Unlike most advertisements on television, super bowl Commercials are an integral part of the game day experience and often generate as much buzz and excitement as the game itself.
Normally, these commercials are known for their high production quality and funny punchlines. But a Sunday announcement game that attracted a lot of attention was a simpler campaign stemming from the so-called pro-Christian He Gets Us campaign, which allegedly shows Christians washing the feet of the socially excluded.
“Jesus did not teach hatred. He washed feet,” the ad concludes after showing a montage of people having their feet washed. These included a police officer washing a black man’s feet in a dirty alley, an older woman washing a younger woman’s feet outside a “planned parenthood clinic” , of an older man washing the feet of a climate activist in the countryside. an oil field in the desert, what looks like an illegal immigrant having her feet washed outside a bus, and a pastor washing the feet of a gay man.
The ad generated a lot of buzz on social media, given its attempt to portray Christianity as welcoming and willing to serve people of all lifestyles and backgrounds. But in doing so, he subordinated Christianity to the vagaries of modern life and intersectionality.
As Babylon Bee editor Joel Berry noted, if the ad really wanted to be subversive, it would have shown a Black Lives Matter supporter washing a police officer’s feet or a blue-haired barista from Seattle washing the feet of a grumpy old white man. from Appalachia wearing a MAGA hat.
But that’s not what the ad did because the #HeGetsUs campaign isn’t reaching Jesus.
On its website, He Gets Us states that it “represents the contribution of Christians who believe that Jesus is the son of God as well as many others who, although not Christians, share a deep admiration for the man who was Jesus, and we are deeply inspired and curious to explore his story. We examine Jesus’ biography through a modern lens to find new relevance in often overlooked moments and themes of his life.
But the problem with applying a modern perspective to the timeless and eternal teachings of Jesus Christ is that it subordinates those teachings to the fleeting feelings of modern men.
The washing of the feet, during which Jesus washes the feet of his 12 disciples, is one of the most famous scenes in the Gospels. This takes place during the Last Supper, the day before Jesus’ crucifixion. It is appropriate to quote at length the passage from the Gospel of John:
“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from the table, took off his outer robe and wrapped a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the cloth he had tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him: “Lord, will you wash my feet? » Jesus replied: “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand. » Peter said to him: “You will never wash my feet. » Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you will have no part with me. » Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him: He who has washed has no need to wash except his feet, but he is completely clean. And you are pure, but not all of you. Because he knew who was going to betray him; for this reason he says: “You are not all pure. » After he had washed their feet, put on his robe and returned to the table, he said to them: “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Master and Lord – and you are right, because that is what I am. If then I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also must wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Truly I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than him who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. John 13:3-17 NRSVCE
The He Gets Us campaign would lead you to believe that Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and, in turn, commanding them to wash each other’s feet is an act of acceptance of others. In fact, the way the ad depicts foot washing makes it seem like Christians are being forced to accept sinful behavior. This is the nuance of the statement that “Jesus did not teach hatred.”
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Fair enough. Jesus did not teach hatred. During his earthly ministry, he regularly dined with tax collectors and prostitutes and healed the sick and dying. His ministry is one of everlasting love that has resonated for 2,000 years.
But the love that Jesus taught is not the love that the He Gets Us campaign preaches. The love that Jesus taught is a radical choice to want the good of others, which includes reprimanding those who do evil. The He Gets Us campaign would do well to remember Jesus’ first teaching in the Gospel of Mark: “Repent and believe the gospel.”
