What
is the “He Gets Us” campaign?
by Sandy Simpson, ACT
2/4/23
There
is a new campaign called “He Gets Us” presenting a false Jesus. It is funded to the tune of $1 billion and
promotes a “Woke” Jesus. A $20 million
ad buy will be spent on ads during the Superbowl. #0
Following
the money and backers leads to organizations such as Servant Christian Foundation #1,
whose donors remain anonymous. However,
this organization’s website is linked to The Church of the Servant #2 and The Seattle School of Theology &
Psychology #3.
Marketing
firm Haven conceptualized and crafted the non-denomination campaign, and
popular ministry partner Gloo, which uses data to
help Churches grow and develop receivables, supported the campaign, ensuring
partners have the ability to respond to all upcoming inquiries. #4
They
promote another “Jesus” focusing on how Jesus was “a marginalized immigrant
refugee who was bullied for his empathy.”
They aim to bring a “Jesus” that is tolerant of all human behavior. Here is a quote from their site:
Have
you ever experienced frustration? Sorrow? Temptation? So has Jesus. Jesus understood what life was
like for people in his day — especially for the marginalized. He was drawn to
those on the fringes because he was one too: An immigrant. Homeless.
Arrested. Bullied. Through it
all, Jesus welcomed outcasts, stood up for women, hung out with troublemakers,
even befriended enemies. He did it because of his radical love, empathy, and
acceptance for all of us. They try to
categorize Jesus as some kind of social “activist.” Jesus invited all to participate in the
love, but not everyone was interested. The powerful and the wealthy were often
threatened by Jesus’ movement because it always resisted systems of oppression.
After all, many benefited from oppressing the poor, the sick, women, and even
certain races that Jesus embraced throughout his activism. So, they didn’t just
reject his invitation; they killed him for it. #5
In
an article by Natasha Crain, she lists “7 things the campaign gets wrong” #6
1)
The fact that Jesus “gets us” stripped from the context
of His identity is meaningless.
2)
Jesus is presented as an example, not a Savior.
3)
The campaign’s stated goal is about inspiration, not a
saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
4)
The campaign reinforces the problematic idea that Jesus’s
followers have Jesus all wrong.
5)
The campaign reinforces what culture wants to
believe about Jesus while leaving out what culture doesn’t want to
believe.
6)
The campaign characterizes the so-called culture war in
terms of secular social justice rather than underlying worldview differences.
7)
The next steps offered by He Gets Us could lead someone
far away from the truth rather than toward it.
The graduate school behind this
effort mixes theology with psychology, which is unbiblical. None of the Emergent church-type principles
they teach have anything to do with the theology of Scripture, but ideas from
psychology and the New Age. The
emphasis, as it is in the world and false eastern mystical religion, is on
improving the self. The Bible is clear
that we already love ourselves to the exclusion of others, and it is the work
of the Holy Spirit in the born-again believer to sanctify them so that they no
longer practice self-absorbed sin but practice righteousness.
Luke 9:23 And He was saying
to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow
Me.
1 John 3:9 No one who has been born of
God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he
cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.
Leviticus 19:18 You
shall not take vengeance, nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but you
shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am
the Lord.
Here
are some of the course descriptions:
Critical Social Theory: Bridging Church & Community
A
mid-year and advanced course that examines critical theory, postmodern
philosophies, feminist theory, multiculturalism, queer theory, masculinity
studies, cultural studies, critical race social theories, and religion.
Human Sexuality
A
course designed to ask questions about the nature of biological sexuality,
sexual preference, sexual identity, and desire. #7
It
is clear from those who back this campaign that their view of Jesus differs
from what the Bible records. The phrase
“he gets us” could be true if it were represented in a biblical context
highlighting the fact that Jesus came to die in our place to pay the penalty we
owe for our sins and sin nature. He
cared enough for us to give His life for those who will believe in Him and
commit to Him. But that is not what this
campaign is presenting. They are trying
to present a “Jesus” who is repressed and identifies with the sins of humanity,
and so agrees with them. This Jesus is
another Jesus, who is not the Jesus Christ of the written Word.
2 Corinthians 11:4 For if someone comes to you and
preaches a Jesus other than
the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from
the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you
put up with it easily enough.
This
“he gets us” Jesus clearly represents a different gospel, and is driven by a
different spirit, namely the spirit of antichrist, the weltgeist/world spirit or zeitgeist/spirit of the time. The devil is the prince of the power of the
air till Christ returns to take possession of what belongs to Him, and is busy
setting up his ill-fated kingdom, which includes attempting to redefine who
Jesus Christ is.
Footnotes
(0) https://youtu.be/sxAvFGKklRI
(1) https://servantokc.org/the-servant-foundation
(2) https://servantokc.org/explore-the-campus
(3) https://theseattleschool.edu/
(4) https://protestia.com/2023/01/28/he-gets-us-campaign-organizers-to-spend-1-billion-promoting-woke-jesus-20mil-at-superbowl/
(5) Ibid.
(6) https://natashacrain.com/7-problems-with-the-he-gets-us-campaign/
(7) https://theseattleschool.edu/