Justin Bieber must be serious about leaning on religion to make himself a better man! And he's clearly educating himself about all different branches of worship, because yesterday the 20-year-old singing sensation spent three hours at Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles with a rabbi!

Justin left the center around 4:30pm and went to Spago in Beverly Hills for an early dinner with his entourage, and the pop star looked rather pensive when X17 photographers snapped him leaving with a take-out container of sorbet. And get this -- Bieber left the restaurant at 6:30pm! So much for a wild night out with the boys...

A photographer on the scene tells X17online exclusively:
    "Justin was very somber. He left the Jewish center and went for dinner and he wasn't screaming out to fans and being his usual excited self. He was just kind of quiet and reserved."

Bieber has been spending time by himself -- he's gotten rid of much of his entourage and has paired it down to just one bodyguard. He hasn't been hanging out with Lil Twist and Lil Za as of late -- he's on a spiritual journey, focusing on himself, getting rid of any negative influences in his life.

According to reports, Bieber was previously in Palm Springs on a mission of sorts with Hillsong Church pastor Carl Lentz, and while Biebs was supposed to be spending two weeks with Lentz, it seems like he decided to come back early. Lentz's house of worship identifies as Pentecostal, and Biebs has long been a devout Christian, so we wonder what he thought of his time with the rabbi. And we're also wondering what the rabbi thought about the time he spent with the heavily tattooed pop star...

Later in the evening the Biebs Instagrammed a totally innocuous photo of himself and a pal and wrote, "Be intentional with everything you do." Is this mellow and thoughtful dude the new JB? If so, we're loving it!