Meagan Good says being an ‘outside the box’ Christian has enabled her to minister in Hollywood
Actress and filmmaker Meagan Good revealed how God's using her talents to engage people in conversations about faith and minister to those working in the film industry during an interview with The Christian Post where she also shared a prayer she says when she needs His guidance.
Good, has over 20 Hollywood films under her belt, recently joined other famous actresses as a celebrity ambassador for World Vision, a Christian nonprofit that operates in nearly 100 countries worldwide, designed “The Tie that Binds” bracelet that's among the gifts available in the annual Gift Catalog where select items are sold to benefit people groups in need.
"Jesus is the reason for the season,” Good told CP, detailing God's calling on her life in Hollywood where she shares her faith with those who might not feel embraced by traditional churchgoers.
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Along with her humanitarian work, Good said she uses her platform in mainstream entertainment to minister to the unchurched.
"I like what I do for a living. I feel very fortunate that I get to do it. But at the end of the day, the reason that I'm here is to serve my Lord; to be who He has called me to be, to continue discovering what that entails,” Good said in the interview with CP.
The Los Angeles native, who's married to filmmaker and preacher DeVon Franklin, said there's no bigger peace than knowing that “you're in alignment.”
"I feel that I get to be here in the industry that I'm in. Light can't light up light; light can only light up darkness. So I feel that God has called all of us to different places, and different seasons, and different things for different reasons,” she added.
Good, who's been acting since she was 10, said everything changed for her at age 19.
"I was in that rough transition from a child actor to adult actor and I'm seeing everyone around me working. I was like, 'Why am I not working, Lord? What's going on?' It was the first time that I prayed and said, 'Wait a second, I didn't even ask You if this is what I'm supposed to be doing. I didn't even ask You if I have Your permission. Is this what You have for my life?,'” Good recalled asking of God.
"That was the first time I really laid it on the altar. I was like, I want to do this. But I want what You want for me more than what I want for myself,” Good continued.
The actress said she then told God that she'd be willing to do anything that He wanted her to do despite the hurt she would feel if she had to walk away from acting.
"That was the first time that I felt God saying, 'Yes, this is what you're supposed to be doing. However, it's not about this, and it's not about you. It's about the platform that I'm going to give you and it's about you using it to glorify Me and it's about you walking in who I've called you to be,'" Good testified, revealing that her faith journey has been “very interesting.”
"I know as a Christian, I'm very outside the box. And for some Christians [I] can be slightly controversial,” she told CP. “What I've had to learn over the years is the way that God wants to use me is very specific to me, as it is to all of us as Christians. It’s very unique however He's called us — whatever package, whatever authenticity, whatever thinking or whatever experiences or whatever it may be.”
Throughout the years, Good has received criticism from some Christians because of the provocative outfits she's chosen to wear and the movie roles she's agreed to portray. During an appearance on D.L. Hughley's radio show in 2019, the 40-year-old “Harlem” star revealed that she doesn't always attend church because of what she described as being “assaulted” by congregants in response to some of her career choices.
During her interview with CP, Good said she's “still learning” what her calling in Hollywood means and the type of women that she's supposed to witness to.
“I guess a lot of them are like me, where they felt discounted or unworthy or not good enough — oftentimes in the church arena as well — and understanding that those people are called and qualified because God says they are. Not because of what anybody else thinks or feels, or understands or doesn't understand about them,” she noted.
Good stressed that at the end of the day, the bottom line and most important thing is: "What does God think about you, and who has God called you to be?”
“It's interesting because I'm still walking that out in certain seasons,” she said. "I'm constantly on that journey and constantly in that walk, and it's really interesting. But as long as you stay close to Him, He'll guide you, lead you. And that, for me, is walking in that and using what He's given me, she continued.
“He's allowed me to be here,” Good declared. “There's a million beautiful, talented girls that are more beautiful than me, more talented than me, and He's allowed me to be here.”
The Wait author then revealed to CP one of the things she regularly prays to God: “‘How do you want me to use this Lord and what am I supposed to be doing in each season? How do I glorify the Kingdom and how do I speak about you?”
Good added that even while on the set of horror movies, for which she's also been judged, she's found herself “having more conversations about God on those sets than any other set.”
“People who weren't willing to hear or talk about [God] feel comfortable with me because I work as hard as I can to not be judgmental and to be open-minded. I may disagree with you, or I may not believe the same thing as you, but I don't make people feel badly about it or uncomfortable or try to challenge them or fight with them on it,” Good maintained.
"I just try to move in complete love and allow the Spirit to tell me what I should and shouldn't say and try not to move on my own. And you find in those arenas, for me, I have so many people come back to me and be like, 'You were my first encounter with a Christian that made me feel comfortable enough to go be curious about God,'" she concluded.
Good ended the interview by sharing that her “greatest joy” in life is to be a witness for Jesus while on set.
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: jeannie.law@christianpost.com She's also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen Enemy Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic
