He Gets Us campaign

[Merrill]

I assume many of you saw that "He Gets Us" Super Bowl commercial

or maybe some of you have experience with the organization

seem like it was very controversial--I am curious to hear your thoughts on it

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I assume many of you saw that "He Gets Us" Super Bowl commercial

or maybe some of you have experience with the organization

seem like it was very controversial--I am curious to hear your thoughts on it

I didn't see the Super Bowl commercial, but I have seen some of the other "He gets Us" advos. I'm not sure what the problem is other than the fact that we now have a nation that has way too many knee-jerk reactions to even mentioning the name of Jesus ...

 

[WolfGate]

Well, CNN and AOC have both stated that their claim of being apolitical is false because they have supported anti-abortion and anti-LGBT organizations.

Charlie Kirk has stated they support liberal and left-wing ideology, referring to its backers as "woke tricksters".

I think both of those fail to understand what apolitical means. I think they fail to understand that engaging with others does not mean advocacy or acceptance. Christians looking to the whole bible for support on all issues will naturally run into political issues, and they may support one party more than the other, but they won't be partisan fan-boys. They will seek to understand and create relationship the people they are engaged with - that does not equal advocacy either.

My personal opinion is they are trying to reflect who they believe Jesus really was. The ad was not the misrepresentation conservatives are claiming this morning. Jesus did interact with the very people who were being rejected by their society. Study of John 4 reveals just how far out of bounds he was reaching when interacting with the woman at the well. They are imperfect I am sure in application as we all would be.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

I assume many of you saw that "He Gets Us" Super Bowl commercial

or maybe some of you have experience with the organization

seem like it was very controversial--I am curious to hear your thoughts on it

Also, I'm thinking folks had cleaner feet 2,000 years ago. So, it was a bit easier to do back then.

 

[Hazelelponi]

"portraying the pivotal figure of Christianity as an immigrant, a refugee, a radical, an activist for women’s rights and a bulwark against racial injustice and political corruption. The “He Gets Us” website features content about of-the-moment topics, like artificial intelligence and social justice"

So, just looked it up, since 2022 they've been lying on television about Jesus.

Don't suppose we should be surprised. Didn't see the ad though.

 

[WolfGate]

"portraying the pivotal figure of Christianity as an immigrant, a refugee, a radical, an activist for women’s rights and a bulwark against racial injustice and political corruption. The “He Gets Us” website features content about of-the-moment topics, like artificial intelligence and social justice"

So, just looked it up, since 2022 they've been lying on television about Jesus.

Don't suppose we should be surprised. Didn't see the ad though.

Since you haven’t looked at them closely, realize they have an evangelistic bent. They are focused around trying to get people inquisitive about who Jesus is and seek to learn more themselves. Below is from their website.

Who 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. 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. 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.

 

[Hazelelponi]

Since you haven’t looked at them closely, realize they have an evangelistic bent. They are focused around trying to get people inquisitive about who Jesus is and seek to learn more themselves. Below is from their website.

Who 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. 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. 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.

I just don't think lying to people is a good place to start for evangelism.

Jesus had no sin. He came to save sinners...

If He was a sinner he wouldn't have the power to save. It's a very central point in Christianity.

 

[WolfGate]

I just don't think lying to people is a good place to start for evangelism.

Jesus had no sin. He came to save sinners...

If He was a sinner he wouldn't have the power to save. It's a very central point in Christianity.

Where do you see them saying He sinned?

What they have said is "“He Gets Us has chosen to not have our own separate statement of beliefs. Each participating church/ministry will typically have its own language. Meanwhile, we generally recognize the Lausanne Covenant as reflective of the spirit and intent of this movement and churches that partner with explorers from He Gets Us affirm the Lausanne Covenant.”

The Lausanne Covenant - Lausanne Movement

"I would estimate that 85% of mission organizations in Latin America use The Lausanne Covenant as their statement of faith." - David Ruiz, WEA Mission Commission (1997-2018)

lausanne.org

 

[FameBright]

I assume many of you saw that "He Gets Us" Super Bowl commercial

or maybe some of you have experience with the organization

seem like it was very controversial--I am curious to hear your thoughts on it

What was the controversial issue? That Jesus loves gay and trans people while some of the funders supported anti-LGTBQ or anti-abortion causes?

 

[Merrill]

What was the controversial issue? That Jesus loves gay and trans people while some of the funders supported anti-LGTBQ or anti-abortion causes?

From what I have heard from other Christians, it is

1. The commercial seemed to suggest affirmation of sins
2. The slogan "He Gets Us" makes the Gospel about us--our needs and desires, and not about Christ and salvation
3. The statement at the end of the commercial suggests those who don't bend the knee to progressives they disagree with are full of "hate"

 

[Ceallaigh]

It seems to be the ongoing idea that Jesus was a leftwing liberal progressive. A continuing message to Christians that to be like Christ and follow Christ one must become a leftwing liberal progressive. That leftwing liberal progressives are closer to emulating Christ, than rightwing conservatives are. That if you're a leftwing liberal progressive you're full of love like Jesus, but if you're a rightwing conservative you're full of hate like Satan.

Biblical Jesus: Preaches God's righteousness. Warns of sin, judgement and hell. Hated and despised by the world. Exalts God the Father's will. Offends the world with the truth.

Secular Jesus: Preaches only on love. Never says anything negative. Loved and accepted by the world. Serves your will, not God's will. Hates to offend you and others.

 

[WolfGate]

It seems to be the ongoing idea that Jesus was a leftwing liberal progressive. A continuing message to Christians that to be like Christ and follow Christ one must become a leftwing liberal progressive. That leftwing liberal progressives are closer to emulating Christ, than rightwing conservatives are. That if you're a leftwing liberal progressive you're full of love like Jesus, but if you're a rightwing conservative you're full of hate like Satan.

Biblical Jesus: Preaches God's righteousness. Warns of sin, judgement and hell. Hated and despised by the world. Exalts God the Father's will. Offends the world with the truth.

Secular Jesus: Preaches only on love. Never says anything negative. Loved and accepted by the world. Serves your will, not God's will. Hates to offend you and others.

Or, you could be neither leftwing liberal progressive nor rightwing conservative and just trying to be like Jesus. All of who He was and modeled for us, and not just the part that aligns with a political philosophy. Wouldn’t that be novel.

The really odd part when people assume as they are in this thread is that when you look at who is backing He Gets Us, the major known donors are conservatives. A link to CNN talking about David Green, Hobby Lobby founder. I’ll quote a piece of it. I find it a sad indicator of the times we are in that the message of Jesus’ love immediately makes people think progressive and not gospel focused.

“While donors who support “He Gets Us” can choose to remain anonymous, Hobby Lobby co-founder David Green claims to be a big contributor to the campaign’s multi-million-dollar coffers. Hobby Lobby has famously been at the center of several legal controversies, including the support of anti-LGBTQ legislation and a successful years-long legal fight that eventually led to the Supreme Court allowing companies to deny medical coverage for contraception on the basis of religious beliefs.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/11/us/he-gets-us-super-bowl-commercials-cec/index.html

 

[Ceallaigh]

Or, you could be neither leftwing liberal progressive nor rightwing conservative and just trying to be like Jesus. All of who He was and modeled for us, and not just the part that aligns with a political philosophy. Wouldn’t that be novel.

The really odd part when people assume as they are in this thread is that when you look at who is backing He Gets Us, the major known donors are conservatives. A link to CNN talking about David Green, Hobby Lobby founder. I’ll quote a piece of it. I find it a sad indicator of the times we are in that the message of Jesus’ love immediately makes people think progressive and not gospel focused.

“While donors who support “He Gets Us” can choose to remain anonymous, Hobby Lobby co-founder David Green claims to be a big contributor to the campaign’s multi-million-dollar coffers. Hobby Lobby has famously been at the center of several legal controversies, including the support of anti-LGBTQ legislation and a successful years-long legal fight that eventually led to the Supreme Court allowing companies to deny medical coverage for contraception on the basis of religious beliefs.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/11/us/he-gets-us-super-bowl-commercials-cec/index.html

It seems like the usual watered down rainbow fluff. The idea to make Christianity as secularly attractive as possible to gain greater numbers. A Christianity that doesn't emphasize repentance of sin and striving towards holiness, in giving up what you want in favor of what God wants. So instead of there being a dwindling number of those who repent and seek holiness, there's this growing huge group who embrace Jesus on their terms, rather than on God's terms. Pseudo-Christianity that accommodates the person, rather than the person accommodating God. In essence the opposite of what Christianity is supposed to be.

 

[WolfGate]

It seems like the usual watered down rainbow fluff. The idea to make Christianity as secularly attractive as possible to gain greater numbers. A Christianity that doesn't emphasize repentance of sin and striving towards holiness, in giving up what you want in favor of what God wants. So instead of there being a dwindling number of those who repent and seek holiness, there's this growing huge group who embrace Jesus on their terms, rather than on God's terms. Pseudo-Christianity that accommodates the person, rather than the person accommodating God. In essence the opposite of what Christianity is supposed to be.

The campaign in open that their ads are targeting people who either have developed a negative view of Jesus or who don't know him and get them to investigate who he really is. I find this assumption that since they present the love of Jesus to these people they somehow don't share the truth about repentance of sin to be odd but not surprising. It's also ungracious to the group to assume such negative intentions without anything pointing to it other than an outreach to those who don't know Jesus.

They aren't trying to get greater numbers for any specific church because they aren't one. Did Jesus start off when he met people talking about repentance of sin? Throughout what He modeled in scripture, from the woman at the well, to the about to be stoned adulteress, He first showed He cared about even the most outcast of society despite their sin. He was with the disciples a long time before He fully revealed what the Messiah they sought really was. Except for the religious leaders he confronted, He repeatedly showed people He cared as a first step in getting them to repentance. Why would we claim following that model is psuedo-Chrisitianity. It is if you stop there, but it's a faithful step in the process. They can't walk the people they are trying to reach through the entire message of the Bible in 60 second ads. They can use those to get some people interested in learning about the love of Jesus, and with true investigation the rest can follow.

A Christianity that emphasizes Jesus love without the repentance of sin is not the full truth.

A Christianity that emphasizes the repentance of sin without Jesus love is not the full truth.

 

[Hazelelponi]

A Christianity that emphasizes Jesus love without the repentance of sin is not the full truth.

A Christianity that emphasizes the repentance of sin without Jesus love is not the full truth.

Just seems odd, what with liberation theology going around which is antithetical to the Christian faith, that several corporations have pooled so much money into very odd messaging that in appearance also seems likewise antithetical to the Christian faith, at a time our country is in crisis.

If I was going to pour all kinds of money into sending a message, I would first make sure the message was clear.

It does open the door to conversations with the unsaved, but they are going to be spent trying to first correct messaging, and that seems a shame.

 

[WolfGate]

Just seems odd, what with liberation theology going around which is antithetical to the Christian faith, that several corporations have pooled so much money into very odd messaging that in appearance also seems likewise antithetical to the Christian faith, at a time our country is in crisis.

If I was going to pour all kinds of money into sending a message, I would first make sure the message was clear.

It does open the door to conversations with the unsaved, but they are going to be spent trying to first correct messaging, and that seems a shame.

I certainly can understand thinking the money could be better spent on different outreach efforts and methods. From what I read, they feel this is a group Christians are not reaching out to effectively and trying to address that. How effectively they are doing that is open for debate.

I do not understand why people immediately assume they are not believers in the true gospel when there is nothing untrue about the actual statements they made. It would be the same as if I heard someone talk about the doctrine behind a need for repentance and a Savior, and immediately assumed they ignored the love Jesus has for those who have not yet found him. Getting someone who does not know Him to understand and accept the gospel is a process - you seldom can do every step at once.

 

[Ceallaigh]

I certainly can understand thinking the money could be better spent on different outreach efforts and methods. From what I read, they feel this is a group Christians are not reaching out to effectively and trying to address that. How effectively they are doing that is open for debate.

I do not understand why people immediately assume they are not believers in the true gospel when there is nothing untrue about the actual statements they made. It would be the same as if I heard someone talk about the doctrine behind a need for repentance and a Savior, and immediately assumed they ignored the love Jesus has for those who have not yet found him. Getting someone who does not know Him to understand and accept the gospel is a process - you seldom can do every step at once.

Well lets start with the end message of the commercial. "Jesus didn't teach hate. He washed feet". The thing is Jesus only washed the feet of those who were the very closest to him, who called him Lord and Master and gave up everything to serve him. Whereas the commercial seems to imply Jesus went out into the streets washing everybody's feet. Jesus washing His Apostles feet was symbolic of sanctification. Jesus did eat with sinners, but it was to teach them about the Kingdom of God, not to gel with them, and he didn't wash their feet.

Also I'll add that, maybe not in the case with this group, but in many cases "hate" means not being pro-lgbt, not being pro-abortion, not being in favor of kids getting sex changes, not being in favor of drag queens hanging out with little kids etc.

 

[Hazelelponi]

Getting someone who does not know Him to understand and accept the gospel is a process - you seldom can do every step at onc

I agree with this. Very much so. As a former Muslim I actually know how difficult it is too.

There's a saying Christian-folk have and that's "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". I think that's a good saying because it's so very true.

You can have the right intentions, but if you do it in the wrong way you have sinned.

Likewise you can have the right way, but have the wrong intentions and you have sinned.

Following Christ is about doing the right things, but also doing them in the right ways.

(We will make mistakes as we grow, but we shouldn't just assume we aren't doing someone a particular harm when we make them).

Early Christianity, under persecution and with only life example and person to person word of mouth, spread like wildfire.

God isn't a flashy salesman, he has something that's actually real to offer, and is offering it to a mankind who needs that. The real thing. Not the sales gimmick.

America has had her fill of salesman gimmicks and her people are starving for sustenance.

What the church should be doing is go back to God's methods of leading by life example, and being something set apart for God instead of doubling down on cheap salesman gimmicks.

That's when the church will grow substantively. It's clearly dying in America - and society with it - because quality mattered and I don't think many have that when they are busy making the church appealing to the world instead of something holy for God.

it's Holiness in all it's forms we need.

I'm not saying this in particular judgement of any one thing. But rather, just general observation really...

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Just seems odd, what with liberation theology going around which is antithetical to the Christian faith, that several corporations have pooled so much money into very odd messaging that in appearance also seems likewise antithetical to the Christian faith, at a time our country is in crisis.

If I was going to pour all kinds of money into sending a message, I would first make sure the message was clear.

It does open the door to conversations with the unsaved, but they are going to be spent trying to first correct messaging, and that seems a shame.

Not EVERYTHING in Liberation Theology is dead wrong. Assuming that it is always heretical is where we go wrong in an attempt to maintain an Evangelical front. We get so gung-ho and politically militaristic that we douse the fact that along with Holiness is supposed to come not only the lip-service to "Loving even our enemies," but the activation of a social mission for feeding, clothing, directing, encouraging, educating and aiding, even them.

But what do typical American Right-Leaning Evangelicals all too often do? Out of their political fear(S), they over-emphasize the former and leave undone the latter. Sometimes, they do neither of these; they just hoot and holler about how we need the 'right' governmental leader to somehow make it all better.

It's time for U.S. evangelicals to get over that, while at the same time scrutinizing those aspects of Liberation Theology that may be cogent on the one hand and less than theologically correct, on the other hand. I should be able to take a book like James H. Cone's, God of the Oppressed, and at least see the valid points he makes within it all the while still not necessarily agreeing with the entire theology. We should be able to do this without taking the flame thrower to it ... we should save the verbal FIRE for where it's really needed and apply it in the right context.

Matthew 10:34-36; Luke 12:49-53

 

[Merrill]

My church is going to be using materials from the "He Gets Us" campaign for the next few weeks. Some people aren't happy about it.

It seems to me that the Super Bowl commercial tried to do the following

1. Dispel notions that Christians are intolerant and hateful
2. Emphasize love and humility, even when we are dealing with enemies or people we disagree with

But the message was clumsy, confusing, and subject to misinterpretation.

The slogan "Jesus did not hate: he washed feet", sounds a lot like the left-wing slogan "Hate has no home here"

and the commercial did not feature people from the other side washing the feet of Christians

Now I have looked over the materials from the campaign, and I don't find anything objectionable or unbiblical. Pretty straightforward Gospel

I am not sure what denomination Mr. Green from Hobby Lobby belongs to ...

My feelings here are that we have to stop apologizing for being Christians and start ending in actual apologetics

We need to lose this idea that some sinful behavior is OK as long as it is practiced by "marginalized groups". Homosexuality, like adultery, is a sin. Abortion is sinful (regardless of the issues we may have with it). Illegally entering a country is unlawful, and could be considered sinful. Sex outside of marriage is sinful ...

The campaign wants to present a sanitized, un-controversial image of Christianity --but the Gospels are radical, disruptive, and demanding. Jesus is not a therapist--He is the savior