I told many lies about Mr. Rogers when I was growing up. “You know he’s a Navy Seal with dozens of confirmed kills, right? Skull and crossbones tattoos cover his arm; that’s why he wears that Cardigan sweater. Mr. Rogers could destroy Rambo.” I didn’t make those stories up. I heard them. But I believed every one of them. And like any kid in grade school with a scoop, I retold them—with improvements. I think everyone has encountered a version of the Mr. Rogers myth.

Why did those stories circulate in the 80’s and early 90’s? Most would probably chalk it up to kids being kids, the ongoing impact of the Rambo franchise, or maybe too many G.I. Joe cartoons after school. But now that I’m older, I think another cause may have been at the root. 

We’re grown accustomed to living in a world filled with fakes. If it sounds too good to be true, or looks too good to be real, it probably is. Search for the fine print. Wait for the other shoe to drop. Experience has made us cynical. We live in a culture of cons, an airbrushed world where not everything is as it seems—Mr. Rogers included. 

Could a wealthy, middle-aged man in Pittsburg with as many talents as Fred Rogers really love kids that much? Could he seriously be that kind and friendly? Surely behind the puppet shows and piano was an angry man who couldn’t stand kids and hit the bottle after every show. Or maybe an ex navy seal who was trying to outrun his past. 

As it turns out, Fred Rogers was none of those things. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister who wanted to leverage his gifts in television to impact children. So that’s what he did. Everything Fred Rogers attempted was motivated by love. Love from God. Love for people. He famously said, “Love is at the root of everything. All learning. All parenting. All relationships. Love or the lack of it.” There was no lack of love with Fred Rogers. It colored everything he did and the many lives he touched. 

Burr Wishart, who worked with Fred Rogers said, “He would take offense at it, but Fred was the most Christlike human being I have ever encountered.” Lisa Dormire, who worked on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, said: “His Christlike qualities were what drew children. Children know a fraud more than anyone. . . . I truly believe he was one of the most authentic and Christlike people that I have ever known in my life. Just his manner. His ability to listen. . . . Everyone you talk to that had any encounter with him: It was a real moment in their lives.”

Tom Junod, the cynical journalist assigned to write a profile about Fred Rogers, dug as deep as he could for some dirt, but ended up writing the most positive profile he’d ever written—and one of the most popular. After multiple interviews with co-workers, colleagues, family, and friends, Junod said, “What was amazing about Fred was that he was the exact same person he was on TV. There was no show, no act—that was him.” Junod was discovering the same thing everyone did: Fred Rogers was Mister Rogers—the identical, authentic person in every setting. And he treated everyone the same, from the president of PBS to the doorman at his apartment building in New York to the little girl who stopped him on the street to get his autograph. All were met with kindness, hospitality, respect, and love. 

When other kid’s television shows like Pee-Wee Herman and Elmo were grappling with accusations, Mister Roger’s Neighborhood remained an unquestionably safe space for kids for over three decades and 900 episodes—mostly because of Fred Rogers. You could sum up Fred’s life with Romans 12:9. “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” 

How does the Gospel shape our relationships. What kind of people does it form us into? That’s Paul’s burden in Romans chapter 12. Beginning in verse 9, his answer to that question is simple: love. It’s a powerful section, and begins with the command: “Let love be genuine.” Sound countercultural in a world of fakes? Be genuine, not fake. Be real, not pretend. Be legit, not false.  

Paul is answering the question: What is the most beautiful and powerful thing in the world? The answer is LOVE. Unfeigned. Unexaggerated. Unconditional. There’s no virtue signaling, putting on a front, or seeking the spotlight. The love is real because it flows directly from God through us.

The Apostle John wrote: “We love, because He first loved us.” That means our love for others is empowered by remembering God’s love for us. God’s vertical love comes down to us and energizes us horizontally toward others.

When we realize how genuinely we are loved and welcomed by Jesus, we're not so angry, defensive, insecure, and demanding. We let our guard down and good things begins to happen. That’s what Fred Rogers did for children throughout his entire life. The results are staggering. Children grew up feeling loved, accepted, emotionally healthy, and secure—as much as that can happen through TV. 

Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood won four Emmy awards, and he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys. After he went onstage to accept the award, he bowed and said into the microphone, “All of us have special ones who have loved us into being. Would you just take, along with me, ten seconds to think of the people who have helped you become who you are?” First giggles, then silence, then tears. Mister Rogers finally looked up from his watch and said, ‘May God be with you.’

Sincere love, when it happens, feels like heaven on earth, as if God is stooping down and giving us a kiss on the cheek. Ray Ortlund once said on his podcast, "I should so conduct myself toward you that after we meet and walk away, you should feel like you've just had a moment with Jesus Christ.” That’s a powerful statement! What a privilege to bear the image of Christ to a world that is starving for real affection. Let love be genuine.