During the Super Bowl there was a “He Gets Us” commercial. I’ve written about one of them before (here) and I wasn’t going to write about this one because I thought it would be best to just let you have your own thoughts and opinions on it without mine getting in the way. The simple message from all the commercials is that Jesus is so much more than what you probably think. Or as Kevin Max (of DCTalk) once sang, “You blow away every myth… they taught me in Sunday School.”
I love the truth that Jesus cares. He wants to carry our burdens. But even more than that, he knows our hearts. I struggle with something that someone else is not tempted by. Another person is weak in an area where I’m strong. Jesus knows we are weak sometimes. Sometimes the idea of church comes across judge-y and maybe that’s a product of Christians in the 80s and 90s now coming to fruition in the 2000s-2020s. I was taught (or at least I remember learning this somehow) that even drinking is a sin. I mean gosh, in the movie Footloose dancing is a sin. There’s been so much fluff added to Christianity and these ads are aiming to strip that all way. Get rid of the rules and get back to Jesus.
That’s the idea behind the commercials but the one in the Super Bowl, on the surface I was fine with it. Mostly because my attention was divided so I didn’t even really catch it. Watching it now, though… it kind of ticks me off A LOT. Here it is as a refresher…
Officer Tatum pointed out that both people in every image had bare feet, so everyone was washing everyone’s feet. That makes it less agitating but without being able to pause it and pick out the nuances, the ad is such a cultural butt-kiss. Of course the priest is washing the gay guy’s feet! Obviously the cop is washing the black man’s feet! These are ideas that will be embraced by everyone who wants tolerance to be the top virtue. But there’s another subtle mistake in the ad, too. Getting back to Jesus… He is all-powerful, Lord, seated at the right hand of God. There’s no name above His. But while He was on earth, he took on the form of a servant. So the image of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet is remarkable because here’s this Heavenly being, superior in every way, and He’s serving. Lifting others up in encouragement. If the ad mirrors this, then it’s affirming that the washer (the cop, the priest, the white man, etc) is superior to the washee.
The intentions were good, I believe. I’m probably just reading into it too much. But this question posed by a viewer on YouTube is really interesting, don’t you think?
Along those lines, here’s a much better video conveying the power of Jesus, who, in spite of His own glory and superiority, considered Himself a servant who came to change us, not affirm us.
-Out of the Wilderness
-Out of the Wilderness
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Out of the Wilderness 