian figures, including C.S. Lewis and Mother Teresa.
He acknowledged, however, that he initially wrestled with what being a Christian actually meant and did not immediately agree with everything he encountered in church.
“Some of the doctrine I heard espoused in church felt true to me, and some didn't,” he wrote.
“For ME; To be a Christian means to aspire with all your mind, body, and soul to live as Christ did,” he wrote. “To forgive all other people. To treat ALL other people, especially the least among us ... with an impossible level of compassion, grace, and most of all LOVE.”
He described that calling as “LOVE CHRIST BY LOVING PEOPLE” and pursuing “an impossibly high standard of goodness towards others.”
“It means listening to the little voice inside me (that I believe comes from God) that tells me to do [the] right thing, even when I don't feel like it,” he wrote. “For me, if it isn't causing me to LOVE MORE PEOPLE MORE FULLY, it isn't God.”
Posner also disclosed that he was baptized several weeks ago. Footage included at the end of his Instagram post shows him emerging from the water and raising his hands toward the sky.
“Christ has not made my life or my heart smaller, but much, much bigger. I'm working on developing more and more of a personal relationship with God.”
“Do I think that my job as an aging pop star qualifies me to tell you what to believe? I do not,” he wrote. “But to not share this would feel inauthentic and like I was hiding a part of myself from my audience and I am not hiding this part of my life. But I am proud of this part of my life.”
