Fade in.

We see a young man washing his father’s feet as soulful music plays, and the camera zooms in thoughtfully. We see a police officer washing someone’s feet in an alleyway. A woman washing her friend’s feet. And the images keep coming.
Someone lowers themselves to the position of a servant, especially in contexts where you often expect tension or opposition, and the person receiving the foot washing looks on in something less than bewilderment but more than understanding – they are touched.

“Jesus didn’t teach hate,” the ad says at the end of the spot. “He washed feet.” And then it says, “He gets us. All of us. Jesus.” Finally, HeGetsUs.com/LoveYourNeighbor comes onscreen, and then it’s over.

Simple, to the point, and a powerful depiction of Christian service, humility, and love, following Jesus’ example in John 13, when He says, “Know that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

Beautiful, right?

This ad spot ran for 60 seconds during the Super Bowl, and a related 15-second ad titled “Who is My Neighbor” ran later in the game, costing a total of $17.5 million. In the aftermath, people have been wondering and discussing online – who was behind this advertisement? What are they getting at? And what’s their agenda?
Let me tell you.

He Gets Us

This organization ran an ad last year as well, also during the Super Bowl, as part of a larger campaign. This year, the non-profit has changed hands but maintains some of the same donors under the name “Come Near.” Their deep-pocketed donors include David Green, the founder of Hobby Lobby, and others who have not made themselves known. Ken Calwell, former CMO of Compassion International, now leads the organization.

“How did the story of Jesus, the world’s greatest love story, get twisted into a tool to judge, harm, and divide?” their website asks. “How do we remind people that the story of Jesus belongs to everyone? These questions are the beating heart of He Gets Us.”

It’s a branding effort – but a somewhat unusual one. The founders got together and studied demographic and survey data, conducted interviews, and discovered that people were hurt, divided, and lost. They wanted to show Jesus to the world in a simple, pure way and try to foster healing from much of the hurt and division tearing our society apart.

Their website gently guides people through fundamental lessons of Christianity: loving your neighbor, not being a slave to riches, saying hard things that need to be said, and forgiveness. They provide Bible reading plans and low-barrier devotional studies. They provide a portal to help people find a Christian community near them so they can fellowship and find further instruction, support, and healing.

So, perhaps unsurprisingly, the internet went berserk.

The Reaction

In the secular world, some mocked the ads or didn’t understand the symbolism they alluded to, calling them a “Jesus Foot Fetish.” Others wanted to remind people that the Alliance Defending Freedom, a very conservative legal advocacy group, has in the past (and possibly still currently) helped to fund “He Gets Us.”. To some, this was seen as offensive since they advocate against abortion and radical gender theory being taught in schools. Most likely, others were intrigued, but only time – and ‘He Gets Us’ internal metrics – will tell. There were a few jokes and a few activists getting hot and bothered, but perhaps there wasn’t too much pushback there.

Christian and conservative circles, however, went through the roof.

Justin Peters, a popular reformed preacher, posts, “The people behind the ‘He Gets Us’ campaign are ashamed of the real Jesus. They are ashamed of the Gospel.”

Matt Walsh, a conservative commentator, said that “at best,” the ad was “pointless” and “does more harm than good.”

An account on X called “Lizzie Reformed” sums up much of the sentiment this way:

“In case some people still aren’t getting it (as we can see they aren’t), the goal of the ‘He gets us’ ad wasn’t Jesus at all. The goal was social justice and political advancement, for starters, but mainly, it was to call every single Bible-believing Christian who isn’t afraid to speak the truth in love a bigot. This was an antichrist dressed up in a wool coat. They do not want anything to do with real Christians who fear God and preach the whole Bible, including parts that offend people. They wouldn’t wash our feet, we don’t fit the agenda.”

Defenses were few and far between, or so it seemed.

“Am I the only conservative Christian who didn’t totally hate the ‘He Gets Us’ ad?” posts conservative commentator Michael Knowles on X.

Or, if you dare, wade into the comments section on this conservative Facebook group’s post that went viral – and quickly gained much criticism for saying the ad was “fine.”

Some of the more measured criticisms included worries that the ‘He Gets Us’ commercial leaves out a call to repentance, which is central to the gospel.

But others have pointed out that calling us to overcome our petty differences, to still love one another even when there are significant differences, and to humble ourselves to the place of a servant in the name of Christ – is a call to repentance indeed.

If controversy is good for a message’s reach, ‘He Gets Us’ hits the jackpot.

Conclusions

It is a strange circumstance when an advertisement that reaches tens of millions with a message of Christ’s love and humility is roundly panned in many Christian circles. But be that as it may, time will prove that the “He Gets Us” campaign is exactly what it presents itself as. A smart, business-minded approach to spreading the gospel. Artists use their art, preachers preach, and businesspeople raise money and do an ad campaign that will continue forward from here, consisting of outreach events that serve the needy, give food to the hungry, and do so with a smile in the name of Jesus.

“Jesus understands us,” Hobby Lobby founder David Green says. “He loves who we hate. I think we have to let the public know and create a movement.”

“‘He Gets Us’ Super Bowl Jesus Commercial Angers Both Left and Right,” reads the headline from the BBC. And if that isn’t a sure sign that they’re doing something right, I don’t know what is.

Quick Hits

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• In-N-Out Burger takes unprecedented step, closing California location amidst persistent crime concerns.
• SEC advises Apple to take into account free speech resolution proposed by Christian group.
• NRB appeals to Supreme Court to prevent Biden administration’s from censoring views on social media.
• Auntie Anne’s founder attributes healing from life of suffering to living by James 5:16.
• CNBC recommends strategies for paying off credit cards amid record levels of consumer debt.
• Fans were startled by the price of food at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas – a hotdog was $13, a beer was $17, and nachos were $60.