“Pity the Fool” Christianity

Orginally published on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 3:37 PM
by Todd Rhoades

He may be a little older, and all his gold chains are gone. (He stopped wearing them after Katrina, feeling it would be a sin against God to do so while so many people were suffering). But his trademark Mohawk and scowl are unmistakable. Yes, it's Mr. T—back and better than ever. He's grown stronger in his faith in the years since he played the legendary Sgt. B.A. Baracus on "The A-Team" and tough-guy boxer Clubber Lang in "Rocky III." And now he's got a new show, "I Pity the Fool," airing Wednesday nights at 10, on TV Land, where he motivates workers to be better at their jobs, reunites families who've grown apart, and helps inspire people to be better human beings.

Recently, Mr. T sat down for an interview with Beliefnet.  Here are some quotes I thought were interesting.  You can read the whole article here.

On his actions:
“If I’m a true follower of my lord and savior Jesus Christ, I got to do the things you’re supposed to be doing. You just can’t say, “I believe in Jesus” and then don’t forgive somebody [or] hold a grudge against somebody. Don’t get me wrong--if somebody jumps me I’m gonna fight, but I don’t send out hate vibes if I don’t like that person or the way that they dress.”

On Giving:
“I tell everybody, I get so much because I give so much. I give freely, I give all my time, give all my money, give all of my soul. I try to motivate people. I try to inspire them.”

On Testimony:
“I say to the Lord, “when they see me, let them see you” so you know I can’t be coming out of the strip bar with a couple women on my arm. And I say “Lord, when they hear me let them hear you"--that means I can’t be telling them nasty jokes I used to tell. Because the Bible says, every time Christ sees a new creature, old things are passed away. I’m not the same man I used to be, I’m not out hell-raising, stuff like that. I am a changed man.”

On his new reality TV show:
“I guarantee that when people see the show they’re going to be surprised and they’re going to be hooked because it’s nothing like what people think. It’s a reality show [but] we’re not eating worms, we’re not naked, we’re not having sex with nobody, we’re not wrestling pigs and stuff like that. It’s me doing my thing, but this time the cameras are with me. “

On forgiveness:  (you must read this in Mr. T voice):
“If God has touched me, I’ve got to touch somebody else. God has forgiven me, so I’ve got to forgive the people who did me wrong. If Jesus can forgive all things—with the crown of thorns upon his head on the cross… I say with all the things people done, nobody [has] crucified me, nobody put nails in my hands, in my palm, or a spear in my side, or a crown [of thorns] on my head. If Jesus forgives, then I’ve got to forgive. If I don’t forgive, I’m not a follower. If I’m not kind, if I don’t share, I’m not a follower, I’m a liar. I can’t be greedy.”

On making the world a better place:
“We can be kind to our neighbor. We can be kind to our family members. [But] first we got to love ourselves and ask for forgiveness--because you can’t love nobody if you don’t love yourself. You can’t forgive nobody for nothing if you’re not cleansed inside. Forgive the loved ones and the ones we’re arguing with. We’ve got to make good things contagious. Because we got sexual disease [that] is contagious, we got Ebola and other stuff [that’s] contagious. So we got to make God contagious, Jesus contagious. Make saying “thank you” contagious. A little thing like that will make the world better. “

Any thoughts?

Todd

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Hi... I'm Todd Rhoades. I'm a Christ-follower, husband, father and I love to connect leaders with other leaders. Hopefully you'll find something here at MMI you like and will return often. If you want, you can find out more about me or follow my every step on Twitter.

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