Chris Pratt's MTV Awards speech: A False Gospel and an un-Christian life

CNN called him "The ultimate good guy". CBS called it a "Powerful speech." The National Review called it "Spreading the Gospel". FaithWire called it "A bold faith message".

What is it? It is Jurassic Park actor Chris Pratt's acceptance speech at the MTV Movie & TV awards held on June 18. Pratt was honored with the MTV Generation Award. "The MTV Generation Award is the successor to the MTV Lifetime Achievement Award, though it is more serious than its predecessor. The recipient of the award is celebrated for great achievement in movies", according to Wikipedia.

Wow. Those are some great accolades. I'm always eager for the Gospel to be shared, spread widely, and for people to come to know Jesus. I searched Google so I could hear this tremendous speech for myself! I listened, and I transcribed it. Here is the speech.

He opened with Thank yous. Then said,

I speak to the next generation, I accept the responsibility as your elder. Listen up. This is what I call 9 rules of Chris Pratt, Generation Award Winner.

1. Breathe. If you don't, you'll suffocate.

2. You have a soul. Be careful with it.

3. Don’t be a turd. If you’re strong, be a protector, and if you’re smart, be a humble influencer. Strength and intelligence can be weapons so do not wield them against the weak. That makes you a bully. Be bigger than that.

4. When giving a dog medicine, put the medicine in a little piece of hamburger and they won't even know they're eating medicine.

5. It doesn’t matter what it is, earn it. Reach out to someone in pain, be of service. It feels good and it's good for your soul.

6. God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that. I do.
(He should have led with this one).

7. If you have to poop at a party, but you're embarrassed because you're going to stink up the bathroom, just do what I do. Lock the door, sit down, get all of the pee out first. And then, once all the pee is done, poop, flush, boom! You minimize the amount of time that the poop's touching the air. Because if you poop first, it takes you longer to pee and then you're peeing on top of it, stirring up the poop particles, create a cloud, goes out, then everyone at the party will know that you pooped. Just trust me, it's science.

8. Learn to pray. It’s easy. It’s so good for your soul

9. And finally, number 9, Nobody is perfect. People will tell you that you are perfect just the way that you are, you are not! You are imperfect. You always will be, but there is a powerful force that designed you that way, and if you are willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift. Like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else's blood.
Do not forget that. Don't take that for granted. God bless you please get home safely


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Let's go through this speech point by point. Mr Pratt's rules are in bold, my responses are below each point.

1. Breathe. If you don't you'll suffocate.

Um, ok

2. You have a soul. Be careful with it.

Is our soul ours to do with as we will? Mr Pratt made it seem like our soul is ours and not God's to do with as He pleases. And, what is the state of that soul? What happens to the soul after death? Pratt never said.

Ezekiel 18:4 says, Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

A cross-reference to the Ezekiel verse is this from Romans 6:23. Tragically, Mr Pratt only had to say it for his speech to inch closer to the biblical side:

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3. Don't be a turd. If you're strong, be a protector, and if you're smart, be a humble influencer. Strength and intelligence can be weapons so do not wield them against the weak. That makes you a bully. Be bigger than that.

Christians need to be mindful of how we speak. Proverbs devotes a third of its sayings to right speech. The New Testament is full of commands about how we are to be set apart from the world and not to speak like the world. He has the microphone and the ear of thousands. He doesn't need to use the world's speech to make his point. He could have simply said 'jerk'. The other part is good advice.

4. When giving a dog medicine, put the medicine in a little piece of hamburger and they won't even know they're eating medicine.

Non sequitur but OK.

5. It doesn’t matter what it is, earn it. Reach out to someone in pain, be of service. It feels good and it's good for your soul.

Philanthropy for its own sake absent honoring Jesus and giving Him glory is all wind and vanity. The entire book of Ecclesiastes rebuts this statement, and Paul in Romans 2:6-10, and James 2:18. The good works that believers do are good for the soul (not every soul generically as Mr Pratt said) because they are evidence of the saving grace of Jesus, and are an obedient and worshipful response to that grace.

6. God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that. I do.

It's still a twisted version of who God is. And number 6, between the dog and the turd and the poop?  We should not be such cultural doormats that we're relieved when someone mentions anything about God. God wants the best for me? Did He want the best for Stephen, the first martyr? Is that our definition of 'the best'? What is that 'best'? And what do I have to do to get it? Pratt never said.

Sadly, Pratt's is the commonly heard, shallow no-Gospel, "God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life" chestnut. All this does is affirm people in their sin. The Gospel is both Law & Grace, Wrath and Forgiveness, Sin & Righteousness- and the blood of Christ and His resurrection. Half a Gospel is no Gospel. And what Mr Pratt preached is no Gospel. If he was really serious about God, and Jesus (whose name he never mentioned) you LEAD with it.

7. If you have to poop at a party, but you're embarrassed because you're going to stink up the bathroom, just do what I do. Lock the door, sit down, get all of the pee out first. And then, once all the pee is done, poop, flush, boom! You minimize the amount of time that the poop's touching the air. Because if you poop first, it takes you longer to pee and then you're peeing on top of it, stirring up the poop particles, create a cloud, goes out, then everyone at the party will know that you pooped. Just trust me, it's science.

This entire section fails James 1, Ephesians 4:29, Colossians 4:6 and most of Proverbs. It demonstrates Matthew 15:11, "It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person."

8. Learn to pray. It’s easy. It’s so good for your soul.

It is NOT easy to pray. It is hard. It is an act of spiritual war to put your hands together and ignore satan's efforts to stop you! Did you notice he never said who to pray to? And did you notice he said why we should pray? Because it is good for us. the truth is, one reason to pray is because it exalts God (Matthew 6:9), it is a way to serve God (Luke 2:36-38), and it obeys His command (Philippians 4:6-7). Also, we pray because it is good for others' souls. (among other reasons).

9. And finally, number 9, Nobody is perfect. People will tell you that you are perfect just the way that you are, you are not! You are imperfect. You always will be, but there is a powerful force that designed you that way, and if you are willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift. Like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else's blood.

Do not forget that. Don't take that for granted. God bless you, please get home safely.

This last is the ANTI-gospel. He is telling people they are imperfect and need to accept that. If they do, a powerful force will deliver grace to them. This is the opposite of the Gospel.

It is our realization that we are sinners in need of a savior to us who will deliver grace if we hate our sin and repent of it! Otherwise, accepting who we are as we are will send us to hell! That's why it is the ANTI-gospel.

Nothing was said of sin. Our life and every breath is a treasonous act against God because we live, breathe and think only of sin, continually (Genesis 6:5). Further, why do I need grace if this powerful force already loves me and wants the best for me?

Any message urging us to accept our imperfections, grab the good life God has waiting for us, and some unnamed powerful force will give us an undefined grace is not a Gospel message.

And whose blood? Military blood like on D-Day? Jesus is now referred to as just "Somebody"?

As much as we want the Gospel to be believed by one and all, as much as we mourn for lost souls, we cannot accept any message which is not THE message.

Now, here is information on why Chris Pratt is not a Christian role model. I apologize if some of these are unsavory and gross.  Mr Pratt should never be mentioned as someone to emulate.

CHRIS PRATT'S VERSION OF CHRISTIANITY

1. Conversion

It all began with Pratt waiting outside for his friends inside a grocery store...
And a guy named Henry came up and recognised something in me that needed to be saved. "Jesus told me to talk to you..." At that moment I was like, I think I have to go with this guy. He took me to church. [The guy at the grocery store] was like, "I stopped because Jesus told me to stop and talk to you. He said to tell you you're destined for great things." Pratt said, "I gave my soul to Jesus within, like, two days. Over the next few days I surprised my friends by declaring that I was going to change my life.' ...
That is not how we are saved. It doesn't begin with extra-biblical revelation from some random guy, promising a good life. One does not become saved by declaring that under our power we will change our lives. This was not the Gospel. But it is his conversion story in every page I looked at.

Searching for "Christ Pratt" +"sin" yields literally zero results. Google asked me if I really meant to say "Chris Pratt son". No search yields on the word repent either. I cannot find that Chris Pratt ever uttered those all-important words.

This conversion story is the typical one I found online

2. Divorce

Chris Pratt recently divorced his wife. He cited difficulties in juggling his movie career and children. She wanted more kids. He didn't. So they split. This is not a biblical reason. Divorce is serious. (Matthew 19:1-12). Putting your career over children to the point that you depart from your wife is sinful and a biblical failure.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (Ephesians 5:25)

As a matter of fact, his ex-wife Anna left her first husband for Chris, and the two lived together before they married. So Pratt is a fornicator, his marriage to Anna made her an adulteress, and he is an adulterer.

But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:32)

3. Lifestyle

Chris Pratt has a potty mouth. Here is a link to an article recounting an interview with Pratt, but do NOT click on it, there are so many awful words. Because it is an interview with Pratt, the swear words are his own. Even this link to an interview in the staid Wisconsin Gazette is full of f-words. Prior to the transcription part of the speech above, Pratt uttered some unsavory language on television. Pratt speaks coarsely, vulgarly, profanely, and constantly.

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. (James 3:10)

it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person. (Matthew 15:11).

Other lifestyle issues:

--Pratt reads porn. Shares porn with women.
--Boasts to people about his sexual encounters.
--Drinks a lot, pantomimes in public drinking from breasts.
(source for above)
--Isn't a member of any church that has been reported, but has attended Hillsong Church in LA, which is not a church because it is a prosperity gospel/word of faith church.

In this screen shot below, which I smudged, shows Pratt giving the finger. The 2-minute clip reveals Pratt using three strong swear words, and ending with the finger. It is from 2015.



Men of the faith (and us all) are supposed to be separate from the world, not look like the world, not speak like the world, not want what the world wants. From these evidences, and the fact that Pratt says he was converted at age 19 and is now 39 yet still persists in sin and sinning, means he is not a Christian (role model).

While we hope that Chris finds the true Gospel and lives it, really, please do not promote this man to in Christian circles in any way.

But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. (1 Timothy 6:11)




Comments

  1. How do we not speak like the world?

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    1. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

      Eph 4:29

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  2. I’m so glad you posted this!! I was sickened by the media outlets that were praising this raunchy, adulterous boy. Always so grateful for your courage and insight :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! That is so nice. Not everyone felt the way you do! I spent a good while on Twitter defending this stance. So, thanks gain for your encouragement

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  3. Thank- you for this Elizabeth. My husband played this for me and I was horrified. This is NOT the gospel. Your firm stance in Christ is rare and refreshing.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! Saying this online caused a torrent of floods and waves of anger, so your encouragement and positivity is very welcome. Thanks :)

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