{"id":32670,"date":"2024-02-14T12:18:30","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T17:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=32670"},"modified":"2024-02-14T12:18:30","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T17:18:30","slug":"christians-call-out-he-gets-us-superbowl-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2024\/02\/christians-call-out-he-gets-us-superbowl-ad.html","title":{"rendered":"Christians Call Out \u201cHe Gets Us\u201d Superbowl Ad"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
He Gets Us \/ YouTube.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Superbowl LVIII has come and gone, and along with it the second appearance by the \u201cHe Gets Us\u201d campaign. The campaign issued two new ads during the bowl, leaving Christians divided over the messaging behind them. \u201cHe Gets Us<\/a>\u201d presents itself as a faith-based campaign that wants to remind everyone that \u201cthe story of Jesus belongs to everyone.\u201d The purpose of the campaign is \u201cto remind everyone, including ourselves, that Jesus\u2019 teachings are a warm embrace, not a cold shoulder. That he didn\u2019t let pro-this or anti-that opinions prohibit him from seeing the value in all people.\u201d The campaign ads that it \u201cinvites you to explore Jesus\u2019 story on your own terms and at your own pace.\u201d It\u2019s site claims it is not associated with any particular church or denomination. \u201cOur campaign comprises humble perspectives from a diverse group of Jesus fans and followers with a variety of faith journeys and lived experiences bound by a common desire: to rediscover and share the compelling story of Jesus\u2019 life in a new way.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, the campaign was led by the newly formed Come Near<\/a> group, led by CEO Ken Calwell. It was previously funded by the group Servant Foundation, which was criticized for funding perceived anti-LGBTQ and anti-abortion causes. This year\u2019s ads featured a 60-second ad entitled \u201cFoot Washing\u201d and a 15-second ad labeled \u201cWho is My Neighbor?\u201d The ad receiving the most ire was \u201cFoot Washing<\/a>,\u201d which featured a number of ideological and racially opposed groups washing each other\u2019s feet. For example, one image shows a police officer washing the feet of a black man, while another shows a teenage boy washing an older man\u2019s (presumably his father\u2019s) feet. Another shows an abortion clinic protestor washing the feet of a clinic client and another shows a priest washing the feet of an effeminate, queer man.<\/p>\n

The ads sparked criticism from a number of conservative Christians, who stated that the campaign offers a left wing bent on Christianity without ever mentioning repentance. \u201cThere\u2019s a reason the \u2018He Gets Us\u2019 commercial didn\u2019t show a liberal washing the feet of someone in a MAGA hat, or a BLM protestor washing an officer\u2019s feet. That would\u2019ve been actually subversive,\u201d wrote<\/a> Joel Berry, managing editor of The Babylon Bee. \u201cBecause they were strictly following oppressed v oppressor intersectionality guidelines.\u201d He stated the decision seemed meant to sell a political movement or to \u201csell Jesus to Leftists by hinting Jesus thinks just like them.\u201d Allie Beth Stuckey, who criticized the campaign last year, reaffirmed her concern that the ad doesn\u2019t represent the real Jesus. \u201cIf it\u2019s not the Biblical Jesus, then no. If you\u2019ve got the money and opportunity to buy a Super Bowl ad slot, share the gospel. Don\u2019t waste it on some ambiguous mumbo jumbo that makes Jesus into our image rather than depicting Him as the King and Savior He is,\u201d she wrote<\/a>. Jamie Bambrick, Associate Pastor of Hope Church Craigavon, released his own version of a Christian Superbowl ad, entitled \u201cHe Saves Us<\/a>.\u201d The ad features a number of people in compromised lifestyles leaving those for Christ, such as Kat Von D leaving witchcraft for Jesus<\/a>, a former Klansman now sitting with a black man, and a former abortion doctor now delivering babies. \u201cJesus doesn\u2019t just get us,\u201d the ad ends. \u201cHe Saves Us.\u201d There were also criticisms from left-leaning individuals, who claimed the money to air the ads could have been used to help the poor.<\/p>\n

For its part, the \u201cHe Gets Us\u201d campaign said it found pushback \u201cvery reassuring.\u201d \u201cA lot of times, we’re trying to put out such a disruptive message about Jesus where people are changing their understanding of who he was and what it means to follow him that many times we do get that reaction, that people from all sides are taken aback by it at the beginning,\u201d spokesman Jason Vanderground told Fox News<\/em><\/a>. \u201cBut the more they really explore our message, the more they read about it on the website, I find that other Christians are saying, \u2018That\u2019s the Gospels,\u2019\u201d he added. Ryan Bomberger, founder of the pro-life Radiance Foundation, didn\u2019t agree. He pointed to the campaign\u2019s page \u201cDid Jesus Really Struggle as I Do<\/a>?\u201d According to Bomberger, the campaign makes the claim that \u201cJesus is just like me, as opposed to the message that I need to change to become more like him.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s the exact opposite of Scripture. We are to be like Christ, not on our own strength, of course,\u201d wrote<\/a> Bomberger. He concludes, writing, \u201c[Jesus] loves deeply. But he wasn\u2019t merely the \u2018world\u2019s most radical love activist\u2019 as the #HeGetsUs campaign strangely proclaims online. He is the Savior, a fact never mentioned in their \u2018agenda.\u2019 He\u2019s more than a story. Through our confession and repentance, He becomes the Creator of our transformed stories. And any effort to share Christ with the world has to get this simple truth: #HeChangesUs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Superbowl LVIII has come and gone, and along with it the second appearance by the \u201cHe Gets Us\u201d campaign. The campaign issued two new ads during the bowl, leaving Christians divided over the messaging behind them. \u201cHe Gets Us\u201d presents itself as a faith-based campaign that wants to remind everyone that \u201cthe story of Jesus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":32673,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nChristians Call Out \u201cHe Gets Us\u201d Superbowl Ad<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The campaign issued two new ads during the bowl, leaving Christians divided over the messaging behind them.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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