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I appreciate every effort to make Jesus known to a world that does know who He really is, especially to a world that has false perceptions about Him. I appreciate those who are willing to think outside the box and find unconventional ways to get people interested in hearing about the Savior. And I appreciate Christians who are willing to invest large amounts of money to reach massive secular audiences. But I don’t appreciate efforts that, in the end, might do more harm than good.
I’m speaking here, of course, about the “He Gets Us” ad campaign, designed to tell a hurting and lost world that Jesus understands who they are.
As the different ads suggest, He knows what it is to be rejected and misunderstood. He knows what it is to be an outsider. He knows what it’s like to be accused of being a lawbreaker and a miscreant.
The ads are saying, whoever you are, whatever you’re going through, whatever you’ve done, He gets you. That’s who Jesus is.
So far, so good, especially in 21st century America, where millions of Americans know the Jesus of a political party or the Jesus of a corrupt ministry or the Jesus of an angry religious crowd.
By all means, let us help a watching world disassociate from that Jesus and let us introduce people to the Jesus of the Bible. And yes, let’s do it one step at a time, making Him as relatable and approachable as possible.
After all, there’s a reason that the “sinners” of the day flocked to Him, including the dishonest tax collectors and the prostitutes and other social outcasts. And there’s a reason that the religious establishment was offended by His actions, asking His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11) Or, as Jesus summarized what His critics said about Him, “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” (Matthew 11:19)
I truly believe that if Jesus was physically here among us today, He would do the same thing, getting His hands dirty with the “sinners” of this world, spending time with many people that we would avoid, allowing His reputation to be tarnished. He wouldn’t just attend our lovely church services.
Of course, as I have often pointed out, Jesus did not practice affirmational inclusion, meeting sinners where they were and affirming them in their sin. To the contrary, He practiced transformation inclusion, meeting sinners where they were and calling them to repentance and forgiveness and new life.
But, again, in principle, I have no issue with the intent of the “He Gets Us” campaign. I have an issue with some of the messaging of the campaign.
In short, we can present to the world a Jesus who is so likable that He is no longer the Jesus of the Bible, a Jesus who is so much like the world that the world recognizes Him as one of its own. At that point, what good is He? What good is a Jesus who gets us and relates to us and to whom we can relate if He is not also radically different than us, calling us to radical change if we want to follow Him?
You might say, “But that’s not the purpose of the ad campaign. The purpose is pre-evangelism. It’s not even entry level evangelism. The purpose is to get people to think about Jesus in a new way, to be open to hear more about Him. We can then build on that and tell them the rest of the story.”
But that, again, is to the miss the point. If the relatable, likable Jesus, the one who gets us and relates to us and meets us where we are is different than the Jesus of the Bible, how are we helping anyone?
For example, if I wanted to present a Jesus that the world would love, I could devise an ad campaign where He is marching with BLM protesters or holding a Pride flag at an LGBTQ march or escorting a young, pregnant woman into a Planned Parenthood clinic or chanting, “Free Palestine!”
Tens of millions of Americans would relate to that Jesus. They would even celebrate Him and say, “That’s the Jesus I would follow – not the Jesus of those White Supremacist, Trump-loving Republicans. Not the Jesus of those homophobic, transphobic, Christian hypocrites. Not the Jesus of those religious fanatics shouting outside of abortion clinics. Tell me about this other Jesus.”
In the end, though, we simply substituted one misrepresentation of Jesus for another misrepresentation, further obscuring who He really is. (We could say we swapped the right wing Jesus for the left wing Jesus.)
And that’s the problem with the “He Gets Us” campaign, despite its good intentions and despite some limited, positive fruit which the ads have probably produced.
Not only so, but the ads run the real possibility of making real Christians look bad, in particular, the ad that ran during the Super Bowl, sharing how Jesus washed feet rather than spread hate.
As Ryan Bomberger asked, why depict someone washing the feet of a woman in front of a Family Planning Center (in other words, in front of an abortion clinic)? What message does this send?
And what does it say of the loving Christians who year in and year out share the gospel with those entering these clinics – not yelling or screaming or condemning but telling these women that there’s a better way?
Are they now the bad people because they’re not simply washing the feet of those about to terminate the life of their child? And can we even compare Jesus washing the feet of His disciples – an act of great humility and service – with someone washing the feet of a woman on her way to get an abortion?
And was there an image of someone washing the feet of an LGBTQ-identified individual? If so, does that mean that the angry and aggrieved father speaking at a school board meeting and protesting the presence of biological males in the girls’ bathroom is not like Jesus? Does that mean that all Christians who do not affirm same-sex “marriage” are not like Jesus?
The reality, of course, is that Jesus did far more than wash the feet of us sinners. He died for us and paid for our sins – for the very worst of us and for the most despicable sins. The blood of Jesus truly cleanses us from all sin. Thank God!
But I fear that, when people wanting to find out more about Jesus through this ad campaign start reading the Bible for themselves, they’ll discover a very different Jesus. A Jesus who forgave the woman caught in adultery but who then told her to go and sin no more (John 8:1-11). A Jesus who said time and again, “Unless you repent, you shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5). A Jesus who told His followers, “If the world hates you, remember that it hated Me first” (John 15:18). A Jesus who declared, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’” (Matthew 10:34–36)
So, by all means, let’s help present the real Jesus to a world that does not know Him, to the unchurched and the dechurched. And let’s be willing to get out of our comfort zone to do so.
But let’s present Him accurately, lest in the end, we introduce people to a Jesus who gets us but cannot help us or transform us, a Jesus who accepts us as we are and leaves us there to die.
That is not the Jesus of the Bible, the real Jesus. Let us make Him known.
May I encourage all those involved in the “He Gets Us” campaign to give this careful and prayerful thought? You really can do a lot of good, but some changes need to be made.
The Reformation and the Counter Reformation were 300 years of Christians waging war, killing, and persecuting each other over who the real Jesus was.
Until the Age of Enlightenment brought enough rational sense to the Christians to leave each other in peace and allow each individual Christian to interpret Jesus their own individual way.
But Michael Brown thinks and insists that his interpretation of Jesus is the “real” Jesus.
How many Christians are there in the world today? Wikipedia says 2.4 billion. That’s how many different interpretations of who the real Jesus is exist in the world today.
There are 2.4 billion different this is the “real” Jesus interpretations on this planet today. Michael Brown’s interpretation is just one of them.
You have not allowed for the fact that the real Jesus speaks to His committed disciples (John 10:27) – so they know what He’s like, they don’t need to make interpretations.
When you know the truth, it will set you free. John 8:32. And the weight that burdens you will be lifted. Grace, mercy, and peace come from Jesus, the Son of God the Father and will continue to be with us who live in truth and love. 2 John 1:3. The real Jesus wants a relationship with each of us. He stands at our door and knocks. If we hear His voice and open the door, he’ll come in. Rev 3:20. He came to heal from disease and evil spirits. Luke 7:21. Jesus wants what is best of us. We are His children. 1 John 3:1. Our world is a battle of the spirits, of good vs evil. Ephesians 6:12. If you don’t yet know Him, get to know the real Jesus. By his grace, He came to save us. Acts 15:11.
Not only are there 2.4 billion Christians on the planet interpreting who the “real” Jesus is to suit their own individual inclinations, there are millions of Atheist Socialists interpreting Jesus’ Gospel as endorsing Socialism and they are right to interpret Holy Scripture in that way. How else does anyone interpret these words of Jesus,
“Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions….
But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” – Matthew: 19:21-24
The Christians on the Right argue that Jesus was not a Socialist that Jesus only advocated voluntary charity not forced government redistribution of wealth. But where does Jesus anywhere in his message endorse the personal pursuit of happiness here on earth in this lifetime? Where does he endorse Laissez-Faire Capitalism?
Where does Jesus say I came to earth to tell each individual on earth the purpose of your life is to pursue and achieve your personal happiness here on earth in your lifetime, go and make as much money as you can and enjoy it yourself, what you earn you shall keep for your own personal happiness?
Because that’s what Laissez-Faire Capitalism is, the pursuit of personal happiness and wealth, here on earth, in this lifetime.
There is only one thing wrong with your endless moronic flapdoodle re: Jesus. You really don’t know anything about Jesus except what your atheist friends tell you. In fact, you really don’t seem to know much about anything except what you read about in books. Perhaps you should go to a church and find out who and what Jesus is all about. Or perhaps talk to a psychiatrist about your ‘John the Baptist” obsession.
Every post from you is your pathetic attempt to save the world from itself. Guess what? We really don’t need your version of salvation.
So you go right on trying to save us, all part of your basic mental dysfunction.
THX1138:
You error when you assume Jesus must advocate for “LF Capitalism” in order that we might find personal happiness in our lifetime.
Jesus did not condemn our pursuit of profit;
He told the rich man to sell everything, give it to the poor and follow Him (Jesus) because He knew this rich man’s heart was wrapped up in his riches and that state of affairs would prevent this man from giving his whole heart to God.
Because Jesus is God, and therefore our Creator, He knows what we require to be truly happy and He knows it much better than we do.
If you want examples of where Jesus preached how we can be happy in our lifetime you might start at Matthew chapter 5 (The Beattitudes)
Here Jesus goes in depth on how we might obtain a right relationship with our Creator while at the same time obtaining happiness in our present life.
Like the child who thinks he knows what’s best for himself and thereby decides to only “Do what thou wilt” in order to be “happy”; we need guidance from our Creator if we are ever going to find true happiness.
If we fail to seek and heed this Divine guidance, we might well end up as delusional, physically sick and “happy” as was Aleister Crowley was at the end of his life of debauchery and self-love.
Every serious, modern, orthodox Christian can know exactly what Jesus meant when He spoke about how to be happy. It can be accomplished when we are willing to humble ourselves and seek to know the true God who has revealed Himself to us through bona fide Holy Scripture.
In this modern age, those of us who honestly seek to know the true God can now stand on the shoulders of those intellectual giants who have gone before us and show’n how to properly read and understand the Christian Bible.
THX: among true followers of Christ there is not as much disagreement about what Jesus taught as you seem to think there is.
Instead of trying to cherry-pick verses and then extrapolate a meaning to suit your argument, consider humbling yourself before God and then seek the counsel of a good contemporary Bible commentary. Such as:
“The MacArthur Bible Commentary” or “The Moody Bible Commentary”
Further, Dennis Prager has completed several volumes on the Books of the Old Testament. He calls his series “The Rational Bible”. In it he only makes rational, fact based arguments to support his positions and conclusions, never a “faith” based argument.
May you find Truth and joy THX !
Kent
I’ve met many generous and unselfish capitalists, but I’ve never met an unselfish. socialist.
Every socialist I’ve ever met was generous only with OTHER people’s money, never with his own.
The real Jesus is the Jesus of unconditional Love, not the Jesus of the Bible, where He is sometimes shown as flawed and unloving..
This unconditional Love is shown in the Prodigal Son story, where the Father–(representing God– disregards what the returning son says about having been a sinner.
Remember this about Jesus: He did not write the Bible, nor did His disciples. It was written a century later by people who didn’t know Him. In the Gospel of John, for example, horrific antisemitism is attributed to Him. This led to centuries of massacres, including the Holocaust.
The Gospels uncovered in Egypt during the 1940s might contain the most accurate portrayal of His beautiful teachings.
“Unconditional” is a condition. Unconditional love is an oxymoron.
If we are to take the idea of unconditional love seriously then Adolf Hitler, Ted Bundy, Hamas, and even Satan himself deserve our unconditional love, always and completely, at all times, even when they are torturing and killing innocents. Even if they never repent or change their evil ways.
Ah! but someone will say that’s not what Jesus means by unconditional love! Then you better use another term, another word, but not unconditional.
If we want to stay alive here on earth, if we want to pursue and achieve happiness and love in our mortal and absolutely conditional life on earth, then we have to love and live conditionally.
“Love is the expression of one’s values, the greatest reward you can earn for the moral qualities you have achieved in your character and person, the emotional price paid by one man for the joy he receives from the virtues of another. Your morality demands that you divorce your love from values and hand it down to any vagrant, not as response to his worth, but as response to his need, not as reward, but as alms, not as a payment for virtues, but as a blank check on vices. Your morality tells you that the purpose of love is to set you free of the bonds of morality, that love is superior to moral judgment, that true love transcends, forgives and survives every manner of evil in its object, and the greater the love the greater the depravity it permits to the loved. To love a man for his virtues is paltry and human, it tells you; to love him for his flaws is divine. To love those who are worthy of it is self-interest; to love the unworthy is sacrifice. You owe your love to those who don’t deserve it, and the less they deserve it, the more love you owe them—the more loathsome the object, the nobler your love—the more unfastidious your love, the greater your virtue—and if you can bring your soul to the state of a dump heap that welcomes anything on equal terms, if you can cease to value moral values, you have achieved the state of moral perfection.” – Galt’s Speech, Atlas Shrugged
Only you would use a quote from someone who has never existed, to complain about people who would never grant your usual list of horribles “unconditional” love.
My guess is that you would only grant your precious “Conditional” love concept to those who agree with you. In other words you are off the hook, because there are few in the world who could possibly rise to your level of insanity.
Fortunately there are few in the world who would actually agree with you. And happily I am on their side. I have no problem not unconditionally or not conditionally caring about anything you have to say. In other words you and your false premise are irrelevant.
But nice try in trashing Christianity once again.
Jesus loves us unconditionally. That does not mean he will unconditionally let us into heaven. This is why he told us to love the hate the sin, love the center.
The conditions for getting into heaven have a name; they are called the 10 Commandments.
The book of John , was written/dictated by …. John.
The Epistles of Peter, were written/dictated by… Peter, the disciple
The Epistles of Paul/Saul were completed by the year 64
Your timeline is completely false, as is your reasoning.
Do some research Lazy
You’re a little dusty between the ears.
The story of the Prodigal Son does not portray the sort of unconditional love you describe – if it did, the Father would come to the pigsty and get it cleaned and decorated and the fields outside landscaped, rather than expecting the Prodigal to come to his senses and return home. Of course He doesn’t need the Prodigal’s apologies – his actions acknowledge that he has repented of his previous life without there being any need for words.
How do you know who the real Jesus was if you reject the Biblical account? What is your source for this ‘real Jesus’?
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Galatians 6:7-8).
This He Gets Us campaign is a false flag operation. It does not represent Jesus; it represents the other guy, the guy who wants to be in charge if God would just get out of the way.
That foot-washing commercial was an insult. Jesus washed his disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, according to John 10:1-17. It was an act of final purification, not an apology for intolerance. If Jesus were in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic, He wouldn’t be washing anyone’s feet, more likely He’d whip to them like they were money changers. Who writes this stuff???
The reason why Jesus is able to save us is because He is both God and man. This campaign neatly removes His Divine nature with its awesome holiness, and leaves only His humanity.
He gets us? No, He SAVES us!
Pop religion is as phony as a facebook friend, and just as shallow. “Jesus gets you” is a reversal of the New Testament wherein repentance away from a sinner’s mindset towards the living Christ is the core of the Gospel.