What Wows Comedian Chonda Pierce Most About Jesus
By Movieguide® Contributor
Behind all the laughs, Chonda Pierce has had to face some tough battles — including the death of her husband David and depression — but learned to rely on God through all the ups and downs.
“His consistency, probably, that is the most beautiful thing. God is the same yesterday and today and forever,” Pierce told Mandy Bowman on the “Marvel at Jesus” podcast. “That is something I need in my life.”
“When the political temperature goes up and down, or the strife of your home, you know, comes and goes, to know that Jesus is a steady rock, it is just a beautiful thing,” she added.
Pierce, aka The Queen of Clean, stressed the importance of studying the Bible, and that helps her to appreciate God’s faithfulness more.
“When you dive deep into the Word of God and you study everything you can think of and find about a man who gave His life for you, you start appreciating the steadfast love of Jesus,” Pierce said.
The pursuit of God is a logical response when in a relationship with Him, just as one would want to spend time with a spouse, the actress believes.
“[W]hen you really understand the love of God why wouldn’t you want to get to know Him better? You know, you don’t get married, and the day after go, ‘Okay, well, we got married, and maybe I’ll see you around the house,’” the 64-year-old said. “You know, you continue to grow and want to know more about one another, and you learn more about one another and giggle and laugh. And that’s my life with Jesus.”
The Kentucky native also dished on what fans can expect at one of her shows on the “Life Is Funny” tour.
“I’ve been doing this for 32 years, and so mapping out a script, you know, just doesn’t happen anymore. It’s usually fly by the seat of my pants,” Pierce revealed.
While the audience can expect “vintage Chonda,” there will be plenty of new material.
“We start with hilarity and fun, but by the end of the night, we get to talk about exactly what’s going on in our lives with Jesus,” she said. “I think it’s worth your time.”
Along with her comedy tour, Chonda has been promoting her new memoir, Life Is Funny Until It’s Not: A Comic’s Story of Love, Loss, and Lunacy.
“Through a lifetime of challenges that would cause most of us to curl into a fetal position and give up, Chonda holds nothing back in describing a tough journey that consistently is about an authentic faith that won’t let her quit and keeps her on her feet,” former governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee wrote in the book’s foreword.
Chonda shared that one of the reasons behind the memoir was while many fans are familiar with her story, there are some details in one’s life that are hard to convey in a standup routine.
“[There is so much you could say on stage, but it’s quick, you know, and you get to the point and you say, ‘This is what the Lord’s helped me through.’And you say, ‘Good night,”’ Pierce told Randy Robison on LifeTodayTV.
“There is so much detail between every trauma of your life, for every hill, every you know, great mountain top or Great Valley. There’s a journey in between there. There’s the slide down into the valley, and there’s the climb up out of the valley, and so that is where you learn.” she added.
Ultimately she hopes her story will help her readers through trials as well.
“I think if I’ve learned these things, some of them the good way, and some of them I’ve learned the hard way. Maybe I could help someone’s journey, and that would be the only reason you would write some of the toughest details of your life, is to share your journey, and some journeys are not pretty,” Pierce said.
Movieguide® previously reported more on the inspiration behind her new memoir:
I spent 31 years on the road telling the funny stuff and the goofy stuff, and telling stories about my father and our dysfunction and all of that,” Pierce told The Christian Post.
“And I didn’t want my career to end without me telling the gut-wrenching truth about myself,” she continued. “It’s one thing to give a word of testimony and go, ‘The Lord saved me when I was 4.’ I have to go, ‘He saved me when I was 4, 7, and then a few times in high school and about eight times in college.’ It’s the in-between of those salvation moments in my life that I’ve never really talked about.”
Pierce decided to write a book so her fans could better understand her story.
In “Life is Funny Until It’s Not: A Comic’s Story of Love, Loss, and Lunacy,” “Pierce recounts a preacher’s daughter’s childhood filled with heartbreak, including abuse, her parents’ divorce, and the sudden deaths of her two sisters in the span of two years. Even after she achieved success in her comedy tours, trials and tragedy dogged her through marriage, motherhood, and widowhood. But God was there with her through every sorrow and every joy. This story of unshakeable hope and faith will inspire readers to turn to God and trust his faithfulness,” a synopsis of the book reads.
Despite the hardships she’s faced, the comedian believes God will use them to encourage others. “I like to use…the things I’ve been through in my life as a way, perhaps, to inspire,” she told Just the News.
