What "He Gets Us" Doesn't Get About Jesus
/This year’s “He Gets Us” Super Bowl commercial sparked controversy among the Christian community. And while some people I respect (at least from a distance) have vouched for the intentions of the organization behind the commercial, it’s difficult not to focus on the political messaging and the skewed view of Jesus Christ.
The commercial features photos of different people having their feet washed, and at the end, we are told Jesus didn’t teach “hate,” he washed feet.
Well, that depends on what the commercial means by “hate.” I’ve been told that saying sex is binary, there are only two genders, and they are not interchangeable is very hateful. If you go a step further and mention that God’s design for marriage is for a man and wife, that’s super-hateful. If you went a step further and mentioned that God never intended for people to get divorced willy-nilly, that is ultra-hateful and judgmental, yet Jesus affirmed God’s intent for male and female relationships (Matthew 19). Jesus wasn’t afraid to step on everybody’s toes. If Jesus were preaching among us today, he’d finger-wag at many so-called spiritual leaders, but society would not like the “go and sin no more” and “deny yourself” message.
The Bible does teach us that the Lord “hates” certain things, including hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16-19). That would include the evil of murdering our preborn neighbors, so featuring an abortion clinic was a bold choice. The contrast of a woman having her feet washed while pro-lifers are off to the side with their signs is difficult not to take as a critique (especially since nearly all of the images politically lean one way). God does love mothers and will show mercy to women who have abortions. He can and will forgive and redeem. But God is equally loving and equally just. It is good that God hates evil, and Christians are supposed to abhor evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9).
Jesus was tender and loving, but he was also firm and bold. He issued corrections and even threw shade from time to time. He would interact with people the Pharisees would sneer their nose at, but Jesus also didn’t chase everybody down. He gave the Rich Young Ruler his terms and let him leave; he didn’t soften his requirements. He even drove crowds away.
The gospel is for everyone and should be preached to everybody, but not everyone is going to receive it. But God does not need us to edit his attributes and character to make him presentable. In trying to make Jesus relatable, “He Gets Us” has said untrue things like “Jesus was a refugee,” which is a claim progressives often make to condemn conservatives over their immigration policies. God doesn’t need a PR team to edit him to become more presentable to mankind; we need to seek a greater understanding of God to grasp the fullness of his goodness. The same God in Genesis and Revelation is the same God in the Gospels, and he’s been perfectly loving the entire time, even in demonstrations of his wrath and judgment. And it’s okay if we don’t understand his reasons; Peter didn’t understand why Jesus washed his feet. We’re required to trust and conform ourselves to his will.
Jesus did wash feet, but you only see him wash the feet of his disciples. It was not something Jesus did normally, as the ad seems to imply. It was a powerful demonstration of service, humility, and forgiveness that perfectly summed up his ministry. He was willing to humble himself and take on our filth, so we could be cleansed. It’s a beautiful lesson, and there’s nothing wrong if Christians want to demonstrate love by washing feet. However, if feet washing is used as a humiliation ritual to make ourselves look humble and pious in the eyes of nonbelievers, how is that so different than the hypocrites who made it known they are fasting for kudos? Jesus humbled himself in service to the Father.
Good works should be a natural byproduct of Christians because it should be in our nature. But those works are not the Gospel. Unbelievers can do good deeds. The Gospel is Jesus Christ is the door, the only door. We are all sinners who deserve to pay the wages of death, yet Christ paid the debt. To receive, we can walk through the door, but you’ve gotta leave the old you behind. Don’t worry, the real you—the person God truly formed and called you to be—is through that door.
The “He Gets Us” campaign talks about their agenda on their website and who they are as an organization. They are made up of believers and unbelievers who may or may not believe Jesus is God. It’s admirable that they want to use Jesus to bring society together, but Jesus never expected that Christians would be able to do that. He told his disciples they would be persecuted. Jesus specifically said that he came not to bring peace to the world, but a sword (Matthew 10:34-36). He didn’t mean a literal sword, but Truth is divisive because people suppress it and embrace darkness. Jesus also made it clear that to be a disciple, you have to be willing to put him above family and friends, even your own life (Luke 14:26).
Then there’s the political messaging. A suburban housewife washed the feet of a Muslim woman, a white woman washed the feet of a migrant woman in front of a bus, a cop washed a black man’s feet, an environmentalist had their feet washed, etc. The most controversial was a priest washing the feet of a gay man and a woman at an abortion clinic. Nearly all of these images appealed to the oppressed vs the oppressor intersectionality mentality of the Left. Nobody washed the feet of a cop, nobody washed the feet of anyone in a MAGA hat, and nobody washed any millionaire hedge fund guys. “He Gets Us” mentions in their literature a lot about Jesus defending the poor and the marginalized, but God is no respecter of persons. It wasn’t balanced at all.
I’m sure many curious people have gone to the organization’s website, as I did, and I wish they plainly and boldly spoke the truth about Jesus being God. And while I appreciate people having conversations, it’s not helpful to affirm a version of Jesus to nonbelievers who doesn’t care about sin. I’ve seen people defend the commercial by condemning Christians for forgetting the “most basic and important” part of the Bible, “love your neighbor.” That isn’t the most basic part. The greatest commandment is to love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:36-40). The whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).
Overall, millions of dollars were spent on a missed opportunity. An alternate video went viral online showcasing former drug addicts, KKK members, prostitutes, homosexuals, and more transformed by the gospel. It’s a powerful testimony and brought many to tears. I sincerely hope an ad like that can make it into future Super Bowls because the takeaway shouldn’t be that Jesus serves us. The takeaway should be that Jesus saves.
