Tim Allen is in the headlines after ABC cancelled his popular sitcom “Last Man Standing” — a rare TV phenomenon that features a main character who is “a conservative and devout Christian.” But what do we know about the actor’s real-life relationship with God?
Well, we can start with an old 1996 interview during which Allen described himself as “a pretty solid Christian” who has always asked deep questions about God, pain, suffering and plenty more.
“Even as an altar boy, I was always asking the bigger questions — you know: if God is, in fact, good, what is all this death I see? And if God is gentle, what is all this suffering I see?” Allen said. “I’ve found some of the answers in Eastern religion. It explained my Christianity to me. Good and evil are the same thing. You can’t have one without the other.”
He continued, “It’s the balance, it’s the temperance of things.”
Flash-forward 15 years and Allen went a bit deeper in an interview with ABC, explaining that he was just 11 years old when his father was killed by a drunk driver. The actor admitted that the event had a profound impact on his faith.
“I’ve had a curious relationship with God since my father died,” he said.
It was after that untimely death that Allen ended up going on a self-destructive path, partying and eventually serving two years in prison in the 1970s for felony drug trafficking. In a recent interview with Closer magazine, Allen said that his more than two year detainment actually helped him reboot his life.
“It was a watershed moment,” he said. “It put me in a position of great humility, and I was able to make amends to friends and family and refocus my life on setting and achieving goals.”
Unfortunately, though, Allen hadn’t quite dealt with all of his demons and he ended up falling into a pattern of drinking and driving years after his prison stint; he was arrested in 1997 for drunk driving, something he reflected on in his 2011 interview with ABC.
“I find it humiliating,” Allen said as he looked back at his drinking days. “By the grace of God I didn’t hurt anybody or myself in the years I was drinking and driving.”
And in his 2017 interview with Closer, the star, who is currently married to his second wife, said that he’s a changed man since he left booze behind.
“I’m not the same guy I was the first time [I was married], when I was hiding and doing what people who drink too much do,” he told the outlet. “I was not connecting. But I’ve been sober for almost 20 years. I’m much more present.”
As for his relationship with God, Allen told ABC that he believes God — whom he referred to as “the builder” — put him on Earth, and said that those closest to him know full-well about his deep spirituality.
“I don’t push it. I just want a relationship with whoever built me,” he said. “This is too much, too weird that it happened by accident. It didn’t happen by accident.”
So, there you have it. While we don’t know the intricate ins and outs, we do know that Allen is a faithful — and grateful — guy.
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