In John 1:35-51, the Apostles began following Jesus.
The following began when John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to two of his disciples, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God.” Understanding this to be a reference to the forgiveness that the Christ would bring for the sins of all mankind, John and Andrew left the Baptist’s side and followed Jesus.
Andrew went on to find his brother, Simon (now called Peter), and told him that “We have found the Christ.”
Jesus found Phillip, who went to find Nathanael, whom Jesus described as an Israelite “in whom there was no deceit.”
In reading about these interactions, three things are said of Jesus.
He is the Lamb of God (who takes away the sin of the world.)
He is the Messiah, the Christ, our Deliverer.
He is the King.
In the above-posted sermon, we examine each of these claims more thoroughly, and we explore more fully who Jesus is.
Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words do hurt, especially when they slander your good name and undermine your life’s purpose.
A false accusation, a baseless rumor, and malicious gossip can ruin your reputation, disrupt your marriage, sideline your ministry, and undermine you career or business. Often, when these false accusations are raised, there is little you can do, because proving something didn’t happen is almost impossible.
For most people, the best you can hope for is that your track record of integrity and good deeds outshines the falsehoods being spoken. That’s hard to rely on, however, as people’s memories are becoming shorter with the proliferation of social media.
This is exactly the situation (minus the social media) that King David faced in Psalm 7. Cush the Benjamite had made serious accusations against David and cursed him. We don’t really know who Cush was, or exactly what his statements were. We do know, the words were severe enough that David took the situation to the Lord, not only through a spoken prayer, but David actually took the time to write this psalm about it.
In the opening verses of Psalm 7, you see the intersection of David’s faith and fear. David proclaims that he is putting his trust in the Lord, while at the same time expressing his fear of what his enemy may do.
“O Lord my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: 2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.” – Psalm 7:1-2
David professes that he places his trust (faith) in the Lord, and prays for deliverance so that he is not destroyed by the false accusations. He goes on in verses 3-5 to ask the Lord to hold him accountable should there be any truth to the false accusations.
These verses demonstrate the power that faith can give us in these hopeless situations. Furthermore, it shows us the power that comes with a clear conscience toward God and toward those around us.
David was able to ask God to examine his actions and hold him accountable because David knew that he was innocent of the charges being leveled toward him.
Living according to God’s word, doing right by others and glorifying God through our grace and mercy shown to others can help fortify us against situations like this. When the false accusation is leveled, we can in all confidence say, “Search me! For I am clean!”
Furthermore, our faith enables us to trust God to fight this battle, because we are completely incapable of securing the victory on our own.
In verses 6-10, David prays that God will rise up in anger against the wickedness that has come against him. He also proclaims and looks forward to the judgment of God. Again, this is the blessing that comes with a life of faith and a clear conscience.
David doesn’t fear God’s judgment because David knows that he will withstand the judgment because he has been made pure through his faith in the Gospel of God. David knows the judgment will vindicate God’s people, and destroy the wicked.
If you know the Lord as your Savior, you have no reason to fear God’s judgment, and you actually have a reason to look forward to the judgment, because it is the judgment of God that is going to restore everything to what God intended on it being.
David concludes the psalm in verses 11-17 by warning the wicked that the Lord is preparing to make war against them. Therefore, repentance is in order.
So, Psalm 7 teaches us the value of letting faith shape our lives and actions. We learn that we need to trust the Lord through the adversities, conflicts and perils of life. Meanwhile, we also learn the value of having a clean conscience toward God and toward man. When we have those ingredients, we have facilitated the Lord’s defense of us when the attacks come.
So trust the Lord today, and glorify him through your lifestyle.
Like running into an old friend at the supermarket, I was delighted to see that the “He Gets Us” campaign ran another commercial during this year’s Super Bowl.
You wouldn’t think the campaign would continue to stir controversy, but it does. Sometimes, the mere existence of something can ruffle feathers.
When the “He Gets Us” campaign ran its first Super Bowl commercial two years ago, the controversy stemmed mostly from atheistic and anti-Christian groups prior to the Super Bowl. Their concern was that a game that celebrates achievement, pride, gluttony and pleasure would be ruined by a religious message.
That they got was this ad instead:
Something interesting happened after that. The dissenting voices of atheism and the anti-Christian communities died down, and voices of opposition rose from within Christianity itself.
The campaign was ridiculed for departing from mainstream Christianity, with many claiming it was theologically shallow and didn’t proclaim any real truth from the Bible.
Then, He Gets Us rattled the cages again in 2024 with this message:
The message that provoked response in this ad was the depictions of Christians, preachers, and the so-called good people of the world washing the feet of people who are living in sin. You see the feet of pro-abortion activists being washed outside an abortion clinic, of illegal immigrants feet being washed, while at the same time foot washings being shared between people of different races and people who obviously would be at odds with each other.
The commercial closed out with the caption that Jesus didn’t teach hate, He washed feet. This ad drew criticism, with opponents saying that Jesus did not merely go around washing feet, but that the foot-washing was performed on His disciples to teach them humility.
This discussion brought to light the central point of conflict between the He Gets Us campaign (funded heavily by Hobby Lobby owner David Green) and Christian fundamentalists. That point of conflict is this: The He Gets Us campaign lacks theological depth, drifts from what the Bible actually says about Jesus, and fails to present the plan of salvation.
If we’re being honest, those criticisms are not without merit. The question is, however, does that make the He Gets Us campaign bad?
Let’s consider that question with this story in mind.
Imagine there is a lady in your church. Let’s give her a name. She’s going to be Miss Martha.
Miss Martha is an 80-year-old widow who attends church faithfully, serves in the ladies auxiliary, and has a special pecan pie recipe that has become a staple of the church potluck dinners.
After church last Sunday, Miss Martha went to lunch at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken. As she ordered her food and paid, she noticed the unmistakable presence of a baby bump in her cashier’s abdomen.
Miss Martha asked when she was due, and how much she looked forward being a mother. The conversation was friendly, and Miss Martha learned a little about her new cashier friend.
Miss Martha then told the young woman, “I know you have to work a lot of Sundays, but if you get the chance, we’d love to have you at church next Sunday.”
Maybe Miss Martha invited the young woman to evening service, or Wednesday night prayer meeting. All would be typical in such a conversation.
Now, the question about Miss Martha’s interaction with the KFC cashier is this, “Did Miss Martha do a bad thing by holding the conversation with the young woman, inviting her to church, without presenting the Gospel to her or having a deeper Biblical discussion with her?”
Some would say yes. I think Ray Comfort may have some words to say about that.
However, I disagree.
It’s never a bad thing to have a conversation with someone, to express to someone that they have value and are loved, to issue an invitation to church, and to create an opportunity for someone to consider their faith and Spiritual condition. I believe if we actually took an interest in people, got to know them, and connected with them in an authentic way that was not merely for the purpose of notching a conversion on our belt, I think we may see some better results.
The mission of the commercial campaign for “He Gets Us” is not to place Gospel-centered content in a secular entertainment setting. (That’s actually something I aspire to.)
The purpose of the He Gets Us campaign is to snag the attention of those who are lost and are not considering Spiritual things, and get them thinking. It’s about presenting a side of Christianity that recognizes the brokenness of life, the differences in our backgrounds, and our propensity for conflict, but wants to work through that to find healing.
And while I whole-heartedly agree that the Gospel is absolutely essential to accomplishing that goal, and that deeper theological discussions must take place to bring salvation and transformation into the lives of the lost, I would be remiss if I didn’t relay the fact that the He Gets Us campaign does exactly that.
Take Miss Martha for instance. Suppose she comes back to KFC next week, meets the same cashier, has another light-hearted, pleasant conversation with her, and learns more about her. Maybe this continues for a few weeks. Maybe the baby is born, and the young cashier shows Miss Martha pictures.
Suppose Miss Martha takes the young woman one of her popular pecan pies, and maybe they meet outside of KFC for once. Maybe Miss Martha mentors the young woman, and ultimately takes her to church one day. What could happen?
Hopefully, if Miss Martha goes to a good church, that young woman will hear the Gospel, solid Bible teaching, and be saved and converted.
The He Gets Us campaign works the same way. It seeks to engage people who are not engaged Spiritually, ascribing value to them and proclaiming that they are loved. At the end of every commercial and YouTube video, there is a Web address. If you go to that Web address, you will find Bible teaching and content that steers you toward the Gospel. And, while you may not find that content to be deep enough or theological enough, it does provide the opportunity to connect with a Bible mentor, or counselor, via text, phone or email.
And here’s the best part. These mentors are not located in a call center in Oklahoma. They are in your hometown.
It’s true. Local pastors and Bible teachers can register with the site, and if someone from their area is wanting to be connected with a real person, He Gets Us connects the pastor with the seeker, thereby facilitating the teaching of the Gospel and deeper Bible content. Discipleship can then begin at that point, and the seeker can be connected and plugged in to a local church.
Is this the most economical way to do this? Is it efficient? Does it work?
I don’t know. I will say, having read two of David Green’s books, he doesn’t have much patience for things that do not work. To answer that question, we’d have to see the ledgers and the data that He Gets Us would keep concerning their reach and conversions. I’m not holding my breath that they’re going to make that public any time soon.
I will say, that having a business and marketing background, I can see how it would all come down to numbers.
One Super Bowl ad will cost about $7 million. That ad will reach about 125 million viewers. The cost per thousand on that one ad is $56. This is almost twice the cost of a Roku ad, which typically sells for $30 per 1,000 viewers, and almost six times the cost of a radio ad, which usually runs about $10 per 1,000 listeners. It’s expensive, but there’s added value in the fact that you are reaching the multitude simultaneously, something nearly impossible in other media.
Now, let’s suppose that only 1/2 of a percent actually go to the website. That’s 625,000 visitors to the He Gets Us website. If only 1/2 of a percent reach out to a local pastor, that’s 3,125 solid Gospel conversations that can take place. If only 1/3 of those result in a profession of faith, you have approximately 1,000 souls saved, on a $7 million investment made from the excesses of billionaire businessmen.
We don’t put a dollar figure on the cost of seeing a soul saved. But, if we calculated the amount spent per soul saved, it would come out to $7,000.
I realize this type of analysis may be a little provocative. I don’t intend to be provocative. But, I will say that many of my church’s outreach efforts were not near as fiscally efficient as that.
None of this means that you have to like the He Gets Us campaign, and it certainly does not mean that this is the best way to do evangelism. However, I hope this adds understanding of what is happening and puts some context on the commercials you see on TV.
Furthermore, I hope this motivates you and inspires you to find ways you can engage people in your community who are not currently being engaged with the Gospel.
Why are some people successful, while others fail? Beyond work ethic, why do some seem to have a natural ability to connect with others, negotiate, identify the right path forward, and succeed? Meanwhile, others struggle just to get through the day?
What is truth? How can we learn through scientific process the answers to these questions?
Such has been the life’s mission of Jordan Peterson, a psychologist who teaches courses at several universities including the University of Toronto, who’s also written several books and is currently hosting a podcast series for the Daily Wire.
Peterson rose to fame while doing a BBC interview about one of his books, in which the interviewer repeatedly asked pointed questions in an attempt to be able to discredit him as a misogynist or a racist. His fame continued to grow as videos of his college lectures, his public lecture series, and a podcast series on the Bible began to go viral online.
While the controversial BBC interview launched him to fame, the logic, academic approach to psychology and human nature, and the conclusions he articulates have kept him in the spotlight, so much so that he took a sabbatical and no one noticed due to the ubiquity of this content online.
Peterson looked to the Bible for psychology. He looked to the Bible to learn behavioral patterns, learn lessons, and map out a framework for how to tackle life’s challenges, taking object lessons from the Old Testament patriarchs. What he found was truth. Moreover, Peterson found that all truth is preconditioned on the Bible.
He went so far as to say, “Without the Bible, there can be no truth.”
So, how does an atheistic psychologist who preached secularism come to a faith in the truth of the Bible, and go on to a faith in the existence of God (per his statements in his videos)?
In a video lecture before a university audience, the question was posed, “Do you believe that the Bible is true?” To which Peterson responded, “If not the Bible, then what is true?”
Peterson went on to make the case that, in reading the Bible, you read about the lives of the patriarchs, and the scriptures include not only their stories of victory, but also their failures.
Peterson noted how many of these failures were major, and some of the patriarchs were rotten people, and did rotten things. He pointed out that for religious texts, this is unusual.
In this video, which I can no longer find on YouTube, Peterson said that most religious texts portray the good side of the founders of the religion, and hide their flaws and failures. The Bible, on the other hand, showed the patriarchs of the Christian faith for who they were, including their frailties, failures, and brokenness. The result was an honest, transparent representation of the Christian faith, and furthermore, an amazing demonstration of God’s power.
God was able to work through the brokenness of man to accomplish His will. That resonated with Peterson, who began to explore the Bible more, and has now embarked on a podcast series to explore the Bible more deeply.
As a result of God working through the brokenness of man thousands of years ago, you have a secular professor exploring the Bible, going so far as to declare that it is the precondition for all truth, and calling on people to turn to God or face His wrath. While his views and doctrine may not line up with ours, I believe that, for the sake of the Gospel, we can see how a man whose primary audience includes college students and intellectual leaders can benefit the Kingdom of God greatly through his scholarly presentations of scripture.
Students today are generally guided away from the Bible, away from God, and toward their own subjective perceptions of truth, which the intellectual left seeks to shape through media, entertainment and education. Peterson, on the other hand, is leading students to go back to the Bible as the foundation of all truth, if not the very foundation of our society itself.
And his journey down this road began when he discovered how God worked through the brokenness of Abraham, Jacob, David, among others.
God works through broken people, and He is glorified through His work through the lives of broken people. He is glorified in that His name is made known, His power is shown, and people are faced with His undeniable truth.
God works through broken people. So we need not be discouraged when we find ourselves struggling with brokenness, neither do we need to be disillusioned when those whom we admire fail. God works through the brokenness to bring about His glory, and the blessings He has promised.
Leland Acker 