'He Gets Us' May Not Get It, But Neither Do We

by

A United Methodist Insight Editorial

Karl Marx called religion the opiate of the masses. Sinclair Lewis wrote that when fascism arrived in America, it would be draped in the flag and carrying a cross.

They were both right. It would be more satisfying to be able to say they also were both wrong, but that's not true, as the events in the United States this year are proving. The most recent case in point came during the Super Bowl, when "He Gets Us" aired three commercials posting gospel messages. The messages themselves were authentic and the images were evocative. Their provenance is questionable, however, and therein lies the rub.

People magazine's Virginia Chamlee wrote Feb. 13: "CNN reports that the $100 million 'He Gets Us' advertising campaign — meant to promote Jesus and Christianity — is the work of a group called The Servant Foundation, a nonprofit backed by a Kansas-based, Christian donor-advised fund called The Signatry.... While most of the group's donors are private, at least one of them is David Green, co-founder of mega–craft chain Hobby Lobby, which has been a central figure in several political and legal battles due to its support of anti-LGBTQ legislation and its role in the Supreme Court ruling that allows companies to deny insurance coverage of contraception on the basis of religious beliefs."

Texas Observer's Wendi Gordon reported nearly a year ago: "It’s a great message .... The only problem is that the sponsors of this massive ad campaign don’t believe a word of it. They don’t buy the loving, accepting version of Jesus they’re selling; he is just the bait to attract people they hope to convert."

After citing charities that receive donations that are pittances compared to the cost of "He Gets Us," Gordon writes further: "However, the overwhelming majority of organizations The Signatry funded share similar conservative beliefs: The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. Only Christians go to heaven when they die; everyone else spends eternity in hell. Any marriage other than one between a cisgender man and a woman is not legitimate. Transgender individuals need to embrace the gender they were assigned at birth because God created everyone male or female. Abortion is never morally acceptable and should be illegal in all circumstances."

"He Gets Us" supporters freely acknowledge their purpose is to convert people to Christianity – their brand of Christianity. This leaves other American Christians with a quandary much like that of the disciples in Luke 9:49-56: how are we to treat those who seem to follow Jesus, but don't "follow with us" (Luke 9:49 NRSV*)? In his typically enigmatic way, Jesus rebuked the disciples saying, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9:50)

In today's polarized American Christianity, Jesus' answer satisfies few who reject the tenets the "He Gets Us" crowd reportedly believe. Nor is the next encounter in the biblical passage much help.

51When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55But he turned and rebuked them. 56Then they went on to another village.

What unsatisfactory answers! C'mon, Jesus, let us "command fire from heaven" to get rid of our competition!

As I wrote in a Facebook post, the shame of American Christianity is that we've become so politically polarized that we can't trust others who deliver a gospel message because they don't "follow with us." In the case of the "He Gets Us" crowd, their ways of following are diametrically opposed to many of those espoused by Jesus – or not mentioned as all, because they're 21st century issues. In fact, we can document how many times the ways behind the message have seriously harmed people.

So, what do we do? Gnash our teeth in frustration and pour out our bile on social media? Perhaps a solution hides in this same passage: Jesus "set his face to go to Jerusalem." In other words, Jesus knew his mission and refused to be turned aside to spread hatred.

The same attitude of setting ourselves toward our mission can be more conducive to spreading the gospel message of God's limitless love than the current American pastime of bashing one's enemies. That's because even though the motives behind the winsome "He Gets Us" campaign are suspect, the message remains authentic. The difference comes in what happens after someone responds to the message.

Sure, we can spend time and energy and money denouncing those behind "He Gets Us" because they don't follow our brand of Jesus, but is that what we're supposed to do as faithful disciples? We fear the "He Gets Us" crowd not for their message, but for the power they represent – religious power, political power, economic power, social power. Jesus had an answer for that, too: he spoke truth to the powers of his day and when necessary, he overturned the established order. Yet when it came time to defend himself against the calumnies lodged against him, he stood silent, letting his teachings and ministry speak for themselves.

Ultimately, it seems that all the pearl-clutching and handwringing over some Super Bowl commercials wastes precious resources that believers could better commit to the commercials' ideals: metaphorically "washing feet," that is, loving all who come our way no matter what. In this case, the loving response to those who produce the "He Gets Us" commercials could well be going on to another "village," one that accepts and practices the unlimited love Jesus taught. If we go around attacking those who interpret Jesus differently from us, we cancel out Jesus' teachings and thus the gospel becomes meaningless. Europe endured decades of bloody wars using different forms of Christianity as such an excuse.

This then marks our quandary: do we rebuke "He Gets Us" because its provenance is questionable, or do we stick to our mission that requires we love everyone, including our perceived enemies? This is where discipleship pinches, requiring us to make an uncomfortable choice. For Jesus, the choice was clear: we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and to leave the rest to God. The mission requires we give up our right to control, our right to take umbrage, our right to dominate others, in order to follow Jesus.

We could react like Athanasius punching Nicholas in the snoot at the Council of Nicaea, but what would be the point? If those who aren't against us are for us, as Jesus said, then to oppose them can be misinterpreted as opposing the message they carry. God forbid we should make such shipwreck of our consciences to say that we should not love all without distinctions. That's politics, not faith – the politics that has infected Christianity in America.

In the end, we are all at Christ's mercy for our sins, including those behind slick TV ads. If that's not true, then our faith becomes little more than a cruel joke. Our challenge is to live out what we proclaim and profess in every human encounter. Our behavior, including that of the "He Gets Us" crowd, speaks louder than any ad campaign ever could.

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011 as a media channel to amplify the voices of marginalized and under-served United Methodists. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please email Insight for permission.

*New Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, copyright 1989, 1996 by the Christian Education Committee of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used by permission.