"Fuller House" actress Candace Cameron Bure has shared how Christians can lovingly engage with that hard-to-love person and the three words that guide her as she bridges the divide between the faith community and Hollywood.
"Kindness always wins," Bure told Matthew Faraci, host of The Dove Channel's original series "Frankly Faraci." "No matter what, kindness wins. It doesn't mean backing down; there's a difference. I can stand my ground and keep the love and be kind."
"I feel like Christians, we have to stop proving it. God's already done that, and God can do that with that person when they need to, but it's not our job to force a person to change and understand," the actress continued. "That's the Holy Spirit's job, not ours. So, when you take down that defensive wall of, 'I have to convince this person and they have to think like me,' I find that taking that wall down is through compassion."
Bure has worked in Hollywood for over 30 years, from starring as D.J. Tanner on the hit sitcom "Full House" to competing on Dancing with the Stars and co-hosting The View. Over the years, she's remained outspoken about her Christian faith and how it influences every project she tackles.
"I'm trying to be a bridge builder," she said of being a Christian in Hollywood, "because I think that both sides can get misunderstood because we always see the worst of people on either side...and I don't think the majority of people are really like that....let's just hear each other out and talk and try to understand each other in a nice and kind and respectful way."
Bure found herself to be the only conservative Christian on The View, regularly sparring with her more liberal co-hosts, including Whoopi Goldberg, Raven-Symoné, and Joy Behar. Before leaving the talk show in 2016, Bure tackled a series of hot-button issues, including prayer in public schools, abortion, and the controversial presidential election.
"I didn't realize I had such a voice," she said of her time on The View. "I still laugh to this day - how did I get that seat? I just try to be me...yet I didn't realize that being vocal about my faith in Hollywood would really ultimately get me that seat at The View, because I wasn't looking to take that seat. It certainly grew me in ways that I never expected in my career and as a person and to really be able to sit there with four other people that would disagree with me 99% of the time and not be hurt by that or take that personally."
Bure added that she did "ten times as much homework" as her co-hosts, as she didn't have a political background or come from a political family.
"That was all very new," she said. "But, I didn't want to sit at that table and not know what I was talking about or not have specific opinion, and that was the great thing about that show."
Still, the actress and author said she tries to have "compassion and understanding" for everyone - even those she doesn't agree with.
"I don't know what they're going through, because that person can judge me so easily from the outside...but they don't know what's going on my life, they don't know the really deep personal stuff," she said. "So, if I look at that person that I may be at opposite ends of in terms of what we believe about a particular topic, I just always want to have compassion and that, it lets my guard down and I can just have a conversation and I don't feel like I have to prove anything."
You can watch the full interview with Candace Cameron Bure here.
