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Christ apparently needs a new image. A small group of wealthy conservative Christians has decided to market Christ as relatable, inclusive and loving in a three-year $1 billion marketing campaign called <\/span>He Gets Us. <\/em><\/p>\n The campaign launched in certain markets last year and went nationwide during this year\u2019s Super Bowl.<\/span><\/p>\n Can He Gets Us<\/em> get results? Christianity has a tangled history that has often seen Christians behaving in very un-Christian ways. Non-Christians see the anger, hatred and self-righteous attitudes, and they turn away.<\/p>\n The decline of Christianity in America is a recent development. The percentage of Americans who identified as Christian held steady at around 90 percent for several decades prior to the 1990s. Then suddenly, the number went into a free all.<\/span><\/p>\n In only seven years, \u201cthe share of 18-to-35-year-olds who said they were Christians dropped a full 14 percentage points to 73%, while the percentage who answered \u2018none\u2019 jumped to 20%, an increase of 12 percentage points,\u201d per the Religion News Service (RNS), a global news agency that covers religion, spirituality, ethics and moral issues.<\/span><\/p>\n Twelve and 14 percentage points are significant given that change on a large scale typically occurs slowly. Read more here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n The Pew Research Center breaks down the decline in American Christianity <\/span>this way:<\/p>\n Read more from the Pew Center\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n Declining membership and attendance at Christian churches is complicated, and a list of all the causes would probably fill several pages. However, the RNS post lists and discusses several causes that make sense, although I haven\u2019t seen them elsewhere.<\/p>\n The end of the Cold War: <\/strong>The Cold War affected Christianity in America? It actually did. The Cold War pitted the good guys in white hats \u2013 those \u201cvirtuous\u201d Christian capitalists in the West \u2013 against the bad guys \u2013 the godless communists in the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n With the Cold War\u2019s end, Americans no longer felt that being non-religious meant they were un-American. Consequently, a lot of \u201cnones\u201d came out of the closet.<\/p>\n Backlash against the religious right:<\/strong> Millions of Americans wanted to distance themselves from fanatic right-wing Christians who gained significant power in the 1980s and 1990s. Not all conservatives were fanatic, of course, but enough of them were to paint all of them extremist in some people\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n The conservatives\u2019 agenda included such issues as outlawing abortion; suppressing people of color, immigrants and others who are somehow different; and denying the LGBTQ+ community certain rights that others enjoy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen faced with the strident rhetoric of the Revs. Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and the rest of the religious right leaders, many moderates headed for the church exits and never came back,\u201d RNS said.<\/p>\n Many of these Christians ended up distancing themselves from all forms of Christianity, thereby punishing moderate and liberal Christians on the grounds of guilt by association.<\/p>\n I can identify with the moderates who chose to leave the church. When I left home for college, I had one foot out the church door. My parents were loving and supportive, and Christ had nothing to do with my desire to leave.<\/p>\n But living in a small town meant that everyone seemed to know what everyone else was doing and saying, and I wanted to get away from the hypocrisy, racism and conservative theology that I saw in my church and community.<\/p>\n Political polarization:<\/strong> Political polarization was and is a huge factor. As the backlash against fanatic right-wing Christianity gathered steam, Republicans gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 and selected Newt Gingrich as their leader.<\/p>\n Gingrich depicted Democrats as \u201cmorally inferior\u201d and \u201cgodless,\u201d and those labels stuck. He also refused to compromise on anything. Conservatives became entrenched in radical right-wing politics, and Democrats took a middle-to-left stance. As time passed, both sides dug in their heels.<\/p>\n Conservative Christians loved Gingrich, but he alienated many young Americans. A good number of them decided to choose the \u201cgodless\u201d moderates and liberals over the \u201cgodly\u201d right-wing radicals that Gingrich represented. Young people left churches in droves.<\/p>\n The internet:<\/strong> The internet was another contributing factor. It exposed young Christians to faiths they would never have known without the World Wide Web and to problems within their own faith that they would never have considered.<\/p>\n Many of these young people raised their children oubleetside the church. Those children are now raising their children outside the church, and future generations may do likewise.<\/p>\n So, here we are in 2023: an angry nation that\u2019s sharply divided along political and religious lines and a $1 billion marketing campaign to sell Christ as relatable, inclusive and loving. I use the $1 billion figure because it\u2019s the amount that\u2019s been bandied about in relation to the total three-year campaign budget.<\/p>\n The campaign targets millennials and Gen-Z, meaning people who were born between 1981 and 1996 (millennials) or 1997- 2012 (Gen-Z). (The dates for Gen-Z are a little fuzzy, but 1997-2012 is how the Pew Research Center defines this group, and I will go with it.)<\/p>\n He Gets Us<\/em>\u00a0includes television commercials, social media, billboards and other tools of the marketing trade. You may have seen or heard about the two commercials that ran during the recent Super Bowl. Watch those spots along with several others here.<\/a><\/p>\n We are told on the He Gets Us<\/em> website that the goal \u201cis to move beyond the mess of our current cultural moment to a place where all of us are invited to rediscover the love story of Jesus. Christians, non-Christians, and everybody in between.\u201d Hmmm.<\/p>\n The commercials that have been released thus far are beautifully done, although one critic called them \u201cbizarre.\u201d I thought the still photos were dramatic, the words and music simple but impactful, and the message meaningful.<\/p>\n They show Christ as one of us: a rebel, an immigrant, a man filled with love or righteous anger. An inclusive man who welcomes people that society rejects. An outsider.<\/p>\n Can He Gets Us<\/em> get results with people who have left the church or have never been churchgoers? It\u2019s a tall order.<\/p>\n Christians are supposed to represent Christ on earth, but it\u2019s often hard for outsiders to see Christ in us. Are Christians relatable, inclusive and loving? Not always. Do we welcome gays and trans people to our churches? Many churches don\u2019t. Do we open our church doors to people whose skin is different than ours? Probably not. Are we judgmental? Most of the time. Do we look down on or condemn other people\u2019s sex lives, real or imagined? Quite often. Do we forget that we should leave judgment to the Lord? Yes.<\/p>\n Many churches prefer the status quo and pastors who maintain it. I have experienced those churches. They find a cozy little niche and fight anyone who wants to make their church any larger or less cozy. Newcomers who are \u201cdifferent\u201d are seen as problems.<\/p>\n Can He Gets Us<\/em> get results?<\/p>\n He Gets Us <\/em>commercials have become successful in one way. Millions of people have seen them online even before they aired on television. The collateral marketing materials such as billboards, social media and print products also are attracting attention.<\/p>\n See the He Gets Us <\/em>website\u00a0<\/strong>here.<\/a><\/p>\n One negative is the price tag, according to the Newsweek post \u201cJesus Super Bowl Ad Sparks Outrage at Massive Price Tag.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAhead of the Super Bowl weekend, social media users questioned whether the wealthy Christian backers behind the ad campaign were hypocrites for spending millions on marketing Christianity, rather than using the funds for another religious initiative, like philanthropy, that is typically promoted as the core of faith,\u201d Newsweek said.<\/p>\n Good point. Imagine what you could do with $1 billion in terms of providing disaster relief in Turkey, Syria and numerous other spots around the world; building schools and churches in remote or impoverished areas; providing medical care in African nations and elsewhere; helping people build water treatment facilities to provide clean water in poverty-stricken countries; funding scholarships for students in remote areas to attend medical schools, engineering colleges and seminaries \u2026.<\/p>\n There are so many needs that cannot be met around the world. Imagine how far $1 billion would go.<\/p>\n One red flag for me is the people behind He Gets Us. <\/em>The only contributor who has announced his involvement is Hobby Lobby co-founder David Green, and his name is causing controversy.<\/p>\n David Green and Hobby Lobby have \u201ca long history of scandals,\u201d according to Business Insider<\/em>, a multi-national financial and business news website based in New York City. You can read the Business Insider <\/em>article\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n The scandals might make you wonder whether Green really believes Christ\u2019s teachings \u2014 teachings that Green is pushing with He Gets Us. <\/em><\/p>\n Women\u2019s issues are one example. Christ welcomed women to the faith and in one case, healed a woman who had had a bleeding disorder for 12 years. I\u2019m fairly sure that the women reading this post will understand the nature of her problem.<\/p>\n Her life would have been lonely because people who lived around her would have considered her unclean and would have carefully avoided any contact with her. She would been disconnected from the world had Christ not intervened.<\/p>\n On the one hand, we have Christ healing a woman with a bleeding disorder. On the other, we have Green refusing potentially life-saving health care to his female employees.<\/p>\n Green adamantly opposed Obamacare\u2019s mandate requiring employers \u201cto provide health insurance that includes birth control and reproductive care\u201d for women, for example.<\/p>\n How is that loving?<\/p>\n Business Insider <\/em>reported that Green also filed a lawsuit against the federal government in 2012 \u201cfor the right to deny contraceptive coverage to employees<\/u>,\u201d claiming that the mandate violated the company\u2019s religious rights.<\/p>\n How is that loving?<\/p>\n The conservative Supreme Court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby in 2014, saying that private companies could be exempt from the law based on their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n How does denying contraception help anyone, particularly the working poor?<\/p>\n Then, several wealthy business owners\u00a0<\/em>sent a letter to the White House in which they called \u201cfor exemption from Obama Administration policies that prevented discrimination on the basis of sexuality.\u201d President Obama wanted to prevent discrimination, and this group openly admitted they wanted to discriminate.<\/p>\n They said they wanted \u201cautonomy in hiring and operation decisions,\u201d Business Insider said. In other words, they wanted the legal right to discriminate against the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n How is that inclusive?<\/p>\n Business Insider noted that David Green is \u201ca massive donor to the National Christian Foundation, a non-profit religious organization that includes anti-LGBTQ efforts as part of its platform.\u201d<\/p>\n How is that inclusive?<\/p>\n You can read the Business Insider <\/em>article about Green\u2019s legal controversies here.<\/a><\/p>\n Can He Gets Us<\/em> get results? I see three major problems with the campaign:<\/p>\n If the wealthy contributors believe the He Gets Us <\/em>message, they should consider putting their millions into church-sponsored projects that will help people. They might also volunteer the way Jimmy Carter has volunteered for decades with Habitat for Humanity.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in reading more about the decline in Christianity in the U.S., you may want to read a Christianity Today<\/em> post here.<\/a><\/p>\n or see a Pew Research Center post\u00a0<\/strong>here.<\/a><\/p>\n Several of my fellow Patheos contributors have written informative articles about He Gets Us <\/em>and the decline of Christianity, as well.<\/p>\n He Gets Us, But Who Will Get Him<\/em>?<\/em> by Esther O\u2019Reilly. Read it here.<\/a><\/p>\n What\u2019s Really Killing the Evangelical Church: <\/em>The American Dream and the Sin of Ambition<\/em>\u00a0by Anthony Costello. Read it here.<\/a><\/p>\n Just Look What\u2019s Become of Us by S<\/i>hane Phipps. Read it here.<\/a><\/p>\n And I\u2019ve written several posts on religion and politics, as well:<\/p>\n Abortion, GOP Politics & Political Expediency<\/em> Read it here.<\/a><\/p>\n Can You Be a Devout Christian and Also a Liberal?<\/em> Read it here.<\/a><\/p>\nThe 1990s: A Pivotal Decade<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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Why Are Christian Churches Hemorrhaging?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Enter He Gets Us<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Rediscovering or Packaging & Selling Christ?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Christians Behaving Badly<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Campaign Success & Backlash<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Red Flags<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Denying Women Birth Control<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Can He Gets Us<\/em> Get Results?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Get More Information<\/h3>\n