Nikos Vertis is a popular Greek singer with five released albums to date. In an interview a few days ago on ΑΝΤ1 he was asked about and spoke about his Christian faith, among other things, which is a rare topic for him to address, and even spoke about the lack of faith among today's youth. He said:
"I love Christ very much, I have Him in my life. We are going through a time when many people, especially young people, are afraid to say, 'I believe in Christ.' I don't like this. I want everyone to have the freedom to express what they believe, whether its Christ or Muhammad or nothing. I don't think it's nice to hear, 'I believe in a higher power.' It bothers me, because yes, everyone thinks there is something higher, but they are afraid to express it. Why do I believe in Christ? Not for the miracles He has done or have been written about. I believe in Christ because He has this thing that represents me in my life. The beginning and the end. What is this? Love. With love you solve everything in your life, you fight everything, even your problems, if you have love, they are solved right away, automatically, the knot leaves your stomach. What does love mean? Go home, there is your wife, your family, your friends. If you have problems and they come to pat you on the back, what is it, but love. So this is Christ to me and that's what He taught me.
I have said many times to priests who are my friends, and I know what I'm about to say might sound harsh or perhaps I'm not saying it right, that if they threw away the gold they wore, like the gold cross, not the cross itself but the gold cross, and the limousines, and were more humble like Saint Paisios, and other elders that I had the chance to meet, they would attract more people and the youth near them. Humility is what will bring the youth to church and not extravagance.
And one more thing, because I know I will be judged for what I say, but I don't care. 'He who is without sin let him cast the first stone.' I am a sinner, I'm not a good Christian, but I believe very much in Christ. I have my sins and make many mistakes, but every day I try to improve. However, before we judge every priest, every community, the church being a community, yes there some who are strange, prone to anger, swear, which is wrong, but one day they will all be judged for what they do. We should not judge them, because if we want to believe in Christ, to be near to Christ, with love, we must judge and improve ourselves."
