Chris Pratt’s Conversion & a Call to Pray
oe Church in Los Angeles is Chris Pratt’s home church, where he attends along with his fiancée, Katherine Schwarzenegger, daughter of famous actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Pratt recently made his faith in God very public in his acceptance speech at the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards.
Pratt came to faith in Christ at the age of nineteen when a Messianic Jew, a Jewish person who follows Jesus as the Messiah, shared the gospel with him outside of a grocery store in Hawaii. Vox Magazine recently outlined Pratt’s conversion and the public testimonies of other celebrities like Justin Bieber, Kendall Jenner, Selena Gomez, Hailey Baldwin, and Kevin Durant.
There are a couple of extremes we should avoid in thinking about the faith of famous people. One is to be overly skeptical of their testimony. We can often roll our eyes and think, “Yeah, right. I know what movies they have played in or what songs they have performed.”
The truth is, if our lives were made as public as theirs, people might be more skeptical of us. God doesn’t save any of us because we are good, and sanctification is a life-long and often messy process. Use caution in rushing to judgment. Be charitable.
In other words, extend as much grace them as you hope others will extend to you. And since we are all undeserving recipients of God’s grace, we might keep that in mind as we consider such matters. There will be zero boasting in any of our efforts in heaven. It’s a gift and we are all beggars.
Another extreme to be avoided is to think that the spread of the gospel is dependent upon the conversion and testimony of celebrities. God uses famous people, of course. But the bulk of church history is made up of stories of God doing remarkable things through humble people in humble places.
The truth is, we should indeed thank God for anyone who comes to faith, and certainly pray for our brothers and sisters who face the temptations and pressures associated with their fame as they seek to live for Jesus.