Actor Mr. T is a life-long Christian who is anything but shy about sharing his personal faith and values, telling HuffPo Live that he once stood on principle and turned down a nearly $1 million offer to appear in a beer commercial.
“They offered me almost a million dollars to do a beer commercial in Japan. I said, ‘I won't do it,’” the actor explained. “First, it was $700,000 and then they moved the price up. Why? Because of what I stand on.”
Mr. T said he would have been a “liar” and a “fraud” if he advertised beer when he works hard to spread positive messages to young people and professes not to be a drinker.
Mr. T went on to say that he is “a sinner” who isn’t perfect, but that he has been a life-long Christian who works hard to follow the Bible. Like anyone else, though, he said that he sometimes fails, admitting to, at times, harboring dislike and “un-forgiveness” in his heart.
As for his upbringing, Mr. T said that his father was a minister and that his mother, too, was a strong Christian.
While he never had a “Damascus road moment” — a reference to the life-altering encounter that the Apostle Paul had with Jesus in the New Testament — Mr. T said that he, like his parents, has consistently and diligently sought God throughout his life.
Watch Mr. T explain his faith journey below:
The actor also shared that he believes his iconic movie role as Clubber Lang in “Rocky III” came as a blessing from God after he selflessly donated the money he won in a boxing contest decades ago to his church.
“When I won the Tough Man contest two years in a row, I gave the money to my church,” Mr. T told the outlet, noting that he wanted to use his winnings to help the poor in his community. “I won because my cause — c-a-u-s-e — my cause was greater than the other guys’ cause.”
Mr. T said that his motivation for winning the contest had everything to do with using the prize money to help his church, and he believes that decision — which he made years ago — led to some blessings in his life.
“When I gave the money to the church, my blessing came back … when I gave, that’s when I got the call from Rocky people,” he said. “The Rocky people called because my heart is right. I gave the money. I wasn’t looking for anything in turn.”
