Published February 15, 2024
I know I run the risk of being “that guy”—the seminary professor egghead who is just a little too fussy, especially when it comes to making a criticism. I’m always sensitive to what one of my former professors used to say when it comes to evangelism: “I like the way I’m doing it better than the way you’re not.” There’s a lot of truth to that.
But that brings me to the subject of my column, the now much discussed “He Gets Us” commercials that ran during the Super Bowl. First, let me offer a note of appreciation: I am generally for whatever it is that brings up the topic of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. There’s no world in which we’re ever talking too much about Jesus. So, yes, let’s give the benefit of the doubt to those who want to find ways to bring Jesus into American culture and American conversation.
Still, let’s just say: There were some noticeable problems with those commercials.
“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). Christians are washing the feet of women at abortion centers and, ostensibly, of the LGBT community. That all seems inoffensive and lovely if Christianity is just about washing feet. But it’s also about speaking the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).
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EPPC Fellow Andrew T. Walker, Ph.D., researches and writes about the intersection of Christian ethics, public theology, and the moral principles that support civil society and sound government. A sought-after speaker and cultural commentator, Dr. Walker’s academic research interests and areas of expertise include natural law, human dignity, family stability, social conservatism, and church-state studies. The author or editor of more than ten books, he is passionate about helping Christians understand the moral demands of the gospel and their contributions to human flourishing and the common good. His most recent book, out in May 2021 from Brazos Press, is titled Liberty for All: Defending Everyone’s Religious Freedom in a Secular Age.
