He Gets Us Campaign.
“He Gets Us” is an advertising campaign funded by anonymous donors aimed at helping rescue Jesus’s reputation from the “damage” done by His followers. It features a website, billboards in major cities, and ads. This group presents another gospel and another Jesus other than what God states in His Word. They imply that Jesus was sinless and claim that Christ had moments of insufficiency by saying He had worry and anxiety at the cross. On their question and answer page, this question is posed, “Is this a campaign to get me to go to church?” Their answer is, “No. He Gets Us simply invites all to consider the story of a man who created a radical love movement that continues to impact the world thousands of years later. Many churches focus on Jesus’ experiences, but you don’t have to go to church or even believe in Christianity to find value in them. Whether you consider yourself a Christian, a believer in another faith, a spiritual explorer, or not religious or spiritual, we invite you to hear about Jesus and be inspired by his example.”
“He Gets Us presents not just an incomplete Jesus, but the wrong one.”
Natasha Crain points out seven problems with this movement, summarized below:
Jesus is stripped of His identity. When people or churches focus on the humanity of Jesus—an emphasis on the idea that “He was just like us!”—it’s to the exclusion of His divinity. Only in His identity as God Himself does Jesus “getting us” matter. Jesus is God, and this detail about Him cannot be left out of the gospel.
Jesus is presented as an example, not as Jesus as God Himself or a Savior for humanity.
Jesus followers are presented as having Jesus “all wrong.” They want “to reclaim the name of Jesus from those who abuse it to judge, harm, and divide people.” Do they mean they want to give people a more biblical understanding of Jesus or an unbiblical, culturally palatable version of Jesus from followers who proclaim the truth that people don’t want to hear?
They reinforce the feel-good image that liberal pastors and churches have already fed the culture while leaving out what the culture doesn’t want to believe. For example, they say Jesus is inclusive but forget to mention the sin he hung on the cross for and the repentance needed to be “included.”
The campaign characterizes the so-called culture war in terms of secular social justice rather than underlying worldview differences. They support Critical Race Theory - they believe culture wars are about the “oppression” different groups use to get their way.
Their stated goal is inspiration, not a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. They state, “Ultimately, the goal is inspiration, not recruitment or conversion.”
They present “next steps” that lead people to find a church. There is no theological criteria or statement of faith that churches must adhere to to take part. This could lead someone far away from the truth rather than toward it.
Read more details from Natasha Crain - 7 Problems with the He Gets Us Campaign by Natasha Crain (article)
Here Comes the He Gets Us Campaign Again: Why Its Portrayal of Jesus is Still a Problem by Natasha Crain (article) - Promoting a social justice Jesus can make talking about the real Jesus more difficult because He Gets Us has placed one more data point in people’s minds that it’s His followers who talk about all that “unpopular stuff” who don’t get it. They’ll come away knowing Jesus gets them, but they won’t get Him.
Screwtape Whispers ‘He Gets Us’ to Lure Us Away From Jesus by John Zimrak (article) - An isolated, lazy, emotive reading of Jesus’ life won’t be guided by what God said or the apostles taught. What will direct it instead? Not the Holy Spirit, but the spirit of the age, secular culture, or the dictates of Caesar, Mammon, and Sodom.
How “He Gets Us” Fails to Get Jesus by Josh Buice (article) - The ”He Gets Us” campaign never presents the need for sinners to repent. Their campaign promotes works and service but it doesn’t present the good news of Jesus. The social gospel never saves; it only soothes people as they journey onward toward the gates of hell. The “He Gets Us” presents a Jesus who affirms rather than confronts. There is no message of repentance and no message of hope.
He Gets Us Has an Agenda (webpage) - He Gets Us is a diverse group of Jesus followers with a wide variety of faith journeys and lived experiences. Our work represents the input from Christians who believe that Jesus is the son of God and many others who, though not Christians, share a deep admiration for the man that Jesus was, and we are deeply inspired and curious to explore his story.
Marketing Jesus (audio + transcript) - If you look at the evangelism that Jesus did and if you look at the evangelism that the apostles did, it was all relatively - rather uniform in terms of the things they preached: they called sinners to repent, they warned them of the judgment to come. And they called them to look to Christ for forgiveness.
J.D. Greear Teams Up with He Gets Us Campaign
‘He Gets Us’ organizers hope to spend $1 billion to promote Jesus. Will anyone care? by Religion News Service
He Gets Us Campaign Doesn’t Get Jesus, Conservatives Say by Capstone report (article)
Foolish! Southern Baptists Partner With “He Gets Us” for Major Public Relations Campaign for Jesus (article)
NAMB Promotion of “He Gets Us” Is Reason for Grave Concern (article)
Ezell makes a statement regarding the ‘He Gets Us’ webinar (article) - Kevin Ezell (the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board President) pulls out of involvement with the He Gets Us campaign.
He Gets Us Fumbles on the Biggest Possible Stage by Nate Fischer (article) - He Gets Us epitomizes an approach that is pervasive today in institutionalized evangelicalism. If the goal is to attract people to Christianity, it will fail. If the goal is to bend Christianity to support the interests of the regime, it is well-designed.
Who is Behind ‘He Gets Us,’ the $100 Million Campaign Rebranding Jesus? by Rachyl Jones (article)- He Gets Us is funded by the Signatry, also known as the Servant Foundation, a nonprofit based in Overland Park, Kansas that donates funds to Christian organizations. The campaign intends to rebrand Jesus as a symbol of unconditional love and peace and away from the hatred and oppression he has become associated with among some, according to its website. But little is known about who and how many donors are funding it.
This Billionaire Is A Donor Behind The Jesus-Focused Super Bowl Ads by Forbes (article) - A multi-billionaire donor behind two unusual ads that ran during the Super Bowl on Sunday is David Green, the founder of a national chain of craft stores and a big donor to the Museum of The Bible in Washington, D.C.
He Gets Us Takes a Big "L" in the Superbowl by Aaron Renn (article) - These ads present Jesus as an ethical teacher and moral example rather than a savior. The ads are explicitly left-wing, culturally and politically. The ads trash traditional conservative evangelicals.
Ed Stetzer is involved with and appears to be a fan of the He Gets Us campaign. Learn more about Stetzer.
The ad they should have made presenting the whole gospel.
A group known as 'He Gets Us' released an advert during the Super Bowl which failed to convey anything of the gospel to the hundreds of millions who saw it. Here's what they should have done.
What is Up With All Those "He Gets Us" Commercials?
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"He Gets Us” is a $100 million advertising campaign aimed at helping rescue Jesus’s reputation from the so-called “damage” done by His followers. It features a website, billboards in major cities, and ads viewed 300 million times. Social media posts feature statements like, “Jesus ran with a tough crowd too,” and “Jesus was a refugee.” The ads are everywhere, but does the He Gets Us campaign get Jesus?
There are major concerns about the He Gets Us campaign. It's exciting to see a campaign like "He Gets Us" put big money behind helping people connect with Jesus, and we've already heard good stories of people hearing the gospel. However, we can still remain wary of some of the campaign's messages that lack context and historical accuracy.
Is it wrong to criticize other Christians when their beliefs and actions contradict the Word of God? Many people think so. Just ask our friend Natasha Crain, who received a sack full of virtual hate mail for her recent blog post, which logically pointed out several issues and concerns with the "He Gets Us" advertising campaign that seemed to tickle the ears of many Christians. In her blog post, Frank goes through several points Natasha outlines and reminds listeners that Jesus Himself was pretty serious about correcting people (especially the religious leaders!) for leading others astray.
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