Dangerous Faith
Dangerous Faith is a ministry that strives to light a fire inside of Everyday Christians to live radically for Christ so that we can glorify God by advancing His Kingdom.
Dangerous Faith
#72: Dangerous Life– The He Gets Us Ad in the Big Game: Was It a Win?
The He Gets Us advertisement in the Super Bowl, with people washing each other's feet alluding to the time Jesus washed his disciples' feet, has generated a TON of conversation. What do you think about it? Let us know your thoughts after you listen to the Dangerous Life team.
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Yeah, in other words, I'm going to Utah, love y'all. Everyone's pretty there. You can just like me there.
Speaker 2:Are we not attractive enough to spend time with us? Mariah, Mariah, Wow, MUSIC, Welcome back. I have the whole crew with me today, except for Blake. So I have the whole crew with me today. We have Justin Mackenzie, Isaac, Mariah, Chloe and Zeke Blake. If you listen to this, we do love you. You suck.
Speaker 3:He does not speak for all of us.
Speaker 2:The Dangerous Life team back again, and we're talking about the he Gets Us Super Bowl commercial and which one? The he Gets Us one of the feet washing. And when that commercial came out, there was a wide variety of actions. Both the political left and the political right didn't like it for different reasons and we can get into some of that here. But I wanted to ask the team if you watch the commercial, just thoughts about it. Does anyone want to get us going? Did you like it? Did you not like it? Did you hate it? If so, why Thoughts on it and why? All right, justin.
Speaker 4:Honestly, I liked it. I thought the imagery was very, very powerful, even if, I'm going to be honest with you, most of the comments I read are saying that it was a lazy commercial because they just used AI images, but the messages still conveyed across that we're to serve other people, so very powerful.
Speaker 2:OK, justin says he likes it Very powerful. Anyone?
Speaker 3:else. Zeke, I haven't feeling Isaac's going to strongly agree with Justin. I'd like to hear what he has to say.
Speaker 2:Isaac, do you have any strong opinions on this commercial? Say it, isaac. I don't. Isaac does not, apparently.
Speaker 5:Anyone else? Did you watch the commercial, Isaac?
Speaker 6:I was actually watching Super Bowl, so, yes, I did watch the commercial.
Speaker 4:You saw the football's yucky.
Speaker 3:I was too busy with the Taylor Swift concert. Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Chloe.
Speaker 7:OK for me. I'm very mixed on this, because I think there's a lot of good that can be done from it, and if it gets people talking about Jesus, then that's awesome. But also I just don't think it was the best way to eat. If they had that much money and time to make a Super Bowl ad, I feel like they could have maybe depicted something else.
Speaker 2:A lot of people said that too.
Speaker 7:Yeah, but also something that I listened to other people talk about was how this is more of a pre-Evangelism thing, to where the audience wasn't for people like us who have been Christians for years. It's for people who don't know God.
Speaker 3:Or have a false image.
Speaker 7:Or have a false image of God, but I do think it's hard because I think that they should know us by our love, and love is such a powerful thing, like they showed in the commercial. However, there's also the repentance side of things, and we need to show people that we're sinful and that God is just and that we need to repent.
Speaker 2:All right, so mixed feelings on it, Mackenzie.
Speaker 5:I was very surprised that it was shown at the Super Bowl. I will say I wouldn't have really expected that, but I didn't really have a positive outlook on it just because it was just showing pictures. So I think for the people that they were trying to reach, like you said, the people who are actively a part of the movements and stuff that it had shown, it was kind of left open to interpretation for them and so instead of maybe seeing it, as we do, like a service thing, they could have just think like oh, he's accepting us. Like you know, I just it wasn't very clear in like an evangelism way to me. I just think it was a little too vague and people can construe it.
Speaker 3:I think you hit it on the head. I think if they would just have picked something and been more clear about it, because that's why I keep hearing on both sides is, on the right, they keep saying this is a terrible thing. All the liberal Christians have taken and made a commercial and it's bad, because they're promoting this and they're saying that it's OK for this or that and it's obvious what we're talking about, whether it be the abortion clinic or it be the transgender ideology and they're saying see, it's just liberal Christians doing this. And then you have the left saying, oh, this is just conservative Christians trying to make Jesus look better than what he actually was. I'm like that's what you get when you're very vague with it, Because on both sides they're putting words into the mouth of the people who made it that they never said. And I think also the other part that I would cause we're critiquing it right now.
Speaker 3:Obviously, none of us can make it. I don't have $15 million and I did. I would probably make it differently, but I don't. So If I was to make it, I probably wouldn't have done the feet washing thing. Not because I don't like the symbolism I think it's beautiful but as a non-Christian who doesn't understand what feet washing is. There's like a bunch of memes and stuff going on, People saying that it's some kind of weird foot fetish or something, and it's just been taken down a lot of different roads. If it's for non-Christians, I would have used a different imagery, but I do like the heart behind it.
Speaker 2:Alright Zeke likes just some of the he said it, the heart behind it. I like that. Justin, you had a comment you wanted to bring up.
Speaker 4:Yes, so doing my a little bit of research through the, just reading through the comments and seeing what people kind of said Majority of people. I don't actually think I saw one comment that was for the video, so just you. Yeah yes, well, I can be on a middle ground about it because I agree with what Chloe said. But one person brought up a very good point. The account is Kelsey K175. So if you're out there, Kelsey, so great comment.
Speaker 4:But she said I think this commercial missed the whoa. Try that again. Whoa, take two. I think this commercial missed the mark by failing to share the gospel and wasted the opportunity on a message that doesn't save.
Speaker 4:Washing feet has a deeper meaning than discrimination God desires all to come to him. It has nothing to do with hating people who are different from us, but loving them by explaining their need for Jesus and sharing the gospel. The Jewish tradition of foot washing before a meal was a purity law to ensure that there would be no outside worldly dirt contaminating their food. This was either done by you, them, or it could be done by a servant of the house. Jesus was using this picture to reveal a spiritual meaning of foot washing.
Speaker 4:God is holy, meaning pure, and desires us to be cleansed from our worldly dirt, which is sin.
Speaker 4:He desires us to be holy as he is holy, pure, not being contaminated by this world.
Speaker 4:The truth is, we are all sinners in need of God's cleansing, and that is exactly what he was doing. Jesus was willing to humble himself from the position of God to a servant to cleanse us before the conventional breaking of the bread, the Passover supper, so we could take part in the Passover sacrifice of Jesus' death on the cross, and we're showing that he is the one willing to cleanse us. He was the one willing to die as the perfect sacrifice so that we could be reconciled to God. His sacrifice ultimately beat death in separation from God for all, and through his resurrection he proved that his sacrifice was sufficient to pay for all sin. For those who put their trust, such faith in Jesus, we, as Christians, are commanded to do likewise and wash the feet by sharing the gospel with anyone willing to be open to the cleansing power of God and see their need for Jesus' Savior. That's the true meaning behind the scripture. They completely took it out of context to push an agenda that God never intended.
Speaker 2:I think that's an interesting way of looking at it. Mariah, you wanted to say something.
Speaker 1:Yes, so I kind of agree with Justin in a sense. Well, also, I guess a middle ground, I'd say, because I could almost say never see any type of Christian. I guess content when I'm watching TV, I don't know about y'all, I almost never see, I only watch VeggieTales, so I don't really know about it, well, the mainstream media, especially for the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1:So I'd say that aspect of it, like Chloe kind of mentioned, it was cool, not cool, I don't know another word. It was to see yeah, interesting to see something like that being put on where millions upon millions of people are watching and although they probably didn't portray it obviously as well as it needed to be, like that comment was mentioning and how you were saying, but I think it did get people talking, and especially for it to be symbolizing Jesus, although not being a perfect representation of what we stand for.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so on Justin's. Well, Kelsey slash Justin is really Justin's account.
Speaker 3:Justin made the comment on YouTube and just had a different username, but, um, I that's what I was kind of talking about of like feet washing in the Bible is. It's a beautiful image of the God of the Bible coming down in human form, humbling himself in human form, like we read about in Philippians, and Becoming a servant to us so that we could be reunited with him. That's such a beautiful example. But my problem is like you have to have not only be a Christian, but have to have been a Christian for a little bit before. Like you couldn't just read that Bible verse and immediately get that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, like you would have.
Speaker 3:You have to know the historical context which does that comment brought up? That was my critique with the. The ad is that like if you're preaching to non-Christians but then you go and use Christian lingo and Things that only Christians would know You're, you're doing a poor job of like you're trying to preach to the wrong person. You, you're trying to preach the right person but using Assuming they're already Christians. So like you're, you're losing on both fronts. I guess is what I'm trying to say.
Speaker 7:Yeah, and to kind of go to like the other side. While I said earlier like they could have used the money and time for something better, like sharing the gospel, I do think it would be almost impossible to share the entire gospel message in 30 seconds. Like I think there could be a way, maybe they could do it, but that would also be really difficult. So just to kind of give a different side of things.
Speaker 4:So one thing I want to say to Zeke, because he was, you know, a little annoying about it last week. Can we really last week, can we really talk about any of this stuff and share our opinion when we're not doing it ourselves, zeke?
Speaker 3:if here's this thing, there's this Bible verse. It says be slow to speak and quick to listen. And if you listen, at the start I said I don't have the money and I'm acknowledging that.
Speaker 4:But if I can't get my idea, social media posts maybe that's our Advertisement maybe our advertisement is going out into the world and making disciples.
Speaker 3:Justin, you brought up a good point. I read a stat we me and they already talked about. I read a stat this past week that I think it's 53% of Americans, quote-unquote identifies Christian, and I'm sure that includes people who are liberal Christians and they still. Anyways, let's just go with the 53%, for now. They identify as Christians. That means that if we there's no need for this ad. If every Christian went out unfound one other non-Christian, the work would be done over or not, not in the sense that everyone be saved overnight, but we wouldn't. The whole ad would reach more people over or not, than that $15 million would that's a great point.
Speaker 5:I did think it was interested out. No, if y'all saw, but the people who Funded that he gets us out are or one of the main ones was co-founder of hobby lobby, which I don't know. I just thought that was kind of interesting I guess, but I don't have two comments, okay.
Speaker 6:First, seek teaches an evangelism class on Wednesday night, so he's doing his work.
Speaker 4:Thank you, you got me.
Speaker 6:I'm sorry and second, I think he could make a 30 second ad.
Speaker 5:I would preach the gospel I'd.
Speaker 6:so let's just give Zeke the ropes next time. And I don't know what happened.
Speaker 3:I actually did think of this.
Speaker 3:So I was thinking last night, all right, hypothetically, if I was putting their shoes close I think it was a James Watts ministry Apology, a center.
Speaker 3:I think they made what they would have done for that and they're like style of it and it was actually pretty good, nothing wrong with theirs.
Speaker 3:But I was thinking like what would I do if I was putting this shoe and maybe y'all can answer this too and some of the things I thought of was like I think it'd be cool to have like a verse pop up from scripture that teaches what they're trying to teach of like Serving other people and what Christ on earth, like you, could bring up James, like true religion is to Take care of the orphans and the widows, and then have an image of that being done and then go to like Jesus saying love your neighbors and pray for those who persecute you and show an example of that like give Multiple examples throughout scripture and it would get the same message. They're trying to get a priya. If you want to know more about this, the true Jesus, come to our website here and then you start a Bible reading plan and it takes you through at the gospel and shows how all the things Jesus said and did.
Speaker 4:Has anybody watched any other of the ads that those people made, not just from the Super Bowl?
Speaker 6:I haven't. I've seen them on TV, but I don't remember what they are.
Speaker 4:See, I had never heard of this until it was mentioned, but they have one that was like Talking about who is your neighbor, and it's it says like your neighbor is, is anyone near you someone blacks, one whites and one gay, someone straight? So I think that I'm gonna be honest with you. I think it is specifically this commercial. They just they flopped.
Speaker 4:They kind of flopped because they're that you could have showed for serving. As beautiful, as Zeke said, the feet Washington is. Show people passing out food for something like that. Show people Visiting the homeless. You know that if you're going to show serving, there's better ways to do it for someone who doesn't know anything about it and the Christians have such a hard time.
Speaker 3:Sorry, I'm interrupting someone who's about to go, but the Christians, you struggle because on the one hand, if you just look at the stats, christians give More money combined just through church we're not talking about personal giving just through the church alone gives more money combined than the government to these kind of services orphans, widows, poor, etc. But as Christians we're not supposed to boast about these things. So it's like a double-edged sword of like Christians are doing so much for the country, but we're also not supposed to brag about doing it. So therefore it's almost like we get overlooked and we just get people only see the bad side to us and not just the good side.
Speaker 1:So this is kind of like taking a little bit of different direction. But, um, I read Somewhere where it said, actually, who created that ad was attended to show Jesus as an influencer and to like appeal to the people, like Obviously I'll probably can kind of pick that up from some of the scenes that were shown just of like pop culture and like obviously the Like you mentioned, the movements that were going on depicting him as more of someone that it says here that was cancelled for standing up for his beliefs. So what do you all like kind of think of that?
Speaker 5:I kind of think and I did see, now that you mentioned it now know that they made that commercial also. I have seen that one. I think what they're trying to do, though, is, like I said, present it in a way that's neutral enough for anybody to interpret it, just because, as Christians Like by showing the people serving Of the you know people who are involved in those movements or support those things they're saying okay, the Christian who's washing their feet should accept them as what they are and let them keep doing that, as they serve them. And then, I think, to the person who's being, their feet are being washed, they're saying it's okay, it's the anything that they're involved in.
Speaker 5:I don't want to get it misconstrued Jesus can Meet them there, but he won't leave them there. He won't. If it's going directly against his word and what he calls us to do, it will change over time through sanctification, but I think they're not being clear enough and what they're trying to say, and so it's just very I don't know. I feel like maybe their intentions are kind of good, but they're still missing the mark, because it's just so vague. There's no clear message, it's just picture. It's just saying you know, it's okay to think what you want from this.
Speaker 4:So I completely agree with what you're saying, like because you're right, images are just a little too neutral. So what do you personally think is the way? Do we need to have, like, a message at the end of the ad that says God will not support everything you do, but he will love you no matter what, or something like that? I don't know, that's just something that came off the top of my head. So, taking what the ad was, how do you improve on it personally, if you were going to do?
Speaker 5:it. Yeah, so, like Zeke mentioned, the group that kind of like remade it. I think they did a good job with that. They would show, you know, a picture of someone and said you know, this person was a transgender, this person was a Satanist, this person did all these things, but they, you know, let Jesus in and he's changed them. I think for me it would be making your message clear that these things are not okay, but they're not past the love of God. But just because he loves us doesn't mean he's going to leave us there, Like I feel like they were trying to make political statements by advertising that God loves these people instead of saying he loves these people but the things that they're doing are wrong and he can deliver them from that.
Speaker 7:Yeah, it's kind of like something our pastor likes to say a lot like you don't clean yourself up and then go to God. You go to God and let him clean you up, and I think that can kind of relate to what Mackenzie was saying too. Sorry, but another point I wanted to make is the slogan itself he gets us, because I feel like that makes or like that kind of in a way puts all the focus on us, and I saw someone's comment on YouTube where it was saying like why isn't it all slogan like he saves us or like something like that? You know, he kind of I guess it kind of makes it like Jesus is just so relatable.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I was kind of like. The influencer would also like how people said that. Like I would agree with that.
Speaker 3:I want to push back and you know we have to sleep in the same bed, so hopefully this doesn't get too poorly. What's so bad about Jesus getting us? What do you think If you're trying to be? Because there's two ways of representing someone. You can steel man their argument, where you make it as strong as possible and you fight against that. Or you can straw man it to make it very weak and say, oh no, this is what they meant, and then you just punch up their weak argument that you've made. So what do you think their intention was behind? He gets us and then tell me why that was wrong.
Speaker 7:I don't think it's necessarily completely bad. I mean, like obviously Jesus was human, so like we can relate to him in a way. But some people who might not know that much about Christianity might think, you know, might just kind of dumb it down a little bit and think, don't really think of him as holy and God and that he should be honored as God.
Speaker 3:But I think it's hard. My concern is that, on the right, when I say right, conservative right, sometimes we we go too far and we say no, jesus was. We only focus on the God part, which is important. But last time I checked he came in fully God and fully man. So I I want to give respect to both aspects of that and I think that there's Scriptural basis to say that he did experience the same things that we suffer from. Like he was, he was without earthly father for a large part of his life. We as we assume that Joseph died at some point in his life. He had times where he had the will of God in the Garden of Eden and garden of Eden the Garden of Gethsemane where he asked if the cup could pass from me.
Speaker 3:So like there's something that God called him to do and he asked for that to be passed from and not have to do it. He suffered from people who hated him, who persecuted him, who, even though he did no wrong and he only helped people while he was on earth, yet he was still killed for that. So, in a way, I think that he gets us. I like it, I'm with you. I don't think you should stop there, but I think it's a both and it's not just a. We should only talk about his holiness, which is great, but we also have to remember that he also came as an example for us, to help us understand.
Speaker 3:Like you can't do it, but and I'm not just a God who's going to save you, but I'm a God who lived through it with you, because there's always that type of person like Isaac's a firefighter, and someone calls and they need help with something, as it comes and just takes care of them, does it for them, and that's great and that's good. But God says not only am I going to take care of you, I'm going to do it for you, but I'm gonna walk alongside you and I'm gonna experience the same thing you experience and I'm gonna say that not only am I gonna help you, but I'm gonna I'm gonna be with you in the process of, while it's going on.
Speaker 2:I think the scriptural support for what Zeke saying comes from Hebrews chapter 4, it's verse 15, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sins. He gets us, he gets us. So, anyways, just interesting conversation. Justin, you want to say something?
Speaker 4:I just wanted to say Zeke, I Beautifully said I hope it was worse sleeping on the couch.
Speaker 5:Mackenzie, you want to say something now I think I think we've mostly covered it. I Was very surprised to see it at the Super Bowl and in a way I want to, you know, be happy about it. But I just don't think they I Don't think they Really took a stance. I think they just kind of put it out there to make it seem like, yeah, this is good, we're Christian, but also it wasn't enough for both Christians and for non-believers. I don't think it was enough.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's well, that's. I was like I was just gonna say earlier, kind of when, if you were not a Christian and you saw that ad, what would you think? Because I, if I was not a Christian, I saw that ad, I'd be like, oh man, like he's cool, like Jesus, like it accepts everything, like we can just like he's just gonna love me no matter what, which is true, he will love us. But you like, yeah, just the point was not portrayed to which it needed to be so two things.
Speaker 3:One, I think, their pushback.
Speaker 4:I'm gonna try play devil's advocate or Nathan's, whatever you want to call them.
Speaker 3:They, I think their pushback would be we're not saying Jesus accepts everything you do, and their point would be this is like Whoever said Chloe, I think, said this is pre-evangelism, which I've never heard before. And you know, if you're for that, I guess this will be good for you, but if you're not for that, then you're not gonna like what I say. But they would say it, since it's pre-evangelism. We're not trying to preach the whole gospel and tell them about all their sin and all the different things about Christianity. We're just trying to get them to the Bible and if they go to our website they can get linked into a Bible plan and they can find links to local Bible believing churches and then they can go learn those things. So All right.
Speaker 2:Overall. Let's talk about the money part real quick. So I've heard different figures seven million Zeke. I think you mentioned 15 million. That's what I was saying was 15 million and let's, let's go person by person real quick. Yes or no? Do you agree with spending that type of money for an evangelism style commercial? Justin?
Speaker 4:Okay, so I Just want to say if the money was used well, I would totally agree with it, but it's AI images which are free, so no all right.
Speaker 2:So Justin says no due to the images chosen. Mckenzie.
Speaker 5:I have a clarification question. I'm sorry, no you mean like it's 15 million dollars worth this commercial or any commercial evangelism.
Speaker 2:Let's do in the context of this commercial. Was it worth it for this? Commercial no no, isaac, we'll come back to Isaac if we're saying this commercial, no.
Speaker 1:But if we're gonna say in general, I'll say yes, agreed same as Mariah yeah same as right.
Speaker 6:So I'm gonna push back because I know everybody here is saying the same thing and you just have to be different. I just have to be different. I'm gonna say for this commercial no.
Speaker 2:All right, I'm gonna go against the grain a little bit. I'm gonna say yes, and it all hinges on Chloe's beginning comment of pre-evangelism. We live in the south and we're used to just about Everyone having some level of knowledge of Jesus, the Bible, the church, christianity. However, in some parts of this country and some households were almost back to the pagan basics Of you know, before Europe was Christianized, you had these various pagan cultures that missionaries were sent into and they never heard of Jesus, they'd never heard of the Bible, they'd never heard of any of these things, to where you had to tell them hey, there was a person who existed, his name was Jesus and he wrote a book.
Speaker 2:No, he did not actually write the book. You know what I'm saying, though the word of God. And so we are almost getting to that point in this country where people have to learn about someone named Jesus. They don't have knowledge, they don't have preconceptions. They might, you know, they might hear the occasional thing, but by and large, christianity in some circles has become irrelevant, and so we have to just introduce these concepts that in the South you already know, but in a lot of places they don't. And so, from a pre-Avangelism, just let people know about a guy named Jesus and one thing that he did. I think this was effective.
Speaker 3:Zeke, I want to push back on that. You were saying that this commercial, specifically your yes 15 million, it was effective.
Speaker 2:Because there was no other commercial put forward. This was the one that was yes, but that's not the question.
Speaker 3:The question was do we think this commercial? 15 million should have been spent on this commercial.
Speaker 2:Yes, because it was the commercial.
Speaker 1:It could have been a different commercial, Like this or nothing, though I thought we were assuming.
Speaker 2:So this was the commercial put forward, so I'm saying yes for that commercial.
Speaker 3:Okay, part of your point was, like, you know, they're getting to know Jesus, but then we go back to the point of, well, telling them that people that he washed feet, that was. How does that come across to someone who's never heard of Jesus People?
Speaker 6:curious who is this?
Speaker 2:person Like what is this weird? Yes, online is a little sick. People did go in the foot fetish direction, ignoring that segment of the population. I could see if you had no idea who Jesus was, you'd be like that was interesting and maybe you might even talk about it, mackenzie.
Speaker 5:I think, like you're saying, it is getting people talking about it and I will say a lot of Christians have come forward and made videos and even, like in the comments, trying to give more context and, you know, go a little bit deeper, which I think at that point, that's what we should do, as Christians say, okay, if you watch this video and you know, felt something or wanted to know more as a church, hear more, here's what they got right and here's what they got wrong, or like, here's the right way to interpret it and some things that it didn't say, if it was supporting that or trying to convey that message. So, as the church, this is what they probably meant. You know what I mean, yeah, so yeah, All right, Mariah.
Speaker 2:we're just about at the end. What closing comments might you?
Speaker 1:have. I'm just going to say, when you mentioned that you would be for it because it made people curious, I would so like be like yes, and advocate for that, because, like even me, like I wasn't even watching really the game, but I just happened to walk by and I see that commercial on the TV and I'm like huh, like what's that? Like that seems like a Christian come, like what is this? And I was just like wondering about it. So I can't imagine other people that don't know anything. Yeah, I'm with you.
Speaker 3:Now I'll say, before this commercial ever came out, I was watching a YouTube video on a baseball player at Long Story Short and they had the he gets uscom across the back of the picture, back of the batters, and it was just like a billboard thing and that made me curious because after I saw that I was like what is he, who's he and what is he getting us, and so like that, that effectively worked for curiosity. This commercial aside, their slogan is makes you curious.
Speaker 2:All right, as we wrap up this conversation, what are your thoughts? Let us know. We're on various social media accounts, Leave a comment, YouTube video as well, and we'll have a YouTube version of the podcast up as well. So just let us know. Reach out, check out our website, dangerousfaithnet, and if you have any ideas for future conversation topics, we'd love to hear it. But anyways, this is the whole gang minus Blake. We have Justin Mackenzie, Isaac, Mariah, Chloe and Zeke. A bunch of great thoughts and we'll talk with you later. Stay safe.