Every once in a while, a celebrity mentions God or an aspect of the Christian worldview in a public speech or interview. Most instances are as subtle and insignificant as “I thank God,” or “Prayer has really helped me through this trial.” As you can see, those can be taken a million different ways.

But two nights ago (Monday, June 18, 2018), actor Chris Pratt went a step further in his winning speech upon receiving an MTV award. In his “9 Rules for Life” that he gave, eight were a mixture of funny and semi-serious rules, and then the last was approaching explicit gospel.

He said, “Nobody is perfect. People are going to tell you you’re perfect just the way you are — you’re not. You are imperfect. You always will be. But, there is a powerful force that designed you that way. And if you’re willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift. And like the freedom that we enjoy in this country, that grace was paid for with somebody else’s blood. Do not forget it. Don’t take it for granted.”

If you’re familiar with the gospel, you’ll be able to recognize a handful of aspects from Pratt’s words that ring true:

• “You are imperfect.” (Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:9-10)
• “…grace is a gift.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
• “…grace was paid for with somebody else’s blood.” (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:22)

To those who are unfamiliar with the gospel or the Christian worldview, there will undoubtedly be questions – especially in terms of who that “Somebody” is who bled and paid for the gift of grace. But the reality is that Pratt said more about the Christian worldview than most, and he said it on MTV – a media network that is proudly secular.

So, What?

So, what do we do now? I think Pratt’s words provide us with a mental exercise and a challenge. The mental exercise is to consider what you’d say about your faith if you had the chance to share a few words at a public secular event. Would you be more/less explicit than Pratt? What words would you leave out? Would you say “blood,” “grace,” or perhaps “Jesus”?

And as for the challenge, pray that Pratt’s words would cause millions of souls to ask questions about what he said. Pray that Google sees an increase in searches for “grace,” “God,” “Jesus,” and “blood-sacrifice.” Pray that youth pastors are prepared to go farther than Pratt, and point to Jesus as the one who paid, with his blood, for grace.

And lastly, thank God that Chris Pratt just planted lots of seeds. And also pray that you’ll have the opportunity to water some.