Bear Grylls is the first to admit he’s something of an unconventional Christian. The survivalist and TV host is unabashedly open about his faith and how it serves as his foundation for an empowered life. But he doesn’t want to sanitize his message to make it inoffensive to a religious audience; frankly, he doesn’t have much time for Western church culture.

The 48-year-old adventurer told The Christian Post, “I think Jesus would really struggle with 99% of churches nowadays. Our job in life is to stay close to Christ and drop the religious, drop the fluff, drop the church if you need to because that means so many different things to different people anyway. Keep the bit of church which is about community and friends and honesty and faith and love. All the masks, performances, music and worship bands and all of that sort of stuff — I don’t think Christ would recognize a lot of that.”

He expressed his distaste for “religious language,” sanitizing messages so that people “can’t be honest, can’t express doubt and can’t fail.” The church, he said, is “the place to have doubts and questions.” He said, “Look at the early church. It was a roomful of people eating and drinking and doubting and struggling and arguing.”

But the church today, he said, has gotten away from that. “Probably most of the people in the congregation have substance abuse, and probably most of their congregations struggle with porn and all that sort of stuff,” he said. “What a relief it is when a pastor can stand up and go, ‘Welcome to the hospital, folks. Here we go. I’m just standing alongside you on the road, failing our way through, but reaching out of desperation for life and love and redemption. Let’s look outwards and love other people, and we’re in it together.'”

This kind of honest, zero-fluff approach to life has made Grylls a worldwide sensation and one of the most recognized faces of survival and outdoor adventure. A former British Special Forces soldier and Everest mountaineer, he starred in Discovery’s “Man vs. Wild” and hosted “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” on the National Geographic Channel Series.

He’s embarked on countless dangerous expeditions, scaled Mount Everest, eaten snakes and spiders and even survived a free-fall parachuting accident in Africa. His books, which range from survival skills handbooks to fiction, have also sold over 15 million copies worldwide.

Grylls’ latest book, Mind Fuel: Simple Ways to Build Mental Resilience Every Day, offers honest and practical ways to practice better mental health, something he told CP is a crucial part of living a healthy, God-glorying life. He draws from his struggles with confidence and self-doubt to challenge readers to prioritize their mental health and build resilience.

“I think the world is tougher than it’s ever been; I think there are so many things hitting, especially young people from every angle,” he said. “I’ve written books on physical fitness, I’ve written books on nutrition and training and all that sort of things. I’ve written about spiritual stuff with Soul Fuel. But mental fuel is an important part of our arsenal; it can help us stay strong and build that resilience in a fast-changing world.”