Some thoughts on He Gets Us

 Some thoughts on He Gets Us.

This campaign has certainly caused controversy from every direction. On their page they say, “How did the story of a man who taught and practiced unconditional love, peace, and kindness; who spent his life defending the poor and the marginalized; a man who even forgave his killers while they executed him unjustly — whose life inspired a radical movement that is still impacting the world thousands of years later — how did this man’s story become associated with hatred and oppression for so many people?”  What I’ve heard since the Super Bowl:

From the Left:

-This campaign was funded by the far right!

-That $20 million could’ve been spent on the poor!

-It’s tied to evangelical churches!

From the Right:

-The Jesus of He Gets Us is stripped of context!

-The campaign reinforces the problematic idea that our churches have Jesus all wrong!

-The campaign is all about love and unity and what about God’s wrath?!

To the Left’s criticism:  If “they” are spending $100 million on spreading the word about a Jesus that is so very different from the one that the far right espouses, that’s a good thing and then the money is NOT going to their political agenda. This loving Jesus is very different from the one you can find in most rigid, hyper-Calvinistic white evangelical churches in America and definitely doesn’t fit their anti-immigrant, liberals-are-evil and the continual push to polarize us even further over every stinking issue they can think of (CRT, LGBQT+, books, etc, etc). As to what the money is being spent on, I’m reminded of Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke & which tell the story of the “sinful woman” anointing Jesus with the extremely expensive perfume. You’ve got the people freaking out because a :”sinful woman” touched him and He didn’t flip out - and you’ve got the others who take issue with “the money could’ve been spent on the poor.” He tells everyone to chill out because a beautiful thing was done for Him. I’m leaning toward this:  it was their money to spend and if they felt that a campaign to tell about Jesus’ love for the marginalized was the right thing, that could end some of the hatred gripping our country  --- then let Him be the judge. 

To the Right’s criticism:  The Jesus you have been preaching has been so stripped of context, you likely wouldn’t know context if it walked up and bit you. If the campaign reinforces that your churches have it all wrong, maybe you should quit complaining and LISTEN. Too long you’ve been in an unholy bed with politics, you’ve exalted orthodoxy over orthopraxy. Like the Pharisees you add so much extra to the gospel that it isn’t “good news” anymore; you worship your “sound doctrine” rather than Him.. Instead of embracing the Text in true context - literary, cultural, linguistic - you choose to look at it through the lens of medieval lawyers rather than the lens of Christ. .“Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God” Mark 12:24

Personally, I wonder if the people behind this campaign aren’t deconstructing themselves. Maybe they have taken some money from oppressive far right groups - and maybe they are laughing with joy as that money is spent reminding people of the real Jesus who said, “Come to me all who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

The campaign says this: “The more ideologically defensive we become, the more willing we are to sacrifice things like kindness, patience and the respect and dignity of others for the sake of victory.”

I’m with the Prophet Isaiah who said, “...they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah 2:4  

To my ex-pastor who is afraid that this message is too obscure and is too welcoming to Mormons, why don’t you let God worry about that? He’s the one who will ultimately separate the goats from the sheep - your job is to share His love. Better look at Mark 9:38-41 ““Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”  “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”