We know “He Gets Us.”
The question is, does the Church “get” Jesus?
The question is: Does the Church “get” Jesus?
Before I dive into this article, let me say that I don’t have a problem with the content in the “He Gets US” ads aired on Super Bowl Sunday. I’ve been to the website it advertised, and their portrayal of Jesus’ message doesn’t present any immediate red flags.
I’m willing to bet that most people, Christian or not, get the basic gist of Christ and what He was about on earth.
Sure, we may not always agree with each other’s interpretation, but that’s a byproduct of The Reformation and the invention of the Gutenberg Press. Once everyone has access to the Scriptures, they no longer have to rely on the interpretations of others to understand who God is. As a result, you get varying versions of who Jesus is, what He is like, and the nature of His mission. But even in the cacophony of voices and opinions, the general consensus when it comes to Jesus’ reputation is…good.
Jesus Christ Himself does not have a PR problem. By and large, people know He loves everyone and includes them in His kingdom. People already know He “gets” them.
So why the Super Bowl Ads? Why does Christ need rebranding?
Why is there a 100-million-dollar effort by one group to reintroduce Jesus to the masses as if we had not been inundated with His message by His followers since the Mayflower?
It’s puzzling that there seems to be a need to introduce America to something it already knows.
Have we missed something here?
Either one of two things has happened:
We weren’t listening for the past 400 years. This is highly unlikely, given Christianity is the predominant religion in America. Not to mention that Christian sensibilities have infiltrated and shaped every aspect of American culture, regardless of Christianity’s ongoing critique and condemnation of that same culture.
OR— hear me out — Jesus’ character and message were convoluted, complicated, and obscured by His most ardent followers, and this recent expensive venture is a tacit admission of guilt without a real sense of repentance.
So the question is less whether Jesus “gets us” but rather whether the church still “gets Jesus.”
The American church, with all its factions, sects, and denominations, seems to fundamentally fail at self-awareness and deep introspection about its contribution to the problem it thinks America has with Jesus.
The American church presumes the current climate of division and disunity in this country is because there is a loss in the understanding of the nature and the character of Jesus. If that is the case, then the church is no unsuspecting bystander to the issue.
Any sense of judgment found in the American culture, the church has embodied it overwhelmingly.
- Any condemnation, the church has excelled at it.
- Any exclusion — the church has embraced it.
- Any division — the church has encouraged it.
- Any arrogance — the church has exemplified it.
If the church “got Jesus,” perhaps there wouldn’t be a perceived need to spend exorbitant sums of money to communicate something they obviously failed to do for the past four centuries.
After that tirade, you might have the impression that I hate the church, but the opposite is true. I love the church. Instead of ignoring its fault, however, I want to look the ugliness in the face.
I respect the work the He Gets Us campaign is doing because it is sorely needed. The ads are captivating and call people to the Jesus who loves them as they are.
But I think it is essential to examine how we got to the place where the church feels compelled to launch an extravagant campaign to “rebrand Jesus.”
I refuse to give up on the church, so over the next three weeks, we’ll try to figure out where and how the church ceased to “get Jesus” and how we can fix it.
Jesus Christ doesn’t need a massive PR overhaul, but the church needs a serious “come to Jesus” moment.
This is another post in Inspire Believe Grow, the fresh new faith-based publication on Medium. Punchy. Insightful. Challenging. A breath of fresh air regarding engaging with the Bible and spirituality.
Please consider clicking the "follow publication" button--help build our followers!
