Hello, Welcome to Take Me To Eternity. I don’t know if you have seen it yet. Not sure if you could have missed it, but there is a campaign out there called “He Gets Us”. It is complete with a website, billboards and ads. They are on regular television as well as they had an ad during the Superbowl.
The first time that I saw this campaign my first response was wow a message promoting Jesus? That is awesome! What’s the catch?….. If there is one thing I have learned it is that big companies don’t spout the name of Jesus without an agenda most of the time. And if the world loves what they are saying, there is probably a problem.
If there were a campaign to show an accurate picture of Jesus to bring people to saving knowledge of him, that would be awesome! Every Christian should want to see more souls saved. Is that what we are seeing in these ads though?
If you go and look at their site it tells you all you need to know. They say that they want to spread the true picture of what Jesus’ life on earth looked like. Spread a true depiction of who he is. They even go as far as to say “It wouldn’t be hard to guess that we’re led by Jesus fans and followers. People who believe he was much more than just a good guy and a profound teacher. And that Jesus is the son of God, who came to earth, died and was resurrected, then returned to heaven and is alive today.” They say things like “people believe he is God.” on their page but they aren’t actually saying he is God.
They claim that they are not “left” or “right” or have any political organization of any kind; they also say that they are not with any particular church or denomination. Which is a little alarming because that doesn’t tell you their theology.They say they simply want everyone to understand the authentic Jesus as he is depicted in the Bible. “The Jesus of Radical forgiveness, compassion and love.” EEk where are we going with this?
There is a lot that sounds good, with a few cringe words and Ideas thrown in. But when you dig further there is a problem.. Unfortunately the site, the imagery of the ads and the phraseology being used shows that it really does have a lean and isn’t one to show who Jesus is. No where in these ads do you see the gospel or even a hint of it instead it is geared towards calling Jesus radical, a refugee, rebel and saying “he was canceled he gets us, all of us.”
Jesus does truly get us. That is how he is able to be our high priest and advocate. He truly understands human depravity as well as hurt and rejection, however if you take this out of context, and you place that into an ad campaign with no caveat as to what that means it is meaningless and helps noone. It doesn’t tell you who Jesus is or help you to want to know the real Jesus, it is just another pointless phrase to be thrown about by the world. There is such a push for Jesus to be accepted as human it leaves little room for the most important part….. That he is God.
They tell you they have an agenda and exactly what they want you to think that agenda is….. They say It is “to rescue the name of Jesus in the eyes of the marginalized.” They say things on their website like
“The more ideologically defensive we become, the more we are willing to sacrifice things like kindness, patience, and respect and dignity of others for the sake of victory.” sounds great doesn’t it… but we are supposed to hold our ideologies and ideals close, to cherish them and to care enough to call out that which is hurting the people of this world. How will the world get better if they are simply told that what they believe is good and true, when there can only be one truth and that is not mine nor yours, it’s the Truth Of God, found in his word.
The New Oxford American dictionary says Ideologies are
Christianity is at its core a foundation of ideology that we are to know, treasure, fight for and adhere to. This is one place where there isn’t wiggle room. To show the Love of Jesus is to tell people they are headed for Hell and show them that God paid our debt on the cross.
The Idea that we ought to get past, let go of, or be softer about the very word of God and what he says to be good and right and true is a huge red flag. Are we to sacrifice truth for feelings? Do we sacrifice true love for people feeling accepted? Like many other things these days it seems like it is a push against what christians say about Jesus. It has the premise that his followers have him all wrong and are painting the wrong picture of him and that they are going to fix that. They are going to show you the real Jesus.
The bible is the inerrant word of God and as such we are to stick to what it says because it shows who God is and how he says the world is to function. It teaches us who we are (born enemies of God), our state before belief (wretched sinners doomed to a literal hell for eternity) and how we can be saved ( through the blood of Jesus which he shed for the payment for our sins.)
The world tries so hard to make God’s word less than. To fight for acceptance and tolerance in areas where there ought not to be any. Sin is sin and if we stop calling it that it doesn’t mean it is then ok. It just means we are then disobeying God. In the process we are harming the people who are sitting in sin also.
The most loving thing that you can do for people is put the mirror of law before them so they can see their own depravity and then tell them the good news of how God is so amazing that he died for sinners like us. To try and bring Jesus down and act like “he gets us” is just another way to try and elevate humans and distort the gospel.
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil.” John 7:7
So does Jesus get us? Most assuredly he does for he lived in this world, was tempted and suffered in ways most can’t even imagine. The answer to that is not to bring him down, it is to know how to be more like him. That is found in his word and adhering to what it says. Even when it confronts the parts of us we don’t want to deal with. When it confronts our sin and tells us to be rid of it.
The sight is full of things like this…
While this looks good it teaches what the world says about christianity, and what is wrong with so many so-called christians. This is a heretical statement…. Did you catch it? This is the cry of the progressives, of the NAR and of Satan, Jesus is a good model and humans can be just like him. This is a push to inspire people not to teach them who he is or any biblical truth. It is meant to make people feel good. It is like a big Joel Osteen campaign.
The president of the marketing agency behind He Gets us said, “Ultimately, the goal is inspiration, not recruitment or conversion.” How is that showing people an accurate view of Jesus?
If you are going to show him accurately then you will speak of the fact that right and wrong is objective and that God is the one who gets to say what that is. That when we go against that it is called sin. That we are all sinners and Jesus calls us not to sin. That our payment for those sins is eternal damnation in a real literal hell. That we cannot be good enough to save ourselves and we cannot earn it. That HE lived the perfect life that we could not and that he paid our debt of sin when Jesus died on the cross. That we can only be saved by him and the finished work he did on the cross. That he rose again from the grave and that he is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father. This is the whole point of Christ’s life; without this it is a pointless topic.
We as Christians ought to look more and more like Jesus everyday but there is a problem when we think we can BE just like him because he is God and we are not. Another point they make is…
The world will not look at the Jesus of the bible and see it as a love story. Even So-Called Christians see it as mean or cruel. This is an ecumenical push. One that tries to bridge the gap once again, and make Jesus acceptable to the world, but we are told in the bible that we are to preach the gospel and to make deciples. To the world it is foolishness. You cannot simply make Jesus acceptable to the masses without taking away the very essence of who Jesus is, like we see them doing.
“For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:17-18
There are a lot of people who say that Jesus was a good person, a good prophet, someone who had good stories and good morals, a good example. They don’t however accept the most important thing about who Jesus is. He is God and he is Perfect. Without that all other statements about him are void. The bible is his very word. It isn’t just a good book with some good lessons, it is a book of God’s written instructions to a dying world.
What new relevance are you going to find in 2000 year old scripture that believers have poured over? If you find new meaning or new relevance you are doing it wrong.
Directly under this on their page is written,
“He Gets Us is a diverse group of Jesus followers with a wide variety of faith journeys and lived experiences.”
The world pushes to combine “faith journeys” this is the push for coexist. It’s an ecumenical push to combine different faiths like we see all over the place. It is riddled with the left agenda, pushing for a false unity. We cannot be united around a lie and that means we cannot unite around a partial truth. The next sentence on the page is
“Our work represents the input from Christians who believe that Jesus is the son of God as well as 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.”
In my time of learning about false religions there is a common thread that runs through many. They have no problem using ideas slightly twisted from scripture. They openly use the name of Jesus yet have a completely different definition of who he is. The New Age says he is an ascended master. Jehovah’s witnesses say he is a creation, the archangel Gabriel. Mormons say he is created and he is the brother of Satan. Islam calls him a prophet. Many who claim to be christian say he was “just a man in right standing with God.” There are plenty of people that call him Lord yet don’t know him and this isn’t helping any of them.
It is simply a push to make Jesus a social justice warrior. There is a hidden agenda that they aren’t hiding so well, but for so many is masked with the love for humanity veneer that is plastered all over it. It is a political agenda that is infiltrating all areas, work places, schools and even churches.
This advertising calls Jesus a refugee, a rebel, an activist and overall shows him as a human who was treated badly by the world around him. What a pansy Jesus they show. One to be pitied for sure.
This page has a place where people can connect with churches to learn more about Jesus but what does that mean? Is there any importance placed on theology when picking places to send people? It really doesn’t look like it. In researching I found statements like
“The creators of He Gets Us say this is a strength of their particular campaign: It can’t be misunderstood as promoting a single congregation, because churches all over the country and across denominations are involved.”
And
“So far, hundreds of churches have signed up to respond to people who fill out connect forms on HeGetsUs.com. Scott Beck, CEO of Gloo, which is running that digital infrastructure, said he expects many more churches will join when the campaign launches nationally. There is no theological criteria or statement of faith that churches must adhere to in order to take part.”
Jon Lee with Religious News Service Said “organizers also want to start a movement of people who want to tell a better story about Jesus and act like him.”
We see a lot of that these days, people “telling a BETTER story of Jesus?” (cough) (cough) “The Chosen”
He went on to say “Our goal is to give voice to the pent-up energy of like-minded Jesus followers, those who are in the pews and the ones that aren’t, who are ready to reclaim the name of Jesus from those who abuse it to judge, harm and divide people,” Lee Said
There is no doubt that abuse has happened in what was said to be the name of God. Humans are nasty and sinful and in being nasty and sinful they do so in all sorts of horrible ways. Church abuse is real and should not be swept under the rug. Many of us have had to deal with church hurt and abuse and the best thing I can say is call them out, and remember that humans are not God. The church is full of messy humans who make poor choices. It isn’t acceptable.
One thing that is missing is the understanding that Jesus came to divide. He told us to judge and to do so with a righteous judgment. With his judgment found in scripture. Meaning judge according to what he says is good and right and true. He wants people to follow him in truth. If you are following an idea of Jesus that doesn’t help anyone. The idea that Jesus would never call out sin or say anything that could be offensive is just not true and those statements are made in ignorance of his word or by people who don’t actually believe what he said. This is what the world says about Jesus and as a bible believing Christian I am at odds with the world because the Jesus that I know and follow is taught in the word of God and he teaches hard things that aren’t easy to hear. They divide people and they are meant to divide people. It divides those who truly follow him, who love his word and know objective truth to those who follow the world or their own hearts.
If we adhere to biblical teachings, things like biblical marriage, abortion, gender identity, sexuality and so forth we are called judgmental, bigots, hateful and told that we are harming people. If we hold to scripture and say that what God says goes, people act like we are trying to be divisive and get called things like Pharisees, bigots, hateful, fear mongers and legalistic.
Jesus said those who love me will do as I command. Jesus said my sheep hear my voice and they follow me. His voice is found in scripture and to follow him is to follow all that he commands. We are told to know the word, to treasure it in our hearts, to speak about it when we go out, when we walk, when we eat and when we lay down. We are to guard it, to listen to it and follow it.
We are told that the donors who are anonymous are “a small group of wealthy anonymous families” The ad campaigns spokespeople told religion news service the donors were “like minded families who desire to see the Jesus of the bible represented in today’s culture with the same relevance and impact he had 2000 years ago”
Sounds awesome doesn’t it? Unfortunately all we see is the social justice gospel. There is no accurate depiction of Jesus being portrayed in these images, just a narrative that is rich in the world today. One of us, against them. One of the innocent oppressed, and rejected and a push for acceptance. It is all done with the mentality of we are the misunderstood and the marginalized and he accepts us and stands with us against our oppressors. If someone isn’t saved, they are their own oppressor.
The ads that are run tell us nothing of the savior of all creation. They just speak of someone who would approve of them and accept them. That isn’t the narrative of scripture, it is that of the world.
There is a section on their page on anxiety. It says did Jesus ever get stressed? There is a video and you can read a little excerpt though there have been changes recently made. You will see why. Originally it said It says “Like many people do, Jesus tried to escape to a favorite quiet place– a garden of old growth olive trees on the side of a mountain. He even brought a few friends for emotional support. But overwhelmed with exhaustion, his friends couldn’t stay awake as he “pleaded with God to make his problems go away….”
No wonder they changed it. They say of Jesus in Gethsemane that he “pleaded with God to make his PROBLEMS go away.” That is a bazaar statement. Throughout this whole page you don’t see the gospel. This wasn’t his problem, this was God’s plan to reconcile himself with mankind.
It now says.
“One night, he experienced overwhelming stress because he knew he’d soon face arrest, torture, and even execution. It created an unimaginable weight.
Like many people do when stressed, Jesus escaped to a quiet place—a garden of old growth olive trees on the side of a mountain. He brought a few friends for emotional support and prayer. Overwhelmed with exhaustion, his friends couldn’t stay awake as he pleaded with God for another way. But he knew there was no way around this moment, he needed to bear this cross.
Jesus said his soul was grieved to the point of death—that’s how he described the stress he felt. He reportedly suffered hematohidrosis, a rare condition caused by acute emotional stress where the sweat glands rupture, causing them to excrete blood. He was clearly challenged by what he was facing even while knowing that his death would show his love and would change the world.
His adversaries captured him later that evening in the garden. Yet, despite his inability to find solace, Jesus found the strength to face his accusers and submit to them willingly and without violence, knowing that his death would further spread his message of radical love.
Pleading with God for another way is definitely a better way to put it but if you are trying to say that you can give an accurate depiction of Christ and dont understand his whole purpose for coming to live as a man maybe you aren’t right for the job. It’s better than him pleading to have his problem taken away. But what is missing is a view as to why he was going to the cross. It isn’t just missing in this, it is missing altogether on this page.
It says “He was clearly challenged by what he was facing even while knowing that his death would show his love and would change the world.” But what does that mean? How does he show his love and change the world with his death? Devoid of the gospel, what does that even mean? This page is supposed to bring people closer to the “authentic Jesus’ ‘ yet doesn’t mention the entire reason he came to earth and lived as a man, dying a horrible death for our ransom. How does that help anyone?
The whole push for this page is that of the left agenda. The social justice warrior Jesus. They make him the Jesus that everyone can relate to while twisting the reality of his life to fit their push. On one page titled What would Jesus think of teen moms? They of course bring the message to Mary and pit her as the view of teen moms. A teen mom who is unwed gets pregnant through a sinful act, most of the time it was one in which she willingly partook in. Mary cannot be compared to that. Jesus was not conceived through sin. Mary was a virgin and got pregnant when the Holy Spirit came upon her. It was an immaculate conception. Once again they are taking a truth and twisting it to fit their narrative. Using our messiah to do it.
The people who are funding this are mostly unknown but then we have people promoting this like Ed Stetzer, an executive director of Billy Graham center at Wheaton College. And Kevin Ezell who is the president of the North American Missions Board for the Southern Baptist Convention. Ezell later stated they were not going to take part in it because it was too broad and they were all about the gospel, but the damage was done after he did a webinar promoting it. For him to retract it is the right thing to do, but people already heard him say yes and amen to this campaign. The logo had already been on the “He Gets Us” website for 7 months before it got retracted.
As a layperson all I had to do was look into this for five minutes to see that there was a problem. It shouldn’t have been that hard for him to check into something that he was promoting. He did not even address the actual problems with the group when he backed out and gave his so-called apology; he simply said it was too broad. What does that mean it’s too broad? For the SBC to be involved in this is pretty bad considering some of the compromises we have seen from them lately.
In the video Kevin Ezell stated that “people who regularly are looking to engage people in evangelistic opportunities are going to love this campaign but if you aren’t more concerned with evangelism you are going to be more concerned or leary of it.”
Kind of seems like he knew there was a problem. He was creating a question for those who oppose him. Anyone who spoke out on whether it is an acceptable view of Jesus or not. In this statement he is letting you know that if you oppose him or the campaign then you just don’t care about evangelism.
This group literally says that Jesus Followers are the problem with the world’s view of Jesus.
“and you will be hated by all because of My name.” Luke 21:17
“You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” Mark 13:13
It is really twisted when you start looking at how they are using Jesus to push their agenda. There is a place on their website that says “Some Believe Jesus lived a perfect life. For others, that’s a stretch either way, as we searched for themes to share, it became apparent to us that Jesus set a high bar for himself and for others….”
Does this sound like a christian message? Does it matter if Jesus lived a perfect life? It most assuredly does because if he did not, then our debt of sin is still on us and we will burn in hell for eternity. This campaign takes everything that is important about Jesus and makes it an afterthought. A question that doesn’t really need an answer. One that is negotiable.
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Jesus knew no sin. He lived the perfect life. He could not be the spotless lamb of God if he was tainted and he couldn’t atone for the sins of the world if he wasn’t spotless.
“If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” 1 Peter 1:17-21
Like all of these people who cry Jesus and mean a different one, they paint a different picture of Jesus and bring to question any part of him that has any meaning, it undermines the Gospel as a whole. It’s a different gospel being taught. It’s the social justice gospel that is washing through so many so-called churches.
They push pro immigrant and widely left ideas like “Refugee.” Where they show you a host of pictures of different refugees fleeing one place or another and then add at the end “Jesus was a Refugee”.
Was he a refugee?
An ad called “That Day” depicts people along the justice system ending with someone strapped down in a chair about to be executed when the word’s “Jesus rejected resentment on the cross.” go on the screen. They equate Jesus to a man being executed. A criminal.
They pull on your heartstrings with “the Physician” an ad using the image of the early Covid Pandemic. The push in these videos is the same that the left pushes. It pushes the racial divide, the socioeconomic divide as well as the division between “the people” and “the state.”
Natasha Craine did a great article on 7 problems with the He Gets Us Campaign. You should check it out! I have stated a lot of the same issues as she did though she does a much better, more concise job. Her problem #5 states
5. The campaign characterizes the so-called culture war in terms of secular social justice rather than underlying worldview differences.
On a page titled, “Jesus was fed up with politics, too,” it says, “Jesus lived in the middle of a culture war…And though the political systems were different (not exactly a representative democracy), the greed, hypocrisy, and oppression different groups used to get their way were very similar.” The page, like many others on the site, has hashtags “#Activist#Justice#RealLife.”For those familiar with Critical Theory and how it roots secular social justice ideas, this a pretty clear statement of the mindset from which He Gets Us is coming.
She goes on to talk about how this idea filters the idea and framework of Jesus through an oppressed, oppressor filter and base his life and such on the social dynamic frame of Critical Theory. We are not supposed to view scripture that way. In doing so you miss the whole premise of what is going on in the bible, what God is teaching and in turn you change it altogether.
This looks more like a caricature of Jesus than an accurate depiction of him and it feeds right into the left leaning political world of today. It feeds into the softening of who Jesus is and the gospel itself while creating a divide between its “nicer than Jesus’ ‘ followers and true bible believing christians who actually follow what it says and voice that in any way.
Their point is that anyone who follows Jesus and adheres to scripture is a problem and they are going to “fix” the image that these followers have given about Jesus. But the view they are giving isn’t even almost accurate. People follow the Jesus they are led to. When someone says they are a christian and follow the new age Jesus they cannot be saved. The Social Justice Jesus can’t save either. You have taken every attribute required for salvation, every part of him that can be considered offensive or hold any weight and stripped him from that. You cannot make Jesus acceptable to the masses and still have one that is the same.
It is really just another push for ecumenicism. You cannot unite over lies. You can only unite in truth. The bible says
“But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they were saying to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” Jude 1:17-21
We divide over untruth. We divide when people stray from the truth and speak lies.
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”
2 Corinthians 10:5-6
All in all it looks like this is just another use of the name of Jesus with no depth or truth but instead it’s just another way for the name of Jesus to be muddied and twisted unrecognizable.
LeaFiore
Take Me To Eternity
The battle between flesh and spirit. Living Blessed in a fallen world. 