The “He Gets Us” campaign has people talking.
During Super Bowl LVIII, the He Gets Us campaign aired two commercials, together costing $20 million. The mission of “He Gets Us” is to help everyone “rediscover the love story of Jesus.”
But the truth is, rather than helping people “rediscover” the love of Jesus, the “He Gets Us” campaign redefines the love of Jesus.
About the ads
The first commercial showed a montage of people from all walks of life, occupations, generations, and races washing each other’s feet. It was intended to evoke the foot washing of John 13, where Jesus washed the feet of His closest followers. The tag line for this spot was “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet.”
The second spot, only 15 seconds, was called “Who is my Neighbor?” Images of people from various backgrounds popped on the screen, ending with a homeless woman begging for money. The ad ends by describing the neighbor as the one you don’t “notice, value or welcome.”
What’s “He Gets Us”?
A spokesperson for He Gets Us, Jason Vanderground, explained that the ads were meant to invite people to consider Jesus’ “unconditional love, kindness and generosity” and to explore His message. The campaign also sought to “disrupt” “preconceived notions” about Jesus and Christianity, he said.
“What we’re trying to offer people is this invitation from Jesus,” he added. “Even if they have differences, even if they have different beliefs and strongly held convictions,” they can treat each other in ways that transcend those different beliefs.
What’s right with it
The images are thought-provoking, powerful, and moving. People cross boundaries, show compassion, and treat one another with kindness.
In addition, lots of Christians are pleased to see Jesus’ name promoted in a venue as massive as the Super Bowl and associated with these strong expressions of compassion.
And if a person’s interest in Jesus is piqued by these ads, that’s great. And if the “He Gets Us” campaign succeeds in starting conversations about Jesus, even better.
But let’s say that happens. What conversation should you be having? If someone sees only this campaign, what will they think of Jesus? And what could you say to help them understand who Jesus really is?
Remember that guy, years ago, who painted John 3:16 on his chest and stood shirtless behind the goal posts? It’s good to see John 3:16 displayed on national TV, but unless it leads you to read John 3:16, it’s irrelevant. And unless someone explains John 3:16, it’s meaningless.
This is like that.
The main problem with the “He Gets Us” campaign isn’t what it says. It’s that it doesn’t say enough. Rather than invite people to be changed by the power of God, the campaign drafts Jesus for its social cause. Doing so, it reduces Jesus to a sympathetic friend whose only goal is to bring people together.
Making Jesus one of us
See, the “He Gets Us” campaign is horizontal. It’s about people, not God. So it portrays Jesus through that lens.
The “He Gets Us” Jesus isn’t the God of John 14, where He proclaims that faith in Him is the condition for salvation and transformation. No, this Jesus is an affirming universalist. His brand of unconditional love is the same as unconditional approval.
But He’s against hate, right? What could possibly be wrong with that? It depends on how you define “hate.”
Like the culture He affirms, the Jesus of “He Gets Us” defines hate as any claim to absolute morality. Any disapproval for a lifestyle choice is “hate.” Everyone wants their lifestyle choices to be affirmed by Jesus. So He does. He gets us.
The “He Gets Us” Jesus doesn’t want to change us or transform us. Jesus “Gets Us.”
So what’s the problem with that?
Why does God love us?
First and most important, Jesus doesn’t love us because He Gets Us.
Jesus “gets us” because He Made Us. And because He Made Us, He loves us.
When you liberate Jesus from the horizontal confines of “He Gets Us” and remember that He is God in human flesh, it changes things, doesn’t it?
The majesty of the gospel isn’t that God “Gets Us.” It’s that God created us. And that our Creator became a man. God walked among us, healed the sick, loved the hurting, and, yes, confronted the sinner. Unconditional love is not the same as unconditional approval.
We don’t need Jesus to “get us.” We need Jesus to save us, to redeem us, to transform us.
The good news of the gospel is that the real Jesus will do just that.
About that foot washing
The second “He Gets Us” Super Bowl spot captures the essence of what Jesus meant by loving your neighbor. Sure, it extracts this teaching from the biblical context, which requires a grasp of who Jesus really is, but at least it captures Jesus’ main point—all people are made in God’s image and should be treated as such.
But the foot-washing commercial removes Jesus’ action so far from the biblical context that it is hardly recognizable. Jesus did not teach us to randomly wash people’s feet, nor that it was symbolic of loving your neighbor.
Jesus washed His disciples’ feet—and only their feet–to teach them humility. But even more than that, He did it as a living parable to illustrate His incarnation—God became man to be a servant. We cannot do likewise unless we know what the image represents, and we are fully-devoted followers of Christ who take up the cause of His incarnation.
So here’s what matters
It sounds good for the “He Gets Us” campaign to say they want to “disrupt” “preconceived notions” about Jesus and Christianity. But they overlook something. See, sometimes those preconceived notions are exactly right.
I don’t need Jesus to “get me.” I need Jesus to save me. And only the biblical version of God in human flesh can do that.
And, by the way, the real Jesus, the incarnate God of the Bible, doesn’t need any help being disruptive. Just get to know Him. Trust me. You’ll find out. Want your life turned upside down? Disrupted and shaken up? Choose to follow Christ.
Want to be forgiven, changed, liberated from sin and death? Find out what it means to be loved by your Creator. Choose to follow Christ.
We don’t need the horizontal Jesus of “He Gets Us.” We need our Creator, the majestic, gracious, God of the Bible who became a man to save us from our sins. God’s greatest expression of His love for you is not that He “gets” you. It’s that Jesus died for you.
Remember, Jesus doesn’t love you because He gets you.
Jesus loves you because He made you.
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
Thanks for the good read, well written! As another pastor I listen to put it.. “Everyone tends to love Jesus, as long as you don’t define who he is”.
Thanks Nate! And so true!