I found plenty to be excited about at Sunday night’s Super Bowl. It was a back-and-forth game rather than a one-sided blowout, and former Georgia Bulldog Mecole Hardman caught the game-winning touchdown. The halftime show was a triumph, too. Southern R&B and hip-hop? Yes, please.
The commercials, on the other hand, were hit or miss, as has been the case for the last few years. One ad in particular missed in a big way; it came from the “He Gets Us” campaign, which aims to start conversations about Jesus.
Lincoln and I have both written about “He Gets Us” and how its commecials often make good points that still miss the mark. The only problem is that the conversation in this year’s Super Bowl ad falls short of the gospel.
Jesus washed the feet of friends and enemies. No ego or hate. He humbly loved his neighbors. How can we do the same? pic.twitter.com/kXift42ZG9
— HeGetsUs (@HeGetsUs) February 11, 2024
It’s a lovely sentiment, and, yes, Jesus’ act of washing His disciples’ feet is a humble act of service that He intended for us to emulate in multiple ways. And Christians — and even decent people who don’t believe in Jesus — should treat others well without regard for how different those others are.
But the connotations of the ad are far from subtle. The act of washing feet is inherently humbling — humiliating, even — and in some of the instances the ad depicts, it’s “mainstream” members of society humbling themselves. A cop washes a homeless woman’s feet. Someone who looks like a middle-aged Texan washes the feet of what appears to be an illegal immigrant. A woman washes a younger woman’s feet outside an abortion clinic. A priest washes the feet of a stereotypically flamboyant young gay man. It’s hard to ignore what the ad is trying to get across.
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I’ve long maintained that people put a little too much emphasis on Jesus’ act of washing the disciples’ feet. Again, it’s an important account in the New Testament with a valuable lesson to learn from it, but Jesus also called people to repentance and to follow Him. And while the message of the ad that “Jesus didn’t preach hate” is true, the commercial still neglects the full context of Jesus’ invitation to turn from a life of sin to redemption.
I’m not the only one who noticed how the ad falls short of the gospel message. Christian apologist and graphic designer Phoenix Hayes — who is a worthwhile follow on Instagram — doesn’t mince words in her assessment of the ad.
Another apologist with an impressive Instagram presence is Michael Moore, who posts as “honestyouthpastor.” Moore made a video where he talked about the ad, and his description of it hits the nail on the head.
Moore writes in his caption that messages like these “are what one would expect from a ‘let’s do everything short of sin to tell people about Jesus’ mentality. Its surface level at best yet misses the entire call of Jesus, ‘repent the Kingdom of Heaven is near!’
He adds:
It portrays Jesus’ act of humility as an act of acceptance. A live and let live type of mentality.
However this was neither the message of the foot washing nor the message of loving one’s enemies. Both acts are a way to follow in the ways of Jesus.
The way of humble obedience to God, walking in holiness.
What he has to say in the video is worth hearing, too.
In another Instagram post on Monday morning, Moore writes, “There are ways to communicate the Gospel clearly within very short amounts of time. Speaking of sin, repentance, and reconciliation to both God and others. That attempt was not made.”
He adds, “I’m glad there are attempts being made to evangelize, I’m also disappointed that these attempts resemble moralistic deism more than they do the Gospel of Christ.”
Recommended: Sunday Thoughts: Finding the Balance Between Martha and Mary
Dallas-area pastor Josh Howerton weighed in on Instagram as well. He handles it charitably, urging followers to not automatically bash the “He Gets Us” people. “I don’t know them, but I bet they have great hearts that just wanna see people know Jesus,” he writes in his caption.
Howerton also acknowledges that the goal of the “He Gets Us” campaign to start gospel conversations is admirable. At the same time, he points out the flaw in the Super Bowl commercial.
“This ad (accidentally?) signal-boosted to 100M people a very misleading and extremely popular message in our culture,” he writes. It’s a misleading message that the ad embedded in its tagline.
“When they show pictures of Jesus with people who identify as transgender, women getting abortions, activists for ungodly causes and then say, ‘Jesus didn’t teach hate,’ the (progressive) culture they’re gearing the ad to is assuming their definition of ‘hate as non-affirmation,'” Howerton points out, adding (with emphasis in the original), “As a result, people see [the] ad and think, ‘Cool, it doesn’t require any change (repentance) for me and Jesus to be good.'”
Howerton cites 2 Corinthians 11:4, in which the Apostle Paul calls out those who fall for “another Jesus than the one we proclaimed” and notes:
Ad-Jesus: “I do not condemn you. That’s all I have to say.”
Real Jesus: “I do not condemn you. Now go, and sin no more.”
And our culture likes the Ad-Jesus more…
I’m willing to give “He Gets Us” some credit for opening up conversations about the gospel, but starter conversations aren’t enough. People need to hear the entire gospel, and that includes repentance and fleeing from sin.
Hours after Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, He went to the cross to give His life for their sins — and ours. Then He conquered death and Hell. That’s the gospel that saves us, and it’s what all the world needs to hear.