Let’s face it. The world has descended into chaos. If you only watch 30 minutes of cable news, you will undoubtedly come to that conclusion.
We have protests in the streets of the United States, for causes ranging from open borders to supporting Palestine. The Middle East is an ever-increasing powder keg, with tensions rising between Israel and Palestine, along with instability in other parts of the region.
Asia is unstable as well, with tensions rising between China and its neighbors.
Situations like this have us asking the same question that the Psalmist asked in Psalm 2, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?”
The psalmist answers in verse 2, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.'”
The reason the heathen raged in the Old Testament times is that they rejected God and rebelled against His will. The reason the world rages today is that the people have rejected God, and seek to pursue their own wills and desires instead.
The result, of course, is open rebellion against God which leads to the chaos that you see in the streets and on the world stage.
Now, it would be easy to sit back, watch the news, and say, “That’s awful!”
Unfortunately, too many Christians fall into the comfort trap of observing the evil in the world and denouncing it without considering their own Spirituality.
The Psalmist states in Psalm 2:6, “Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.”
The world rages and rebels against God, but the Psalmist worships God and trusts in the Christ that is coming into the world.
The psalmist goes on to encourage others to do the same, saying in verse 12, “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.”
So, the message we take from Psalm 2 is that the world is chaotic, but the Lord is peace. The world may rage in rebellion against God, but we are to trust in Christ.
The world may seek its own power and glory, but we rest in the power and glory of the Lord.
So, don’t be disheartened by the news, the images of the riots, and the threat of war. Trust the Lord, and be at peace waiting for His arrival.
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.
Let’s face it… for fans of The Chosen, Jonathan Roumie sold The Jesus Revolution. Roumie’s portrayal of Jesus in The Chosen has earned him a following, a ministry, and has contributed to a national conversation about Jesus, leading many to seek the truth about Jesus, and many have professed faith in Christ as a result.
So, it comes with a bit of irony that in The Jesus Revolution, Roumie portrays a young Lonnie Frisbee, whose emotionally compassionate outreach and charismatic preaching sparked The Jesus Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, thus sparking a national conversation about Jesus which led to many salvations.
Neither man (Roumie or Frisbee) is without controversy, as is neither character portrayed. Jesus was controversial in His day, and remains so to this day. And with a resurgence of post-morten fame on the heels of Jesus Revolution, Frisbee finds himself in the middle of controversy as well.
At the center of Frisbee’s controversy are his theatrical antics, and his struggles with homosexuality. Critics point to the former to discredit his ministry, and they point out the latter to discredit Christianity in general.
To their credit, the filmmakers of The Jesus Revolution were open about the character flaws of each of the leaders of the movement. Smith was a bit opportunistic and judgmental, and struggled with seeing the church blossom under someone else’s leadership. Laurie struggled with drugs early on and struggled with faith toward the end of the movie.
Frisbee demanded the spotlight, neglected his wife, and stormed out in a hissy fit when the spotlight was taken away. Yes, his struggles with homosexuality were omitted from the movie, but were not an issue during the time portrayed in the movie.
Frisbee was raped as a child, and as many who endure that atrocity do, experimented with homosexuality during his adolescence and early adulthood. Frisbee reported coming out of that lifestyle when he came to know Jesus, but relapsed in the 1980s. Frisbee confessed that his behaviors were sin, and were as sinful (but no more than) other sins.
When confronted, Frisbee confessed. He prayed for forgiveness. He tried to help others find forgiveness. He did not cling to the lifestyle, and did not advocate that others live the lifestyle.
It would be sinful and unproductive to try to determine Frisbee’s salvation status, or whether his faith was real, and his ministry motivated by faith and a genuine heart for the Lord. We leave the judging of the living and the dead to God.
However, a quick internet search into Frisbee’s life reveals a struggle with sin which is not unlike the struggle with pornography, addiction, anger, gluttony (I confess that!), hate, covetousness or dishonesty.
As Christians, we often find ourselves easily ensnared in sin that rapidly gets out of hand and gruesome pretty quickly. Sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking that our sin isn’t that big of a deal, but it is.
And we can usually find a worse sinner to point out to make ourselves feel better about our sin. And in this case, that worse sinner is Frisbee.
However, the political fireball surrounding his sin neither discredits the Bible, the Gospel, nor the film, because all three uphold the fact that God works through the broken, and through weakness we are made strong.
Frisbee struggled with homosexuality, but Abraham committed adultery, Jacob was a crook, Judah hired a prostitute, King David committed adultery and murder, and Solomon dabbled in idolatry. Yet, Scripture holds those men up as patriarchs of the faith, and some even wrote scripture.
Scripture does not affirm their behavior, but God used them in spite of their brokenness, and God uses us in spite of our brokenness.
Why would God do that? He does that because the premise of the Gospel is that the broken can be healed, the sinner can be cleansed, and the condemned can be redeemed. Further, this all happens not because of how great the person is, but because of how graceful and powerful God is.
And that’s the power of the Gospel, that the death and condemnation of our sins was placed on Christ when He hung on that cross, and when He died, that death and condemnation were sent to Hell instead of us.
And because of that redemption, because Jesus took it all on our behalf, we can go free. We can place our faith in Him and make ourselves available for God to use to do big things… or maybe small and simple things. Either way, it’s a blessing.
So I’m not offended that one of my favorite actors portrayed a man who struggled in homosexuality, and I’m not discouraged that such a man was a key figure in a national revival, because I have routinely seen God use broken people, including myself, to lead others to redemption and healing.
God uses the broken to advance the Gospel, and He is glorified in it. Or as the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3, “For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?”
So let’s review. God is good. Redemption is real. The Gospel saves. The Jesus Revolution is a good movie. And God has used the broken to spark a national conversation about Jesus. Let’s have that conversation, and point people to the redemption in Christ Jesus that is found at the cross, and not let ourselves be distracted by one man’s sin from 40 years ago.
Easily the most talked about, and most controversial commercial during the Super Bowl was a product of the #HeGetUs campaign. The marquee ad, entitled, “Love Your Enemies,” ran during the second half, as all the parties would have settled into the game and begun contemplating who would emerge as winner.
As you can see above, the ad featured 60 seconds of photos of conflict underlied by a soulful bluesy song by John “The Ragin’ Cajun” Jones called “I’m Only Human After All.”
The most controversial aspects of the ad are hard to determine. The fact that an organization is running ads to promote Jesus proved to be in and of itself controversial, as pundits across the spectrum questioned whether Jesus would have bought a Super Bowl ad, and whether the money could’ve been better spent feeding the poor.
While the Bible teaches mercy and benevolence toward the poor, those who have actually read the Bible know that in the New Testament, Jesus set the spread of the Gospel and the making of disciples as the top priority for the churches.
Such criticisms have even led many to call for taxing churches. However, the funds for the ads did not come from churches, but rather came from David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby, who literally made his fortune selling beads to hippies and soccer moms, and who gives half of the profits of Hobby Lobby away every year to organizations who spread the Gospel and provide relief to those in need.
Would Jesus buy a Super Bowl ad? I don’t know. But I do know that He would be pleased His name was proclaimed to millions without the neglect for the poor.
The second point of controversy was the confrontational aspect of the ad. The images of protest and conflict conjured up emotions of rage toward those on opposite sides of the political spectrum from us, then the message blindsided us with “Jesus loved those we hate.”
This message refers back to the words of Christ spoken during the Sermon on the Mount, and echoed by Dr. Martin Luther King, that we are to love our enemies. Love your opponents, and those who work against you.
The objective in loving our enemies is twofold, (1) To identify ourselves as God’s people and (2) to see our enemies redeemed.
This concept goes against our human nature, so we find it offensive. Yet, it’s not only Biblical, it was mandated by the Lord Himself, in the red letters, in the New Testament. There’s no getting around it. We are supposed to love our enemies.
Thus, there was an implied call to repentance in the ad. And that will always draw backlash.
Perhaps the final, and most controversial aspect of the ad was this… that Jesus loves those we hate. We have been conditioned to think that our enemies, our opponents, those different from us, are inherently evil and should be defeated and destroyed.
That is why our political discourse is as inciteful and incendiary as it is today. It’s not enough to defeat your opponent in a debate or in an election, you must also destroy his life so that evil can be vanquished and peace can permeate the world.
This mindset is wrong, because it’s false (opponents need to be won over, not destroyed) and based on a faulty premise. The wrath of man cannot bring the will of God, nor can it generate His peace.
However, when cable news, columnists and talk radio have convinced you that the other side is the embodiment of evil, the idea that Jesus could love them is startling.
Furthermore, if Jesus loves them like He loves me, then could He side with them also? Could Jesus possibly disagree with me?
And those questions drive the faith community, which easily drifts into self-righteousness, crazy.
A Jesus that disagrees with us is a Jesus that we still need to repent and turn toward, whose views we still need to conform ourselves to. And that means that it’s not just those we see as being lost that are being called to repentance, but it’s ourselves also.
That’s a confession too few of us are willing to make. Thus, the controversy surrounding this ad was near universal.
However, that doesn’t mean that the group behind the ad made a mistake. In his book, “Leadership Not By The Book,” David Green discusses the need to be disruptive, to shake things up and get people’s attention.
This ad was definitely disruptive. It broke our conventional thinking into what an evangelistic ad should look and feel like, and it broke cultural norms about who we perceive Christ to be. That forces us to either deny the Gospel, or re-center on who Christ really is and believe the true Gospel.
And because of that, I find the #HeGetsUs campaign to be hitting all the right points.
Leland Acker 