How REACHER’s Alan Ritchson Spreads the Gospel Through Non-Christian Roles
By Movieguide® Contributor
After facing backlash for playing the titular character in REACHER, Alan Ritchson explains how he takes on non-Christian roles to spread the Gospel.
“I love playing Reacher. I love telling this story. I love playing a character who creates a kind of moral ambiguity that we should struggle against as we consider whether or not what he’s doing is good all the time or morally right,” Ritchson said in a YouTube video.
“A lot of people, supposed Christians especially, criticize me for playing Reacher as if the only TV that should exist is seeing people silently folding their hands in the pew of a church. I mean, what kinds of stories are we supposed to tell?” he continued. “If we look at scripture, what do you find? You see a thousand years of an infinitely holy God holding tension with human beings as He tells the story of who He is.”
“[God] reveals who He is through an imperfect people, so we get stories of paganism and war and bloodshed and ghost stories, mysticism,” he explained. “We see miracles and magic; we see life and resurrection and death; and we see this incredible canvas where God is completely unafraid to tell the story of who He is through less than morally ambiguous characters: through pure evil sometimes.”
“I think it’s laughable when people criticize me for playing characters that are not saintly, you know. That’s not my job, and I don’t think God cares about only telling those kinds of stories,” Ritchson added.
Ritchson has a long history of acting in projects that are not faith-based, such as a major role in THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE, through which he’s been able to share his Christian faith.
The actor believes that nearly any piece of media can bring a person closer to God if they are prompted with the right questions.
“I think we can start conversations, and we can reach people through these mediums in a way that I think God enjoys,” he said. “So here we are now where we can get to the heart of the matter where God has built a platform because of this show for me where I can reach people who maybe don’t think about these things all the time. And maybe for those who are struggling or feel lost or want to try something now, they can find something that brings them hope like my faith has [for me].”
The actor also believes that playing an imperfect, morally ambiguous character who is fighting to do good provides a more realistic look into the people God chooses to do His work.
“God continually shows up in our world in a way that kind of boggles our mind,” Ritchson told Christian Headlines last April. “For whatever reason, I think we continue to buy into that idea that…God chooses heroes to do His work. And it’s just never been the case.”
“It’s the broken and the dysfunctional that God proves His power and strength through,” he added. “It’s important that remember that those who maybe struggle to follow the rules, who are broken, are the people that God has a funny way of expressing Himself through.”
He’s also shared his support for faith-based movies.
“People are hearing the name of Christ in movie theaters,” said Ritchson. “And if that’s where the pulpit is for people who wouldn’t normally step foot in a church, then that’s still a great way to have that conversation. It matters that these films get supported,” he said.
Ritchson will star in Kingdom Story Company’s upcoming movie ORDINARY ANGELS alongside Hilary Swank.
Movieguide® previously reported on Ritchson:
Actor Alan Ritchson recently defended Christianity in an Instagram video after a well-known TikToker declared that God doesn’t answer prayers.
Jessie Jarma created a TikTok video criticizing Christians who believe God answers prayers.
“There’s a video making its rounds where a girl on TikTok confidently eviscerates a Christian for believing in prayer and ultimately concludes that God is evil,” said Ritchson. He then played Jarma’s video, which began with a clip of a woman declaring that God answered her prayer.
Jarma, a Satanist, said, “I live in the Bible Belt, and I see people talk like this all day long on the internet. For one, God cannot answer prayers because that would be interfering with free will.”
She went on to express that, even if God did answer prayers, she believes that would be a problem because people continue to suffer, concluding that “God is evil.”
While her video received many views, Ritchson was more concerned that people in the comments did not question Jarma’s point—God interferes with free will by answering prayer.
The HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE star exclaimed, “But that’s not only theologically unsound. It’s…the point.”
