Christian director Andy Erwin took to Instagram to defend actor, Chris Pratt from criticisms he has received “on either side” as Erwin stated, for his faith. The post shared an image from an interview Pratt did with “Men’s Health” magazine. “Really admire how this guy represents truth in love. Uses his platform to point people to a very real God, not religion,” the director of movies “Under Dog” and “I Can Only Imagine” wrote in his post. He then ended the post admonishing Pratt to “Keep standing for Jesus.”

Despite being a very popular and bankable movie star, Pratt has faced a series of criticisms throughout the years for his faith. In 2018, he was giving a speech at the MTV TV & Movie Awards while receiving the Generation Award. Seeking to say something inspirational, he said, “God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you.” Over two decades before giving that speech, Pratt was a 19 year old actor struggling  to make ends meet when a man went up to him and said that Jesus had told him to talk to him. After talking with the man, he left his friends to go with him, leaving behind a planned night of partying. He gave his life to the Lord soon after and, seemingly miraculously, was spotted by a director and given his first role.

As his roles in shows like “Parks and Recreation” began to propel him into stardom, Pratt would take opportunities to speak about faith. After a 2019 interview with “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” actress Ellen Page, who now identifies as a man and goes by the name Elliot Page, called out Pratt for attending Hillsong Church. Page declared the church to be “anti-LGBTQ.” Pratt has since denied having ever attended Hillsong and despite many of Pratt’s co-stars coming to his defense, these types of attacks have become common against him, particularly on social media. He has even been criticized for making posts about his family, with some people interpreting posts where he praises his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, as criticisms against his ex-wife, Anna Faris, and their son.

From the Christian criticism “either side” that Erwin mentions in his post, the “Men’s Health” interview could be interpreted more as Pratt stepping back from his faith rather than standing up for it. In the article, Pratt refers to his speech at the MTV Awards as “hubris,” religion as “oppressive,” and says, “I didn’t know that I would kind of become the face of religion when really I’m not a religious person.” His comments are more in tune with a “spiritual but not religious” generation and are more palatable to a Hollywood community that has essentially blacklisted actors like Kirk Cameron, who has been much more open in sharing his opinions on things like gay marriage, homeschooling, and “religion.” Whether or not Pratt will land on a solid foundation of faith or find himself with a faith more like the world requires can be best summed up in some of his closing lines in his “Men’s Health” interview: “It’s like, Don’t forget where you came from. Don’t forget who you are. And part of me is struggling with who I am maybe not being who I was.”