Be careful who you make into a Christian celebrity. This should be the warning found nearly every time evangelicals make a hero out of a Hollywood celebrity who has a public Jesusy moment. In defense of his Hillsong-affiliated church, actor Chris Pratt claims that neither he nor they are anti-LGBTQ.
After Chris Pratt vaguely mentioned the religion of Christ in an acceptance speech on MTV, evangelicals enamored with pop-culture immediately and metaphorically hoisted the actor upon their shoulders, convinced they had found a new hero, the kind of which we haven’t seen since Tim Tebow. Relevant Magazine, Charisma Mag, and other publications lauded it as a sermon of a lifetime. Even ostensibly “Reformed” Jacob Denhollander (best known for capitalizing on the fame of his wife, sex-abuse victim and advocate, Jen Denhollander) claimed that Pratt’s Gospel presentation was better than that of Mike Pence at the Southern Baptist’s annual convention (which we debunked, here).
Pratt has since divorced his long-time wife and has moved on with a newer model.
Evangelicals are so enamored with pop-culture they are eager to jump on any bandwagon that may have an ichthys bumper sticker on the back.
After Pratt recently spoke about being a member of the Hillsong-affiliated Zoe Church on The Late Show, lesbian actress, Ellen Page, chided him on Twitter for being a member of a church that is “famously anti-LGBTQ.”
Zoe Church is pastored by Chad Veach and “co-pastored” by his wife (lady pastors aren’t a thing). Veach is listed as a contributor to Hillsong on the Hillsong website and Zoe Church is affiliated with the Hillsong mothership in Australia.
Zoe Church is known best for its celebrity presence, kind of a charismatic Church of Scientology. Justin Beiber frequents the church, as does Chris Pratt and others. The church is full of beautiful people – influencers, if you will – and of the celebrity bedazzlement, Pastor Chad Veach once famously said, “Instagram built our church.”
Well, it sure wasn’t Jesus.
Pratt was hosted on The Late Show and mentioned his attendance at Zoe Church and the Trailer Park Boys actress, Ellen Page, was incensed.
Of course, Page’s facts were wrong. Hillsong is not famously anti-LGBTQ. If anything, Hillsong’s stance on homosexuality is the Q in LGBTQ…questioning. We broke the story on Hillsong and its gay choir directors, which led worship at Hillsong New York and Brian Houston – the main Hillsong guru from Australia – applauded their leadership five months previous. In damage-control mode, Hillsong stated that the homosexuals were no longer leading worship, but the homosexuals themselves claim it had nothing to do with their homosexuality and that Hillsong knew and embraced them in their sin from start to finish. The sodomite couple now attends a Hillsong church in Los Angeles.
Nonetheless, Page continued:
Clearly, the famous Hillsong homosexual couple doesn’t feel that Hillsong is anti-LGBTQ.
Pratt responded by denying that he is anti-LGBTQ.
The actor said on Instagram:
“I go to a church that opens their doors to absolutely everyone…no church defines me or my life, and I am not a spokesman for any church or any group of people.”
He continued, “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.”
Gross.
