Pastor reflects on forgiving abuser after sharing Gospel with 'Joker' star Joaquin Phoenix
Oregon Pastor Jesse Lusko recently opened up about the time he shared the Gospel with “Joker” actor Joaquin Phoenix and how their conversation about faith and redemption helped the former forgive his abuser.
In an October sermon series centered on the biblical story of Jonah, Lusko, who leads Counterculture Church in Portland, touched upon the concepts of vengeance and forgiveness.
He cautioned his congregation that, all too often, individuals can become twisted “mirror images” of those who have wronged them. To illustrate, Lusko pointed to the Batman villain Arthur Fleck, who, after enduring a life filled with hardship, ultimately snaps and becomes the Joker, seeking vengeance on a society that rejected him.
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Phoenix played the “Batman” villain in the 2019 film “Joker” and the follow-up film this year, and Lusko seized the moment to share a recent, unexpected meeting with the actor.
This past spring, following his father’s battle with cancer, Lusko gathered with his family, including his brother Levi Lusko, a fellow pastor, to prepare for the funeral. The day before the service, Lusko stopped by a local coffee shop where a friend casually mentioned that he had just been in line with Phoenix. Remembering how his father had always admired the actor’s work, Lusko approached Phoenix to express his condolences. As they spoke, Lusko shared the story of his father’s life and faith journey.
“I also shared with him my dad’s story of coming to Christ,” Lusko said. “That my dad had experimented with tons of drugs, that he’d hitchhiked around the United States, that his mom had died of brain cancer, that his stepdad was murdered by his business partner.”
“That’s all a true story,” said Lusko. “My dad had come to Christ, and Joaquin was blown away by that story.”
Phoenix, touched by the story, revealed that he had also lost his father to cancer.
Later that day, Lusko encountered Phoenix again in the hotel gym, where the actor expressed a desire to take a photo together, a memento of their moving conversation. They spoke about Phoenix’s portrayal of Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line,” a film that explored Cash’s decision to play for inmates at Folsom Prison, risking alienation from his Christian fanbase.
“We believe in Jesus,” Lusko recalled telling Phoenix. “We believe in His grace. My dad believed in that, and I just want to pray God’s greatest grace over you.”
Lusko then explained to his congregation why the chance meeting with Phoenix meant so much. He shared his own experience with childhood trauma, describing how he was abused by a family friend. The incident, he said, left him grappling with the concept of justice from a young age. His father, already a Christian by then, sought to reassure him, saying God would use his pain for good, much like the story of Joseph from the Bible.
"My dad told me I was like a superhero," he said.
For Lusko, Batman had been a childhood obsession — a symbol of justice he aspired to. But as he grew older, the desire for vengeance, rather than justice, began to consume him.
“I told my best friend my only purpose in life was to find the man who raped me and murder him,” Lusko said.
“But when you allow bitterness to fester, it twists you. You don’t become Batman; you become like Arthur Fleck. You become the Joker,” Lusko reflected. He described how harboring revenge can not only corrode one’s soul, but also undermine future relationships, allowing the past to continue to steal from the present.
The pastor drew a parallel between his own anger and the bitterness Jonah felt even after delivering Nineveh from destruction. Over time, it was through understanding Jesus and the Gospel that he found a path to healing, peace and forgiveness.
At his father’s funeral, Lusko spoke openly about his past, even addressing his abuser directly, declaring, “I forgive you.”
He explained to his congregation, "The day before [my dad's] funeral, I got to share the Gospel with the Joker. And then at his funeral, I stood on stage with thousands of people watching, and I said the name of my abuser, and I said, 'I forgive you.'”
“Forgiveness allows you to seek justice without it spiraling out of control into vengeance. Forgiveness sets you free to really have a heart that wants forgiveness, not just one that goes crazy and wants the whole city to burn, like the Joker," he continued.
“That’s what God’s grace did in my life,” he concluded. “I think it was pretty profound that God allowed that to happen the day before my dad’s funeral."
