In 2023 the first He Gets Us campaign was launched during the SuperBowl. At the time I was in Hawaii, about to give birth, and attended church before the game. The pastor showcased one of the ads at the end of the service. Everyone, including myself, was very excited to see an ad about Jesus and couldn’t wait to see the rest of them.
My excitement wore off after some time. My gut told me that something was off, but at the time I couldn’t put my finger on it. The first criticisms I found about the campaign were from Christian political commentators that I follow. I thought their insights were beneficial, and I wanted to hear more from others before looking into it myself.
A couple of weeks ago, the Think Biblically podcast had an adviser of the campaign, Ed Stetzer, on to talk about the campaign in detail and address its criticisms. Ed stated that the ads are a conversation starter, pre-evangelistic and that they are not for Bible-believing Christians. He also explains why the campaign began in the first place:
“The “He Gets Us” campaign was started by a group of Christian business leaders who were concerned that the perception of Christianity had suffered, and people weren’t necessarily considering who Jesus was. And they would like for people to consider who He was and who He is.”
Ed repeatedly claimed that Christians have represented Jesus poorly and that the ads were an attempt to fix that. He believes that there’s a seed being planted through these ads that are encouraging people to have conversations about Jesus. He also mentioned that there was new leadership that was asking themselves, “Are we moving the needle the way that we want to?”
I appreciated that Ed took the time to explain the heart of the marketers behind the campaign and had a very civil conversation with Sean McDowell and Scott Rae. I appreciate the concern for the lost and trying to use a campaign to help people talk about Jesus. However, what was produced has actually done so much more harm to who Jesus is and what Christianity is all about.
The Content And Messaging
Many of the devotionals and content on the website feel like the picture above. Superficial, positive and full of progressive buzz words and lingo. Perhaps last year it was not like this, but now it’s difficult not to see it.
The Good Samaritan
One of the articles that really concerned me was the parable The Good Samaritan. The writer gets some of the basic ideas of the parable. It highlights removing prejudices, showing love and compassion to others, and that our neighbour is anyone we meet and we are to love them. But it stops there. It does not talk about the need for a saviour, that is Jesus. Because we can only truly love and have compassion for our neighbour if we know deep down how much we have been forgiven for.
The parable The Good Samaritan was prompted by a question from a lawyer, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25). One of the main points of the parable was to show the lawyer that he cannot keep the entirety of the Law to save himself as it is impossible. He needs a saviour, that is Jesus. There is nothing he can do in his power to earn eternal life.
When I was reading the article, there were a couple of passages that sounded like the lingo of the day and hinted at progressive ideology. These include:
Your neighbor is anyone you interact with. Whether you know them, like them, look like them, or not, they’re your neighbor.
..to love our neighbors requires altering our plans and path to be kind to people without ever expecting anything in return.
But Jesus shockingly made the Samaritan the hero, perhaps showing the first step in being a good neighbor is to avoid judging others
His teachings suggest that he wanted us to consider our intentions and do the work to act from a place of empathy.
Although the parable does mention love and showing compassion to anyone, it does not emphasize race and outward appearances. As Christians, we should not alter the truth of the Gospel to be kind to anyone. Jesus taught that we should judge, but not hypocritically (Matthew 7:1-6). Our intentions are not always good. We are selfish by nature. Empathy, while important, has been used and abused to tell Christians not to call out sin.
Washing Feet
This year’s Super Bowl ads featured several images about washing feet. It suggests that we ought to wash the feet of people we disagree with/ are at total odds with as an act of humility and attempt to bridge the gap. I think this is probably one of the biggest misinterpretations that the He Gets Us campaign has done.
Jesus washing the feet of the disciples (John 13:1–17) is very significant. It represented His forgiveness of sinners through humility and servanthood. It is a foreshadowing of His ultimate love and humility on the Cross. His disciples did not understand this at first, but later He explained: “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you” (v.10).
Jesus washing the feet of the disciples represents spiritual cleansing and that He is the One who forgives. Peter and the other disciples (except Judas) experienced this through salvation, which is a one-time act of justification by faith. However, sanctification, which is a lifelong process, requires daily washing. Spiritually, this is done by the Holy Spirit within us, and being washed by the Word of God (daily Bible reading, devotions, Bible study etc.)
Also, part of being a humble servant is forgiving others (Colossians 3:13). When we strive to be dominant, refuse to serve others and refuse to forgive, it displeases the Lord. None of this is explained by the He Gets Us campaign.
About Us Section
The About Us section under Frequently Answered Questions has some very progressive-sounding messaging.
For instance, What is your stance on the LGBTQ+ community?
So let us be clear in our opinion. Jesus loves gay people and Jesus loves trans people. The LGBTQ+ community, like all people, is invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider his example of unconditional love, grace, and forgiveness of others. No matter who you are, YOU are invited to explore the story of Jesus and consider what it means for your life.
There is no mention of the Cross, the need to repent of your sins, to be forgiven of your sins, to believe He is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that He is the only way to eternal life. Jesus is the same for everyone: He is the Saviour of the world. He is not Someone you can benefit from on a materialistic and emotional level.
Next: Is this affiliated with a certain religion?
It’s about Jesus, so it’s certainly affiliated with Christianity, but our point is that the story of Jesus doesn’t belong to anyone. It has something to offer to everyone — inviting Christians, non-Christians, and those who aren’t sure what they believe to consider Jesus. The example of his life can inspire all of us to pursue unconditional love for ourselves and for others, and that can encourage us to learn more about Jesus and his mission.
He often confronted people on their sins and told them to repent. The Pharisees received the harshest rebuke from Jesus because they religiously followed man-made rules and thwarted the teachings of the Law. The woman caught in adultery (John 8: 1-11) was told to go and sin no more. Jesus’ teachings never indicated self-love. We are to love our neighbours as ourselves, but there are far more teachings about denying ourselves.
Also: What do you believe Jesus is?
We believe there is something in the story of Jesus for everyone. That’s why fans of the campaign and those working on it include people who are curious about this man and his story and want to explore it for themselves, those reconstructing their faith, and those who believe in their hearts that Jesus Christ is the son of God.
The question itself is odd. It’s almost like asking, ‘What does Jesus mean to you?’ It’s good if people are interested to know more about who Jesus is, but He isn’t just some character from a fictional novel. He is the Word made flesh who dwelt among us (John 1:14) to save us from our sins so that we wouldn’t live an eternity without Him.
All of us work together relentlessly to share the transformative power that unconditional love, forgiveness, and sacrificial generosity have to change us, our families, our communities, and our country. It wouldn’t be hard to guess that many of those backing the campaign believe that Jesus is who the Bible says he is.
Love, forgiveness and sacrificial generosity don’t change us, our families, our communities and our country. True humility, is admitting that we’re not good and need a Saviour, and walking with Him is what changes us and everyone else.
He Gets Us is an initiative of Come Near Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to sharing the life and love of Jesus, that believes Jesus was human and divine, he rose from the dead, and more. No matter who you are and what you believe, we’re glad you’re here.
Being forgiven of our sins and His death and resurrection are vital to Christianity and should have been the focal point here.
The Ad They Should Have Made
The He Gets Us campaign is more about us than it is about Jesus. Why couldn’t they have focused more on getting Jesus, since it’s clear that most people don’t.
Jamie Bambrick’s Ad The Christian Super Bowl Ad They Should Have Made is a brilliant example of effectively communicating the truth of the Gospel in one minute. It goes like this:
Former witch…Dawkin’s former right hand man…former jihadist…former KKK member…former drug addict…former gang leader…former drag queen and prostitute…former abortionist…former transgender…former pornstar…former new age guru…former lesbian activist.
Jesus doesn’t just get us…He saves us…He transforms us…He cleanses us…He restores us…He forgives us…He heals us…He delivers us…He redeems us…He loves us.
Such were some of you.
The Gospel changes us as we choose to walk with Christ and become like Him. We are not to stay as we are. If we stay as we are, we become more like the world and use Jesus only when we’re in need or when we feel like it. His desire is to be in a relationship with us, to save us and restore us so that we don’t die in our sins and be eternally separated from Him.
What are your thoughts about the He Gets Us campaign? Are others (including myself) overreacting or do you think there is validity in our criticisms? Let me know in the comments!
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