Ego Nwodim Wants to Reclaim the Label ‘Christian’ From ‘Cuckoo People’ – relevantmagazine.com

For someone whose Saturday Night Live characters range from unhinged restaurant patrons to unpredictable stand-up comedians, Ego Nwodim doesn’t often talk about her faith. But on So True with Caleb Hearon, she surprised listeners by revealing she’s a Christian — or as she’s previously called it, “Christian lite.”
“I’m trying to stop saying this, but I’m ‘Christian lite’,” she told Hearon, explaining that the phrase had become her go-to shortcut for avoiding a theological TED Talk with strangers. But she’s realizing the label doesn’t quite capture the full picture.
“I heard myself say it on a podcast and I was like, ‘Well, now it sounds like you’re denying your faith or your spirituality,’ and I don’t want to do that,” she said.
Earlier this year, Nwodim opened up more about how important her faith is to her in an interview with Glamour.
“I feel no shame about my faith,” Nwodim said. “It’s such an important part of who I am. I think the best parts of me are a function of my faith and what I feel is my connection to God, honestly. If you see anything you like in me, it’s God, frankly.”
For Nwodim, “Christian lite” isn’t about watering down her beliefs. It’s about making it clear she’s not that kind of Christian.
“I’d think, ‘Should I even say I’m Christian?’ — which feels crazy, right?’ Nwodim explained to Hearon. “My faith is my faith. But I was like, should I even say that? Because when I know people I love who perhaps don’t feel safe with other Christians, when they hear that, they’re like, ‘Oh, so you don’t stand for this, this or this?’ and I’d have to explain that I’m safe.
“But then I had this thought,” she continued, “maybe I should just say I’m a Christian because Jesus was cool. So what if I reclaim the name? What if I take it back?”
She went on to explain that it’s not a crisis of belief so much as a branding problem.
“What if whatever y’all are doing over there is not Christian and you call yourself something else?” she said. “So I’ve had this thing where I go, wait, why am I giving up the title to these cuckoo people over here who are not loving, who are not doing good with it, who are not a reflection of what I think Jesus represents?”
She’s clear on one thing: “I am absolutely a person of faith. I love Jesus. I’m spiritual. It’s what’s carried me in some of my darkest and hardest times. A lot of people go, ‘Oh, how are you so confident?’ Or ‘how are you so this?’ And I’m like, my faith. My faith is the answer. That’s it.”
Which might just make “Christian lite” the wrong descriptor entirely. She’s not pulling back from the label anymore — she’s fighting for it.
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