Back in May of 2023, when the Marvel movie “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” was released, actor and Christian Chris Pratt spoke to the entertainment and celebrity news outlet Page 6 about his faith and the blowback he has received from the cultural powers that be for being a very public and prominent Christian. Pratt dismissed such criticism, saying that it was “nothing new.”
That came when Pratt agreed with Page Six that he had been criticized for his faith but said that such criticism matters little in the grand scheme of things and, in any case, is nothing surprising or even new. Beginning his response, he said, “I sure do but that’s nothing new, that’s nothing new, you know?” Continuing, Pratt quoted scripture to make his point, saying, “If I was of this world, they would love me just like that but as it is, I’ve chosen out of this world. That’s John 15:18 through 20.”
For reference, thhose verses provide, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”
In any case, Pratt continued, explaining again that the anti-Christian sentiment is nothing new, and is indeed something that Jesus faced when on Earth, a suffering shared by His early adherents. Pratt said, “That’s the way it is, nothing new, 2,000 years ago they hated him, too.”
Then, explaining how he views a rhino as being the proper role model for how to fight back against unfair criticism, Pratt said that the proper way to respond is “just how you deal with anything: Like a rhino, stick your head down, you keep driving forward, you have thick skin and if anyone gets in your way, you stick the horn right up their ass!”
He also spoke about rejection, saying that his training as a door-to-door salesman taught him to handle rejection well and not take it personally, saying, “When it comes to rejection. I was trained in the crucible of door-to-door sales some 25 years ago. So, you can’t turn me away, there’s no stopping us. … [That’s] a very hard job and it’s not dissimilar to acting, or at least auditioning. You gotta collect nine no’s to get one yes.”
When Pratt faced criticism for his Christian faith and choice of church in 2019, with some critics contending that he was anti-LGBT because of his faith, Pratt said, “faith is important to me but no church defines me or my life, and I am not a spokesman for any church or any group of people.”
Continuing, he added that the world needs love, not hate, saying, “My values define who I am. We need less hate in this world, not more. I am a man who believes that everyone is entitled to love who they want free from the judgment of their fellow man.”
Featured image credit: By Kristin Dos Santos – Chris Pratt, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6491636