The He Gets Us Campaign spent millions of dollars on woke Super Bowl ads that essentially paint Christians as the bad guys. The frivolity of this expenditure was made even more devastating when a Christian YouTuber fixed the commercial they ran to make a compelling gospel narrative where none could be found in any of the He Gets Us commercials.
Sean McDowell, the son of Josh McDowell, interviewed his boss Ed Stetzer. Stetzer is the Dean of Theology for Biola University, a theologically liberal faith-based college where McDowell teaches. Unsurprisingly, Sean McDowell did not ask hard questions to his boss and gave him a soft-ball interview in defense of He Gets Us. Ed Stetzer is the theology behind He Gets Us. Stetzer is a gay-affirming theological liberal who was Andy Stanley’s biggest defender in Christian media. His outlet, Church Leaders, has promoted men like Gregory Coles, Ed Shaw, Preston Sprinkle, Mark Yarhouse, and other Side B proponents to undermine biblical sexuality. He is the Regional Director for North America for the Lausanne Covenant, a faith statement that introduced ESG before it was even a thing. So Ed Stetzer is a wolfe and yet his theology is the most tangible way to characterize the beliefs of He Gets Us as an organization, especially when he functions as the media spokesperson which he does for McDowell.
McDowell begins by asking Stetzer what the controversies surrounding He Gets Us are which is out of the gate unprofessional. McDowell should have asked him about specific controversies or critiques rather than let Stetzer create a strawman and knock it down. This is exactly what Stetzer did and he used Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as the cudgel to do so.
When asked about the cost and how the He Gets Us Campaign only focuses on the humanity of Christ and nothing else, Stetzer explains that the campaign is “pre-evangelism.” He emphasizes that they exist only to start a conversation about who Jesus is. Yet on the He Gets Us website, their answer to “Who do you believe Jesus is?” is as follows:
We believe there is something in the story of Jesus for everyone.
That’s why fans of the campaign and those working on it include people who are curious about this man and his story and want to explore it for themselves, those reconstructing their faith, and those who believe in their hearts that Jesus Christ is the son of God. All of us work together relentlessly to share the transformative power that unconditional love, forgiveness, and sacrificial generosity have to change us, our families, our communities, and our country.
It wouldn’t be hard to guess that many of those backing the campaign believe that Jesus is who the Bible says he is. He Gets Us is an initiative of Come Near Inc., a nonprofit organization committed to sharing the life and love of Jesus, that believes Jesus was human and divine, he rose from the dead, and more. No matter who you are and what you believe, we’re glad you’re here.
The most important question on their FAQ provides an indecisive answer that relegates the gospel to a footnote at best.
Yet Sean McDowell would later defend He Gets Us by saying that
And honestly maybe don’t feel like you need to defend everything in the commercial because it’s produced largely by Christians. If you disagree with something in it, that’s still a talking point go back to the Scriptures ask why.
This also isn’t the case. The actual firm that creates the commercials is LERMA, a pagan firm. The He Gets Us Campaign cannot even say they chose the best firm in the free market, as a Christian YouTuber with free time one evening could do their job better than they could.
Stetzer concludes by chiding the church on Evangelism and promoting himself as an expert, even though he has never successfully planted a church and has failed upward his entire career. Perhaps Sean McDowell lacks the same career trait and therefore gives a softball interview or perhaps he is likewise compromised.
Powered by RedCircle
