JURASSIC WORLD Star: I Care Enough About Jesus to Take a Stand
Movieguide® Contributor
The most important thing to actor Chris Pratt isn’t wealth, who he entertains or how many awards he gets—it’s his faith.
“I care enough about Jesus to take a stand, even if it cost me. It could cost me everything, but I don’t care. It’s worth it to me because this is what I’m called to do, it’s where my heart is,” the Marvel star told The Christian Post this month.
“I’m a father of four. I want to raise my children with an understanding that their dad was unashamed of his faith in Jesus and with a profound understanding of the power of prayer, and the grace and the love and the joy that can come from a relationship with Jesus. … You don’t hear that a lot from people in entertainment, but it’s who I am,” he said. “I’m not going to hide behind it. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Though Pratt now says his faith is the “best part” of his life, his journey hasn’t been all straight and narrow. He’s made mistakes and has regrets.
“The first time I walked up to the church altar and got on my knees and cried, I was a child,” he shared. “The next time I did it, I was still a child, I was 19. And then the next time I did it, I was in my 30s. … I’d make promises, but I didn’t keep them.”
“I said, ‘God, save me in this moment, and I’ll give you my life.’ And then He did, and I was unburdened from the weight of my shame, my guilt and my sin. And then months later, maybe a year later, two years later, I’m off doing the same stuff that got me down the wrong path in the first place. The sinful, broken nature of humans was living in my heart,” he said.
Pratt had a pivotal moment in 2012 when his eldest child, Jack, was born premature.
“He had all of these issues going on,” Pratt recalled. “I prayed hard to God. I was in a season of transition spiritually at that time, and didn’t quite fully understand. I made a deal with God again: ‘I’m sorry, God, here I am again, asking for your grace again.’ And He really saved my son, and that was the moment [my faith] was cemented. My heart softened, and my faith hardened, That was the moment that I was like, ‘Moving forward, I’m going to give my platform to God.’”
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“This platform was given to me for a reason,” he asserted. “I want to affirm the people who are believers in Christ. I want them to hear me and say, ‘Wow, that’s cool. He’s willing to say it. I’m going to stand up at work today and say it.’”
“But I also want to reach out to the people who have no idea who God is. … I want to be a light to people who’ve never seen light,” he continued. “I want to be a light to people who have seen light but turned away from it or been afraid of it.”
Pratt began to dig into the scripture more a few years ago, and listened to the “Bible in a Year” podcast on the Hallow app.
You get to books like Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and my brain starts wandering four seconds in,” he shared. “But when I hear it, it’s different for me. I did the whole thing.”
“It gave me a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the Bible. It totally strengthened my walk with Jesus. It was amazing.”
This year, Pratt partnered with Hallow for Lent, along with Jonathon Roumie and Mark Wahlberg.
In an ad for the app, Pratt asks viewers to pray with him.
“Jesus, we invite you into this moment right now,” he says in the video. “Fill our hearts with your holy spirit, with your forgiving, loving grace, God. We invite you to teach us to live the way you want us to live.”
“I thought, if I partner with Hallow, maybe I can amplify what is ultimately a really beautiful thing. This ‘Bible in a Year’ podcast, the prayers, meditations, it’s all soul food,” Pratt told The Christian Post.
He and Jack are fans of THE CHOSEN, which Roumie stars in.
“It’s fantastic,” he said. “Jonathan Roumie is amazing. The acting, the set design, the production value — it’s really leveled up Christian entertainment.”
“I’m not fully caught up,” he said. “But I know how it ends. I read the book. Or rather, I had the book read to me.”
Part of the reason why Pratt wants to use his platform for good is to help improve culture and media.
“I want to teach my kids to be in the world, not of it,” he shared. “We’re in a strange time. We have an entire generation being raised to be incredibly anxious. Higher rates of self-harm, more isolation, depression, it’s alarming.”
“Phones aren’t going anywhere,” he added. “So it’s important to put some good stuff on them. That’s why I partnered with Hallow.”
Pratt’s choices don’t come without criticism.
But Pratt tries to remember Proverbs 26:20: “For lack of wood, the fire will go out. Where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.” He said, “I always rely on that.”
He doesn’t give much weight to online dialogue.
“I’ve never had someone walk up to me and say, ‘Hey, Chris, I want to have a conversation about your belief that offends me,’” he said. “It’s all just noise online. It’s easy to post something, even though it’s a fart in the wind, it just disappears from these people’s phones.”
“It’s etched in digital stone. But we have to be really careful with our words. It says in the Gospel that the tongue is like the most dangerous weapon, and just because you’re putting it in your phone doesn’t mean you’re not speaking it,” he said.
He also prays for his enemies.
“When I hear words or see words, when there’s blowback — and I’m sure there’s going to be blowback from this — I am just going to rely on God. … I was called by God to do it, and if people don’t understand me, I’m going to pray for them, and then I’m going to go back and hang out with my kids and play tag.”
“God, softens some of their hearts, He hardens some of their hearts,” he said. “It’s my job to be a light and to focus on what’s important to me right now, and what’s important to me is talking about Jesus.”
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