Dear church family,
If you’ve watched TV over the past few months – especially a major sporting event – you’ve likely seen advertisements for a new campaign called “He Gets Us.” The ads are in black in white, depicting images of ordinary life and people while a narrator describes a particular theme and how, surprisingly, it points to Jesus. (One ad, for example, addresses loneliness and culminates with the words, “Jesus felt alone, too. He gets us.”) The ads then direct viewers to learn more at a website: hegetsus.com.
Intrigued by all this, I recently listened to an interview with Jason Vanderground, a marketing professional and one of the campaign managers for He Gets Us. I learned a lot. For instance, Vanderground explained that the ads were devised by Christians trying to use journalism to spread the gospel to a wide audience. He said they have spent approximately $100 million on the ads, with plans to double that amount over the next year. And he said that reactions to the campaign have been predictably diverse. For instance, surveys indicate that some people (Christians and non-Christians alike) have been intrigued and drawn in, while others have interpreted it as contrived and gimmicky; some have questioned its theological and political orientation, while others have questioned the ethics of spending so much money on an ad campaign. What’s undeniable, he said, is that it has a lot of different people talking about Jesus.
I’ll admit: in listening to the interview, I was won over by the campaign’s intentions. For the first time, or the first time in a long time, we all need to get to know Jesus — to take a good look at him in Scripture; to read about what he says and does in the gospels; and to consider if our lives line up with his life, if our mission look like his mission, if our spirits are immersed in his Spirit (and not vice versa). Indeed, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” To die to selfishness and sin, and to rise again to new life in him.
This is the motivation behind our current winter sermon series. From now through Easter, we’re taking a closer look at Jesus by reading sections of the gospel of John. John gives us a perspective like no other, in which Jesus identifies himself with the God of Israel, the great “I Am,” in some creative and powerful ways. “I am the bread of life,” he says. “I am the true vine.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” Each of these descriptions shines light on the one who came as the light of life, the very presence of God with us and for us. I hope you’ll join us this month for Sunday worship and other events in our life together as we take a deeper look at the ways he gets us.
Yours in Christ,
Blake
