Jesus said in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” But Southern Baptists, who are partnering with He Gets Us, say that’s not quite right, and that Jesus is a lot better looking to the world than what the Church has made Him look like.
The North American Mission Board, which is led by Kevin Ezell and funded by Southern Baptist Cooperative Program money—your tithe dollars—is joining this campaign and will be hosting a webinar today at 2:00 to explain how you and your church can join this PR campaign for Jesus. According to the event website, “People across America, and in your community are discovering, rediscovering and talking about Jesus.” Therefore, according to the website, “He Gets Us is the biggest campaign to change hearts and minds about Jesus in our lifetime.”
According to an article in the Washington Post,
Jason Vanderground, president of Haven, a branding firm based in Grand Haven, Mich., said the movement hopes to bridge the gap between the story of Jesus and the public perception of his followers. The campaign has done extensive market research and found that, while many Americans like Jesus, they are skeptical of his followers.
Currently, the campaign is spending over 100 million dollars to post propaganda on billboards and give away free gear with messages like “Jesus was a refugee,” and “Jesus was wrongly judged.”
What’s the point of all of this? Well, People like Ed Stetzer and NAMB leader, Kevin Ezell believe that the Church has done irreparable harm to Christ’s image and that this is the reason the world hates Jesus. But these foolish men do not understand God and reject Christ’s teaching.
The Washington Post complains that because Christians rallied around Herschel Walker after he was alleged to have paid for an abortion long before he became a Christian but is now against abortion, that the world sees that as hypocritical—and that’s not what Jesus is about. Of course, the world, Ed Stetzer, and the vast majority of Southern Baptist leaders have no idea what Jesus is about and can’t wrap their minds around the idea of redemption and forgiveness.
The foolishness of this PR campaign for Jesus is going to be the next big push for social justice in the Church. Most Evangelicals are now on board with the social justice gospel and this is the logical next step—to make Jesus look like a carnal social justice warrior. But, lest you be led astray, understand that this has nothing to do with Jesus and the gospel. The gospel isn’t about attracting people to Jesus, the gospel is the preached Word of God to all people and those who respond in repentance and faith to the unadulterated Word of God are those who will be saved.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. —1 Corinthians 1:18
