“Hey, why don’t we start with a prayer?” Those are usually the words of a pastor when they sit down to discuss faith with someone. But they were not my words – they were Denzel Washington’s when we started an interview about his spiritual life. The conversation was part of a collection of 12 interviews that I held for my upcoming book, “Witness to faith: conversations about faith and meaning“(Church Publishing, October 2025). It may seem like a small gesture, but it set the tone: the divine, not the man, is where to start.
I started the book around the time I retired after more than 30 years of ministry as a episcopal priest. We had spoken a few times on the phone for our first meeting, who started with a savory: “Call me Denzel and come on, man, give me a hug!”
I knew about listening to his public speeches and interviews that he was open about his faith. I wanted to learn more and grow more – and Denzel helped this ordered pilgrim a little further in my own faith.
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At the age of 20, a customer named Ruth Green wrote a prophecy for him on a piece of paper while working in his mother’s beauty salon: “Tjonge, you will travel the world and preach to millions of people.” Mrs. Green did not know how to spell ‘prophecy’, so Denzel’s mother helped her and added the word ‘pastor’.
Denzel Washington attends the “highest 2 lowest” red carpet at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 19, 2025, in Cannes, France. (Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty images)
In our discussion he remembered this moment 50 years ago and said, “I thought,” Who is this crazy woman? ” But now I understand.
To my advantage, and hopefully for readers of the book, that is exactly what we were doing-as I was in class of an Academy Award and Golden Globe-Winning actor and director who told me: “The older I get, the simpler life is no longer necessary.
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Let me lean on that word ‘need’. It is not an exaggeration to say that we live in a chaotic, divided and disturbing world. One of the most seductive escape belonging is to believe that “more” will give a deeper meaning – more money, power, influence, fame, success.
Denzel Washington with wife Paulette Washington and mother Lennis Washington during the 62nd Academy Awards Ceremony March 26, 1990 in Los Angeles. Washington received an Oscar for the best actor in a supporting role for his performance as a trip in “Glory”. (Ralph Dominguez/Mediapunch via Getty images)
But Denzel hit the nail on the head. As Amy Grant, who was also interviewed for my new book, told me in our conversation, more of those things “is not the answer to a deeper connection or goal. It’s no different than the dopamine hits that people get from a thumb up on social media and it takes so long.”
So what does it take? My short time in the school of Denzel reminded me that a life in the divine weighs heavier than everything that this world can offer.
At first he resisted when I asked how he wanted to be remembered, but then said: “A man of God. Just as important as saying that a man of God is the process, the development that comes from God – who does not come from wealth, fame, through the church, the pastor. It comes from personal conversation with God; it comes from your encounters with God.”
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And that is what one of the most famous men in the world is looking for daily. He prays and reads his Bible. He attends worship faithfully. But not as a way to greater knowledge – rather, to a deeper relationship with God. As he said about his journey of faith: “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
Pauletta Washington and Denzel Washington on the premiere of “Gladiator II” Los Angeles in the TCL Chinese theater on November 18, 2024 in Los Angeles. (Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
Although I retired at the daily ministry, I still want to learn. Denzel reminded me why I was called to the priesthood in the first place and why I have to hold on to that calling until the end.
Getting to know God in such a personal way has brought him peace in the midst of our confusing and disturbing world. As he said five months after our conversation at his baptism: “God has done a lot for me, but he will do a lot for everyone who trusts him.”
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My premonition is that you will agree with Denzel by the end: “I don’t want anymore … I want God.”
Click here to Van Rev. Dr. Russell Leson, jr.
