The Super Bowl took place recently, and while the game, the halftime show, and most of the commercials were underwhelming, one particular ad has set off a firestorm of criticism on the internet. The “He Gets Us” Super Bowl ad, paid for by the organization of the same name, has been receiving backlash from conservatives and liberals as well since the spot ran during the most-watched Super Bowl in television history.
The ad, entitled “Foot Washing,” has received criticism for the images portrayed. While the message, “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet. He gets us. All of us” is certainly a positive, well-intentioned message, many have taken umbrage with what is perceived to be virtue signaling and racial division embodied in the advertisement.
Andrew Walker, an ethics and public theology professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, framed his concerns about the left-leaning images found in the spot. He said: “He Gets Us framed evangelism with a leftward tinge, communicating the respectability of certain sins over others in our culture (although I’m not sure the ad even communicated that the respectable sins were sins at all). It is curious that Jesus never showed up washing feet at a [Make America Great Again] rally, a truck stop porn store in Alabama, to dilapidated and drugged-out factory workers in Ohio, or a white nationalist militia meeting in Michigan. If Jesus really is for all sinners, we should want right-wing racists converted as well, right? How would we respond to Jesus washing the feet of someone outside the Capitol on January 6?”
In response to the ad, a pastor in the United Kingdom did his own ad that has taken the internet by storm, and it didn’t cost him $14 million dollars like the Super Bowl spot. Jamie Bambrick, who serves as associate pastor of Hope Church Craigavon in Northern Ireland, put together a compelling feature on his own, highlighting what “He Gets Us” should have said.
In his video, which took less than an hour and has over 2 million views, Bambrick used images of Kat Von D, who recently traded in witchcraft for Christianity, former KKK member Mike Burden, a former drag queen and prostitute, a former porn star, and other folks who turned away from sinful, destructive lifestyles back towards God. The ad states: “Jesus doesn’t just get us. He saves us. He transforms us. He cleanses us. He restores us. He forgives us. He heals us. He delivers us. He redeems us. He loves us. Such were some of you.”
The ad was intended to mirror the “He Gets Us” ad with“hopefully a much better message,” according to Bambrick. He continued: “I think a lot of Bible-believing Christians viewed [the ‘He Get Us’ ad] and went, ‘You know what, this just isn’t a reflection of the Gospel, and it’s not a reflection of our heart toward the lost, either.’ It seemed to be almost a condemnation of Bible-believing Christians. That was the implication that I think a reasonable person would have gotten from watching it.”
There has been condemnation on both sides. The left has chided the spot, criticizing the organization for not using what it spent to feed the poor, and conservatives have taken issue with the undertone of some of the images, which included leftist protesters, a priest washing the feet of a gay man, a woman washing the feet of a younger woman outside an abortion clinic, and a police officer on his knees washing the feet of a black man. It was a well-meaning spot that missed from every angle, and the popularity of the homemade spot by Bambrick proves it.
Bambrich summed up what most people seem to feel about the “He Gets Us” ad: “If the Church calls people to repentance, if the Church calls people to turn from sin, that is preaching hate, which of course it isn’t. That is an act of love, it’s an act of grace,” The Super Bowl ad implied bigotry and intolerance from conservatives and a need to repent from those alleged behaviors rather than the need to turn from other sinful activities. It hasn’t resonated with people, and “He Gets Us” has only divided people further with its imagery.
Featured image screen grab from embedded video
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