Does He Get Us?

“Did you see the Jesus ad in the Super Bowl?” my husband asked me. “Didn’t that make you happy?”

That Jesus should be mentioned during the biggest television event of the year? One that had 124 million viewers? Sure, that’s a win. According to one of the creators of the “He Gets Us” ad campaign, more people googled Jesus during the Super Bowl than during Christmas.

Add to that the number of football players who have spoken openly in interviews about how their faith shaped them. Brock Pur:y, Christian McCaffrey, CJ Stroud, and so many others. Patrick Mahomes, after the win, gave glory to God. Heartwarming.

Still, my answer to my husband was no. The “He Gets Us” ads did not make me happy. In fact, they made me sort of mad.

Previous “He Gets Us” ads have depicted Jesus as a gang leader (He wasn’t), a refugee (He wasn’t), and even an illegal immigrant (He wasn’t). This year, one ad featured various people washing the feet of those from so-called “marginalized” groups: a priest washing the feet of a gay or trans person, a pro-lifer washing the feet of a woman about to have an abortion, a cop washing the feet of a black man. The tagline is, “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet.”

A group called Come Near sponsors the ads. On their website, they say, “Our work represents the input from Christians who believe that Jesus is the son [sic] of God as well as many others who, though not Christians, share a deep admiration for the man that Jesus was…”

Wait. You mean some people contributing to these ads are not even Christians? 

(By the way, how exactly can Jesus be a good man and also claim to be God?)

The creators say the goal of the ads is to present Jesus in a “non-partisan, non-offensive” way. But in reality,  Jesus was quite offensive. He offended nearly everyone. He was offensive out of love for us, to show us how sick we were and how desperately we need a Savior. 

“I came to testify to the truth,” Jesus told Pontius Pilate. 

And the truth… hurts. The truth is offensive. 

Jesus was also extremely partisan. He took sides. Yes, He loved and had compassion for all people, including those on the margins of society. He dined with Pharisees. He healed lepers and blind beggars. He engaged in conversation with sinners. 

But Jesus never shrank from telling people the truth about how they were living their lives. He called people to turn away from their sins and repent. He rebuked religious leaders for oppressing the people with ridiculous laws. He saved the woman caught in adultery from being stoned to death, but he also told her, “Stop sinning.”

Today’s church has thrown out the whole idea of objective truth. “Come as you are,” they say. “And stay that way.” 

Is this all-grace-no-truth approach bringing more people into the fold? No. Church attendance continues to decline. Instead of being drawn to this message, people seem to think, “I’m fine just the way I am. So what do I need Jesus for?”

The question is not, does Jesus get us? The question is, do we get Him?

WHO’S WASHING WHOSE FEET?

It should be noted that Jesus didn’t go around washing people’s feet. He washed the feet of His disciples for a very specific reason.

“Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. John 13: 12-14

In context, the disciples had just been arguing amongst themselves as to who was the greatest among them. The foot washing was a “teachable moment” to show them how they must have a servant heart toward one another in order tof His disciples.

The He Gets Us ad turns foot washing into something else entirely. The tagline “Jesus didn’t teach hate” appears to be directed at those doing the foot washing: cops, priests, Christians, pro-lifers, those whom our culture considers hateful. Christians these days are “hateful” because we hold to biblical truths that God created men and women, that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that all life is precious, including unborn lives. This makes us judgmental, hypocritical, and unloving in the eyes of the world. In other words, the ad feeds into the woke ideology that if you disagree with anyone’s life choices, you are evil. 

The ad creators say as much on their website. 

How did the story of a man who taught and practiced unconditional love, peace, and kindness; who spent his life defending the poor and the marginalized; a man who even forgave his killers while they executed him unjustly — whose life inspired a radical movement that is still impacting the world thousands of years later — how did this man’s story become associated with hatred and oppression for so many people? 

The makers of this campaign conflate loving people with accepting and agreeing with them. Jesus could love people while hating what they were doing. Jesus hated sin. That’s why He came to die for us. Jesus didn’t judge people by what “group” they belonged to. He judged their hearts. He invited people to come to him, for He was humble and gentle of heart. But He not only upheld the moral spirit of the Law, He took it even one step further. It wasn’t enough to not commit adultery, He said. Even lusting after another person is committing adultery.

Hard truths. 

MEETING THE REAL JESUS

Becket Cook was a gay man, living in Hollywood, enjoying a successful career as a set designer in the fashion industry.  Then, one day, a conversation with a group of young Christians in a coffee shop about homosexuality compelled him to visit their church. And an amazing thing happened.

Tim Chaddick preached the sermon that day, and everything he was saying basically turned what I knew about religion upside down. I grew up in Catholic schools, and I honestly thought religion was just being a good person, doing good things. I don’t think the priests in my high school once explained what the gospel was. Not once. So when Tim was preaching all these things that were the exact opposite of what I thought religion was, I was like, Whoa. It all really resonated, and it prompted me to go forward at the end of the service to receive prayer. It was shocking and unexpected to me, a Road to Damascus moment. It was so powerful, so all-consuming. I was all-in. 

Becket Cook could have been offended by the gospel because the gospel was telling him that in order to follow Christ, he would have to change his life. 

That’s a deeply offensive message in our world today. Not only did his feet need to be washed, but his entire body, mind, and soul had to be cleansed. In order to be a true follower of Christ, he had to give up his gay lifestyle, which he did. He talks about that struggle and the ultimate joy he found in Christ in his book, A Change of Affection. 

God had a lot of grace on me the day he saved me. Giving up the gay life wasn’t that difficult; it was actually quite easy. I had just met Jesus and the relationship with him was so overwhelming and wonderful and all-consuming. 

Six months before that fateful meeting in a coffee shop, Becket had been experiencing a deep sense of emptiness in his life, yet he knew he couldn’t turn to religion because he was gay. That pervasive emptiness led him to speak to those young people having a Bible study in a coffee shop. This is what we used to call having a “God-shaped hole” in our hearts. No matter what our experience or level of success in life, God has created in us a need for Him. He made us. He wants us all to come to Him.

Come as you are. But don’t stay that way.

SELLING JESUS

Personally, I think spending millions of dollars on ad campaigns is the wrong approach. Jesus is not something you can “sell” like cars or laundry soap. No one is going to decide to give their lives to Christ because of a TV commercial. That these ads may “start conversations” and get people interested in exploring further is, of course, a good thing. But I maintain that the Jesus these ads are trying to promote is not the Jesus of the Bible. Could those millions have been better spent on feeding the hungry, taking care of the sick, and supporting local church outreach? 

Jamie Banbrick, a pastor in Ireland, made an alternative ad that would have been far more meaningful and truthful than the real ones. The tagline is, “Jesus not only gets us, He saves us.” 

This TV ad would have made me happy. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV3AnTUPiDY

Gina Detwiler is the author of the award-winning Forlorn, a supernatural series for young adults. The last installment of the series, Forever, will release in October, 2024. Find out more at www.ginadetwiler.com