Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Who gets who?

Sure Jesus gets us, but do we get Jesus?

In full disclosure -- I only watched the last few minutes of the Superbowl so I didn't see any of the commercials on the game broadcast. I have seen several "He gets us" commercials on various internet sites, both before and after the game.
I should also say that there was a time when I might have thought these were pretty cool ads and not given much thought to the money that was spent on advertising Jesus vs. what could have been spent on actually doing good.
WWJD?

Although I once traveled to churches and church camps with the message of turning to Jesus and accepting him as your Savior, I no longer feel compelled to convince others that I have that whole life-after-death/eternity thing all figured out and that everyone should believe what I believe. I'm pretty sure that most self-proclaimed Christians don't even believe what I believe when it comes to actually following the teachings of Jesus or about heaven and hell or any number of faith related topics.

Today I am much more likely to follow the teaching of James (show me your faith by your works) than to tell you what I believe in sermon or in simple conversation. And it is extremely unlikely that I will try to convince you to "turn or burn" or to tell you what you need to do to attain eternal life in heaven when you die.
As much as I might try to follow the teachings of Jesus, I have to admit that it is a struggle. I mean - would Jesus sleep in late and then spend a quiet morning sipping coffee and typing out a blog that will only reach a few dozen people while there are a thousand people nearby that are looking for a place to stay dry on this cold, rainy morning? 
Probably not.

But I think that Jesus would be okay with me doing it. Afterall, "he gets us," right?
I think that Jesus is okay with us living our lives as we seek to follow him or as we seek out how to best live in this life. There is an often spoken thought about being so heavenly minded that you're of no earthly good. I think that fits many Christians today. 
I think it fit me not too far in the past. Maybe it still does.

In any case, here's what I think about the He gets us ad campaign:
*Using the Superbowl platform to get people to think about Jesus/God isn't a bad thing.
*Although I do believe that there are better ways to spend all that money, the simple truth is that it's not my money and I don't have any say-so in how it gets spent.
*In my own past, I spent plenty of time (and got paid for it) telling people about Jesus. 
*I agree -- He gets us.
*Figuring out the John/God relationship is more than enough for me. I don't need to spend too much time or energy sorting out how anyone else is relating to God.
*I'll stick with the struggle I have of just trying to be more like Jesus and understanding the struggles of others to the point that I can get them, too.

John

1 comment:

  1. They could have spent that 7 million x 2 a little better.

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