In July of this year, Justin Bieber suddenly canceled his Purpose tour. At first, the excuse was that Bieber was “just over it,” a sort of tantrum-y baby version of ennui. Then we heard that Bieber was actually canceling his tour because he had rediscovered Jesus and he wanted to get serious about his Christian faith. In the months that followed, I have been surprised that Bieber has been so low-key, just in general. He’s not falling out of nightclubs every night. He’s not traveling that much. He’s been staying in LA, and when he does get pap’d, it’s usually as he’s going back and forth from Hillsong, the church founded by Carl Lentz. Lentz and Bieber have been tight for years, and Lentz was given credit this year for the whole new Bieber we see before us – Low Key Baby Biebz, full of contrition and sadness. That was his angle when he re-seduced Selena Gomez too – he wanted to make it right with her after so many years of treating her poorly. Put a pin in that.

The thing to keep your eye on for the moment is Bieber’s relationship with Carl Lentz, who is often called the pastor to the rich and famous. Even more specifically, Lentz seems to be targeting the Hollywood “kids” – the nepotism models, the children of the famous, the child-stars transitioning to adult actors. Bieber is just one of many in that group, but Bieber is perhaps Lentz’s biggest fish. And Post Malone is calling it out:

Post Malone recently lamented, in a revealing Rolling Stone profile, that his friend Justin Bieber has turned “super-religious” and “real culty,” claiming the pop star had donated $10 million to Hillsong, the megachurch he belongs to. “It’s nice to support something you believe in, I guess,” the rapper said. “But people are spending so much money, and God doesn’t care that your church has a f–king gold roof.”

Now Carl Lentz, pastor at Hillsong New York City, has refuted those claims, telling RS, “I put no stock in comments made by people who know absolutely nothing about the subject they are speaking on. I do not know Post Malone, and I have no idea why he would say reckless things about our church, which he has never visited. Justin has not given our church $10 million, and we do not have gold ceilings. We do not even own a church building. So that gives you a little insight about how serious you can take his observations about anything to do with us.”

Despite the tension, Lentz added that he’s still a Post Malone fan. “He is a very gifted artist,” he said, “and I wish him nothing but the best.”

In Rolling Stone’s original, wide-ranging story, a source close to Bieber also denied that he’s donated $10 million. During the same conversation, Post Malone labeled the mega-church “a total cult” while praising the Purpose singer as a “f–king awesome, great dude” and “genuine friend.”

[From Rolling Stone]

Post Malone’s claim has been picked up by other outlets, and Star Magazine did a story about it too. A source tells Star:

“Carl knows that Justin is hugely influential and will bring other high-profile, rich celebs to Hillsong,” says a source, noting that the church was not only founded by an accused pedophile, it has been repeatedly accused of financial wrongdoing. “Hillsong may seem progressive but make no mistake, Carl is very aggressive about getting his parishioners to fork over their cash. But Justin doesn’t mind – he’s worth more than $300 million and is convinced helping the church will get him closer to Jesus.”

[Via Star Magazine, print edition]

What’s more likely? That Post Malone was just talking out of his ass, or that Bieber has been ensnared by a charismatic religious figure who convinced him to donate a check for $10 million? I think both scenarios are pretty likely, honestly. I think Carl Lentz is shady as hell. I think Bieber wants so badly to be centered that he would write this kind of check to a pastor who showed interest in “the real Bieber.” And I also think that Post Malone might be talking out of his ass. Keep your eye on all of this though.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid.