Justin Bieber’s decision to cancel 14 of the remaining dates of his extensive, Purpose world tour left a lot of people scratching their heads. Given how long he’d already been out on the road — the tour began back in March of last year — and how many shows he had already performed — 149 concerts total — it’s totally reasonable to expect that maybe a little fatigue lead him to abort this final run of massive stadium gigs. In making the announcement, Bieber’s camp remained characteristically coy, citing “unforeseen circumstances.” Then a new theory popped up.
According to sources in Australia, and later reported by TMZ, Bieber’s decision to cut his tour short had something to do with a spiritual reawakening an his decision to start his own church. Apparently, Bieber is said to have gotten very close to Hillsong Church pastor Carl Lentz and as a result he’s rededicated his life to Christ.
Citing a source at the annual Hillsong Church Conference in Sydney, Australian TV host Richard Wilkins said:
“I am led to believe that the real reason he has come off the road is because he wants to reconnect with his faith and he may be even planning to start his own church. We know that he was in the country a few weeks ago having meetings and attending the big Hillsong convention that they had here. [He’s] very close to a lot of the Hillsong people. Whether he’s looking at teaming up with them in something of a more permanent situation or doing some sort of religious activity on his own — starting his own church — we’re not quite sure, but that’s the word from an inside source.”
TMZ finally caught up with Bieber earlier this morning and asked him point blank if his religion had anything to do with the end of the purpose tour. The singer was confused, but emphatic: “No.” He repeated the denial, then said, “You already know the reason.”
