The Christophers: Actor Seeks to Imitate Christ

Tony Rossi,

Director of Communications,

The Christophers

The term “child star” sometimes brings to mind stories of kids whose lives went off the rails after achieving celebrity at a young age. Jonathan Jackson, however, never fell prey to those temptations, thanks to the supportive family members and co-workers who surrounded and grounded him after he was cast on ABC’s “General Hospital” in 1993. In addition, Jonathan felt called from an early age to pursue a relationship with God, so he kept his ever-growing Christian faith as the foundation of his choices and actions.

In the years since then, Jonathan moved through various Protestant beliefs, but ultimately found a home in Eastern Orthodox Christianity a little more than 10 years ago. Jonathan also returned to “General Hospital” recently, so he joined me on “Christopher Closeup” to discuss his life, career, and faith.

When Jonathan joined the cast of “General Hospital” at age 11 as Lucky Spencer, he was inducted into soap opera’s most famous family, portraying the son of the iconic Luke and Laura Spencer. “I was so blessed because my parents in real life are beautiful people that I’ve learned so much from,” Jonathan explained. “And then in the artistic world, I was given Tony Geary and Genie Francis as these incredible parental figures and mentors.”

That made a big difference in Hollywood, where the wrong environment can derail young people’s lives. Jonathan recalled, “I was seeing very successful people, many of them with a high degree of fame, and I was seeing a lot of different versions of that…Anthony Geary, for instance…was always one of the most humble people that I ever worked with…It’s the same thing for Genie…Then, [there were] other examples that I would see around me of success and wealth and power—and they were miserable. Their lives were in chaos. I was a kid at the time, so I’m observing all of this and going, ‘Wow, fame is horrible…and it’s corrosive to the soul.’…So…at a young age, to have [Tony and Genie] that are so good at what they do and seasoned and everything, to have them tell you, ‘Listen, block it all out, trust your instincts,’ that was a huge blessing.”

Another blessing was the way that Jonathan was slowly exposed to different Christian beliefs that kept him grounded. He noted, “I’m very thankful that in the various Protestant circles that I grew up in, I was sheltered from the most fundamentalist, puritanical, legalistic [views], which can often be a bit traumatizing for people…There was, I would say, a very orthodox balance of grace and truth.” After reading C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity,” Jonathan realized how prideful and judgmental he could be sometimes: “I started to become aware of it, and then every time it would happen, I would repent, and I’d say [to God], ‘Take that from me.’”

“One of the main things that is focused on in Orthodox Christianity is, ‘I am the chief of sinners,’” Jonathan continued. “And whoever you’re talking with, no matter where they come from or what background they are, the disposition of the soul should be an imitation of Christ, one of humility to say, ‘You will most likely enter the kingdom of heaven before me, so please pray for me and put a good word in for me. And I want my disposition to be that when you reach the [pearly] gates before I do, that, if Christ says, ‘What was your experience with that person?’ you might say, ‘He never judged me.’”

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