Shia LaBeouf is no stranger to controversy, and has discovered the world is a dark place without God.
In the past, and recently, LaBeouf has been in hot water for a laundry list of reasons. The actor made his first big splash as a child star in the hit Disney show Even Stevens, and has been caught in a myriad of troubling situations. He was once arrested in Walgreens and was charged with assault at an anti-Trump protest. He was in a dark place in his life before filming of his latest movie began.
During an interview with Word on Fire Catholic Ministries’ Bishop Robert Barron, LaBeouf explained how he had been at the end of his rope, and was contemplating suicide:
“I had a gun on the table. I was outta here,” he explained to Bishop Barron, “I didn’t want to be alive anymore when all this happened. Shame like I had never experienced before—the kind of shame that you forget how to breathe. You don’t know where to go. You can’t go outside and get, like, a taco.”
LaBeouf went on to explain, “But I was also in this deep desire to hold on.”
This is a sinking, hopeless feeling that many Christians have experienced before their amazing encounters with God. They can now recognize these feelings of hopelessness as lies from the devil. Satan got close to taking LaBeouf out, but then God intervened.
While filming his new movie based on the Catholic priest, who some considered “mystic,” Padre Pio, LaBeouf claims he encountered God and converted to Catholicism in an amazing way.
It is fitting that LaBeouf, a controversial figure, should be the one to portray Padre Pio, a beatified and canonized friar reported to have suffered from stigmata (the wounds of Christ) for most of his life. The authenticity of those claims of course remains a point of discussion between members of the Catholic church and independent physicians who examined the priest. During filming, LaBeouf stayed at a monastery and lived with the Franciscan Capuchin friars, who are of the same denomination as Padre Pio. As his study continued, LaBeouf explained he was not focused on studying or learning about God but on his film career, and that the Lord reached out in an unexpected way:
“I know now that God was using my ego to draw me to Him. Drawing me away from worldly desires. It was all happening simultaneously. But there would have been no impetus for me to get in my car, drive up [to the monastery] if I didn’t think, ‘Oh, I’m gonna save my career.’
“And when I got here, a switch happened. It was like Three-Card Monte. It was like someone tricked me into it, it felt like, not in a bad way. In a way that I couldn’t see it. I was so close to it that I couldn’t see it. I see it differently now that time has passed.”
LaBeouf joins other Hollywood stars who have turned to God in their darkest hours. Christians need to pray his relationship with God continues and does not sputter out with this newfound peace.
Perhaps the Lord was foreshadowing his plans for LeBeouf by portraying Boyd “Bible” Swan in the World War II movie Fury. His character was studying to be a preacher before being drafted into the Army. Maybe God has future plans in ministry for LaBeouf?
All too often, the draw of money, fame and worldly desires draw new Christians back into Satan’s design for them. This is not a critique of LaBeouf’s heart, but a heartfelt prayer that his journey with God continues and deepens and leads to more lives being won by the saving knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. {eoa}
James Lasher is a Copy Editor for Charisma Media.
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