He Get Us: Truth or Trash?
A look at the Super Bowl commercial that pissed off the church in the name of Jesus.
Here’s the ad that’s got everyone mad - give it a watch.
And straight from the @hegetsus Instagram, I present, the church’s response:
Let’s zoom in on a few:
Well Victo, he washed Judas’ feet. Does that count? 1
Fun fact: this use of the word ‘blasphemy’ is not biblical. In the Jewish/Christian sense of the word, blasphemy means ‘claiming to be God or an over-identification with God,’ which He Gets Us definitely does not do.
But more importantly, “sons of Satan just like yourself!” Those are some strong words…
Could he be right, though?
Let’s dig a bit.
Who is ‘He Gets Us’?
Pioneered by the billionaire founder of Hobby Lobby, David Green, the movement claims that Jesus needs a “rebranding” in America - he’s specifically referring to how the world perceives the church.
Given the below statistics and the responses I get when asking people here in Denver what they think of Jesus and the church, I couldn’t agree more.
65% of non-Christians say the church is not loving and caring.
50% of non-churchgoers believe that Christians are 'too focused on money and power.’
60% of non-churchgoers believe the church is full of hypocrites.
75% of non-churchgoers believe Christians are bad moral examples.
50% of unchurched people feel unwelcome in churches.
And before you say, “It doesn’t matter what the world thinks,” I beg you to reconsider. Yes, the Bible makes a clear distinction between the holiness we as believers should possess relative to the world and even goes so far as to say that the world will hate us, but good biblical interpretation skills never cherry-pick a verse to make a point without also examining the rest of Scripture (to see if anything else is said about the topic).
For instance, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells His followers, "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ...let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16)
Likewise, Peter encourages believers to "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (1 Peter 2:12)
It’s the attitude of these Christians that makes me mad. We aren’t supposed to look for acceptance from the world, but we are supposed to make every effort to win them to Christ. Given stats like 60% of non-churchgoers believe the church is full of hypocrites, I’d say we’re doing a pretty terrible job. Maybe Jesus does need a rebrand…
I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means, I might save some.
1 Corinthians 9:22
The campaign was originally organized and funded by the Servant Foundation, a donor-advised fund sponsor known for supporting conservative Christian causes.
Christianity Today, YouVersion, and the Billy Graham Center have also been instrumental in the launch and spread of the campaign.2
So conservative Christians are damning a conservative Christian organization?
Yep.
These Christians’ main concern is that repentance was not the primary message of the commercial - that it “encourages people to continue in their sin instead of emphasizing the need to change.”
The second concern is how the commercial ties in politics, such as the foot washing scene outside of an abortion clinic, and other scenes referencing Indian land, immigration, climate change, and homosexuality. But are these concerns valid?
Well, let’s quickly address the political aspect, because that part is easy.
Despite the setting of the image below being an abortion clinic, if you follow the money trail, the organization clearly does not support abortion. They just donated 50 million to a pro-life organization.
The political setting of all of these images is meant to do two things:
Show Christians that these people, like the girl who just had an abortion, the unhinged climate activist, and the Venezuelan refugee, need our love, not our spite.
And show the girl who just had an abortion that true Christians welcome her with open arms - despite her sin - because we’ve all been forgiven by Jesus too.
However well-intentioned, comments like Shane’s are uninformed at best and Pharisaical at worst. I say this as a conservative-leaning, pro-life, non-affirming, evangelical Christian - all the same “markers” that Shane would subscribe to as well.
So what are these “blasphemy” shouting Christians missing?
Gospel Contextualization
Gospel contextualization refers to the process of presenting the Christian message in a way that is understandable and relevant to a particular culture or context.
Tim Keller, one of the most brilliant gospel contextualizers of our generation, provides us with this framework:
When I talk to an atheist American physicist, I’m going to explain the gospel a bit differently than I’ll explain it to an indigenous group in the jungles of Mexico. Maybe I’ll start differently, or maybe I’ll end differently.
The point is that there is not only one correct way to present the gospel.
The commercial is only meant to address Step 1: Entering The Culture.
It does not intend to be a full theological treatise, and it’s certainly not meant to be a full gospel presentation (steps 2 and 3) - and there’s nothing wrong with that.
It’s not for you. It’s for the girl who walked away from her church after the elder had an affair with her 16-year-old best friend or the 22-year-old whose pastor told him God hates gay people (like him).
When I’m presenting the gospel to people who have experienced church hurt like this, I’ll try to empathize with them, hearing their story and apologizing for their church’s failures, before rushing into the “turn or burn” pitch - don’t ya think?
This is Gospel Contextualization in a nutshell.
But Does It Affirm Sin?
As mentioned, this organization is evangelical and conservative.
To say the ad affirms sin is something you must project onto it, forcing the ad to say something it never said. If you’re still not convinced, just look at how mad the commercial made people on the ‘other side.’
Spicy.
The fact that it’s pissed off people on both sides tells me we might be getting close to the truth…
If you happen to be hatin’ because you think they spent too much money… money is relative. The guy funding them has 15.3 billion dollars. He has every right to spend 0.653594771% of that (yes, that’s the correct percentage) on a Super Bowl ad if he thinks it'll bring people closer to Jesus - which I’m hopeful it will.
And why does Budweiser get to spend 5x that, and nobody is mad at them?
I digress…
Consider when the apostle Paul visited Athens and presented his message to the Greek philosophers at Mars Hill (Acts 17:22-31). Paul tactfully began his sermon by acknowledging their religious altar inscribed 'To the Unknown God.'
He meets them where they are at. This Unknown God, he then introduces, is the God proclaimed in the Christian message. Afterwards, he calls on them to repent.
Repentance is important - but does that make the He-Gets-Us-Haters right? Does the fact that the commercial didn’t end with “REPENT” mean its message is evil, and that its producers are “sons of Satan”?
Well, is feeding a homeless person without calling them to repent a bad thing?
Or when I met the gay barista at our local coffee shop last week, was it wrong for me to leave our conversation with "have a great day" instead of “repent of your sins!”
According to Shane’s logic, yeah, that’s wrong.
But I’d argue the opposite… I’m building a relationship with these people so that my words carry weight when I later share the reasons I follow Jesus and why they should too (which will necessitate repentance, but the order of this is important).
When we repent, what we turn towards matters just as much as what we turn from. The Western church has emphasized the from (sin) much more than the to (Jesus), presenting an incomplete message at best, and a repulsive propaganda piece at worst.
Imagine a salesman calls you up.
“Hello, this is Hudson.”
“Hey Hudson, my name is Rick. I’m a salesman, and I think you should stop using your Cutco knife set.”
“Okay, why? You got something better?”
“Oh, for sure!”
“You going to tell me about it?”
“Ummm… no, not yet.”
“Why?
“Well, you have to throw away your Cutco knives first. Then I’ll tell you.”
“Bye Rick - and good luck. You’re gonna need it.”
This is how we sound when picketing and yelling from across the street - or across the comments section - and as a result, the world has no idea what we’re selling. They just know they want nothing to do with it, and I don’t blame them.
Rebranding and other R-Words
The HGU-haters are adamant Jesus does not need a rebrand, despite the astonishing numbers of people leaving the church and the perceptions they hold.
Let’s run a thought experiment.
Did the medieval version of Jesus - one of indulgences and burning Bible translators at the stake and corrupt popes and debaucherous churches - not need a rebrand?
You see, if we change “rebrand” to “reform,” it sounds pretty reasonable.
Sit and listen to the world for a moment, and your heart will break for the twisted version of Jesus they’ve been sold.
Reform is needed - one in which the church puts down our pitchforks, washes feet, and calls those same feet to walk away from their sins because the life Jesus offers is so much better.
The commercial is meant to plant a seed and spark curiosity, inviting the curious (or hurt) viewer to venture over to the He Gets Us website, where they’ll be prompted to read the gospels and discover who Jesus is for themselves through the Bible, where repentance will then challenge them and their lifestyle - I’m hopeful that they’ll see the light, and realize their sin is hurting both themselves and the world around them.
The shame is they’ll first have to wade through the He Gets Us comment section filled with Christians screaming at each other and damning people to hell.
The church has plenty of people who love Jesus, but forget to love like Jesus.
Embody the former alone, and you’ll be a clanging symbol.
Embody the latter alone, and you’ll strip the gospel of its power.
God, give us both.
It’s worth noting that I will be sending this article to Shane. I know he loves Jesus, but I’m convinced he’s dead wrong here. I’m not afraid to call out church leadership/influencers who are steering the ship, because I care about the ship and everyone on it - including Shane.
Cover photo property of He Gets Us ®
(John 13:2-5) . . .The evening meal was going on, and the Devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him. 3 So Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he came from God and was going to God, 4 got up from the evening meal and laid aside his outer garments. And taking a towel, he wrapped it around his waist. 5 After that he put water into a basin and started to wash the feet of the disciples and to dry them off with the towel that was wrapped around him.
(John 13:9-11) Simon Peter said to him: “Lord, wash not only my feet but also my hands and my head.” 10 Jesus said to him: “Whoever has bathed does not need to have more than his feet washed, but is completely clean. And you men are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For he knew the man who was betraying him. This is why he said: “Not all of you are clean.”
https://wng.org/articles/whos-behind-the-he-gets-us-campaign-1675962422
Great insight and truth from Dr. Hufham! I agree wholeheartedly!
So good Hud. Great word.