M.I.A. on Testimony and Truth: ‘It Was [The] Christian God That Turned Up to Save Me’
By Movieguide® Staff
Music artist M.I.A. recently shared about her conversion to Christianity in 2017 and the challenges of that come with being new to faith in Christ.
M.I.A., whose real name is Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam, recently spoke with RELEVANT magazine about how she approaches Christianity as someone new to faith.
“When I’m confused about it, I’ll share my confusion,” she said. “But if I’m clear about it, and you catch me on a clear day, then I will be more clear. Right now I think the only clear thing I can say is that even when I had no belief in Jesus Christ and Christianity, and even when I was 100 percent comfortable in Hinduism, it was a Christian God that turned up to save me.”
M.I.A. grew up with a special understanding of the importance of family. At the age of 10, M.I.A. and her family were forced to flee their home country of Sri Lanka and live as refugees in London, the city where M.I.A. was born.
Upon moving back to England, M.I.A.’s mother found Christianity but her father, a Tamil activist, was an atheist.
However, a complicated cultural history left M.I.A. confused as to what was true.
“The way we have it in Sri Lanka, the Catholics came and the Portuguese came and our last king of Jaffna Kingdom was executed, and the entire monarchy, the Royal family of Jaffna Kingdom was converted to Catholicism,” she explained. “So obviously I was like, ‘Yeah, that makes sense. It’s not true.’”
Despite her mother’s faith, early on in her life M.I.A. turned to Hinduism.
“I really was into a larger concept of being a citizen of the world and your religion is to do good,” she said. “But it wasn’t really specific.”
However, in 2016 M.I.A. found herself in a vulnerable situation and found herself asking Jesus for help in a vision.
“My first reaction was to laugh,” she said of the experience. “I couldn’t believe that’s what was happening. I just couldn’t believe it was real. I didn’t believe Jesus was real. I always thought he was made up, or not even made up, but I just always thought it was a silly story.”
“I literally got saved in a very physical sense,” she continued. “And I think that’s what it is. When you need saving, the person who turns up — no matter who you are and no matter what religion or no matter what status or what you are — if you are in need and you need saving, the person who turns out to save you is Jesus. That is what he’s known for.”
As M.I.A. continues to explore Christianity, she said that she has realized that their his truth but also the world’s definition of what it is to be a Christian.
“If you say you’re a Christian, I feel like you have to be this person who’s against this thing, who’s against this president, who’s against that thing, who’s against Twitter,’’ she said. “It’s so crazy.”
“The concept of Christianity is very much based in being there for the needy or helping the needy and saving people and giving people a clearer path to God,” she added. “When people are in need, they’re in need. If people are suffering, people are suffering, it doesn’t matter where they are. It doesn’t matter what race you are, what geological country you come from, what your status is, it just does not matter.”
Although M.I.A. confesses her confusion, she said that as the world around grow mores complex, her purpose becomes more clear.
“We live in a world where understanding has to be simplified because our attention span is smaller, our ability to think deeply about things is going, tolerance is going. So many of these qualities are going and I think that’s why we need something that is a simplified form of understanding,” she said. “The more I understand the complexities of the world, the simpler I find things really are. And funny enough, Christianity is very simple; it’s because those things are really simple. The world is really simple.”
“In my time of need, the God that turned up to save me was not Shiva. It was Jesus,” she added. “That is the truth, and I have to say that.
“I feel like I got shown something, which now I cannot censor in my life and be like, ‘Christianity is fake or Christianity is social control. It’s made up to colonize people,’ whatever the thing is,” she says. “I can never say that because I actually know the truth.”
Read More: M.I.A. Reveals She Is A Born-Again Christian: ‘I Saw The Vision Of Jesus Christ’
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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