There were plenty of memorable ads during the most recent Super Bowl.
In between watching the Philadelphia Eagles deal a decisive blow to the Kansas City Chiefs, we were treated to quite the variety of commercials, from wholesome takes on Budweiser and Lay’s to more unhinged ones on Ram Trucks and Little Caesar’s.
One ad that broke the mold was actually about Jesus.
You may think that was a good thing. But that probably was not entirely the case.
The ad, which was part of the “He Gets Us” campaign, centered on the question, “What Is Greatness?”
The commercial flashed images of first responders conducting daring rescues and neighbors helping neighbors before working in more overtly political examples.
One picture showed a weeping “pride parade” participant hugging a Christian street preacher wearing a backwards ball cap with the verse reference “John 3:16” on the back.
Another showed a man power-washing the words “Go Back” off a wall onto which they were spray painted.
“Jesus showed us what greatness really is,” the ad concluded. “He Gets Us. All Of Us.”
What is true greatness? Explore more and see the real stories behind these scenes at https://t.co/xvJPqIiwsd pic.twitter.com/SPBtykfwD7
— HeGetsUs (@HeGetsUs) February 10, 2025
There was nothing particularly wrong with much of that advertisement in isolation.
There’s nothing wrong about helping a neighbor with hurricane cleanup or with pushing a car out of the snow.
There’s not even necessarily anything wrong about a street preacher hugging a “pride” activist or trying to treat a foreigner with kindness, beyond the likelihood that those particular examples were pandering to a more progressive audience and even serving as a covert chastisement to those Christians who oppose homosexuality or who support immigration enforcement.
The actual problem with the advertisement is that Jesus does not limit “greatness” to feel-good random acts of kindness.
Jesus’ actual call to greatness is a far greater call to suffer and die on behalf of others.
By his death on the cross, he bore the sins of his people, loving them unto death.
Though he had no obligation to take on a human nature, to humble himself to the form of a servant, even submitting himself to a form of torture reserved only for the most dishonorable criminals, and bearing the wrath due to sinners upon himself, he did all of that out of a perfect love for his people.
Jamie Bambrick, a pastor in northern Ireland, tried to capture some of that reality in his own “He Gets Us” advertisement.
His alternative commercial showed Christians suffering and dying in the same way as their Master, in some cases even unto death, losing everything and yet gaining even more.
Bambrick featured Christians imprisoned for life in North Korea, Christians executed by ISIS in Libya, Christians arrested for silent prayer in the United Kingdom, Christians beaten by a mob in India, and many more.
“Greatness is not following the world,” Bambrick’s ad concluded. “It is defying the world.”
The Christian Super Bowl Ad They SHOULD Have Made (2025 Edition)
Sadly the group known as ‘He Gets Us’ released another advert that missed the mark this year. Here’s one that hopefully better reflects the true greatness to which Christ calls us. pic.twitter.com/YA3H1ZKvrf
— Jamie Bambrick (@j_bambrick) February 10, 2025
That ad came much closer to the essence of Christianity than the one from “He Gets Us.”
Beyond the reflection of Christ in his suffering and death, that’s because “He Gets Us” came off as concerned about what the world thinks, and Bambrick’s ad came off as concerned about what God thinks.
That is the actual message Christians need to hear today.
For decades we were taught to become all things to all people, in many cases learning to water down our faith or round off the hard edges to be less offensive.
But the way of the cross is folly to those who are perishing.
While we need not cause unnecessary offense, the message of the gospel, which is a call to come and die to the sins we love and to live a new life oriented toward God in Christ, will always be offensive.
In a world that hates us, Christians must embody that message, calling men out of darkness and into Jesus’ marvelous light, no matter the suffering we endure as a result.
In the meantime, we can rejoice that he not only “Gets Us,” but has “Got Us” by his death and resurrection.
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