He Gets Us

You may have seen billboards and ads online and on television showing how Jesus can understand us and our current struggles and hopes because he had them too (Jesus faced criticism, Jesus had friends, Jesus was a refugee, etc.). This campaign is part of He Gets Us, an initiative with the goal of helping people “understand, read and learn for themselves about who Jesus is and hopefully find wisdom, hope and peace.” The ads direct viewers to HeGetsUs.com where they can learn more about Jesus, connect with others and receive prayers and encouragement via text. It’s the largest faith-based campaign in history, focused on introducing them to the Jesus of the Bible.

Many churches, Christian organizations and ministries are supporting He Gets Us. Outreach magazine’s editor-in-chief Ed Stetzer is serving as an advisor to the campaign, and Outreach Inc., the parent company of Outreach magazine, is offering resources at HeGetsUs.outreach.com. 

Released in February 2023, the book He Gets Us: The Confounding Love, Forgiveness, and Relevance of the Jesus of the Bible (Thomas Nelson) features frequently asked questions about Jesus with detailed responses from contributors of He Gets Us and selected writings from New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado, who is donating all royalties from this book to the campaign. What follows are excerpts from an interview with Max Lucado in which he shares why he is passionate about He Gets Us.

In all my years in ministry, I have not been more excited to get on board as I have been with the He Gets Us movement. The minute I read about it, I wanted to be a part of it. This is a message that is absolutely pure in the sense that it draws people to pursue the person of Jesus Christ. That’s what excites me the most. In a timely and effective way, it appeals to a group of people who may not be ready to walk through our church doors, but who are ready to have a conversation. The goal of He Gets Us is simply to create an encounter between people and the amazing person of Jesus. 

A phrase that’s often bandied about in political circles is “stay on message,” which means understand what the story is and stick to it. What I love about He Gets Us is it’s all about our message of the wonderful person of Jesus Christ. Our message is God entered the world in the form of a human being and displayed unprecedented, unparalleled passion, love and devotion. He’s the only picture of God ever taken. And for a person to embrace the Christian hope is for a person to embrace Jesus. 

That’s it. That is the message, pure and simple. And that’s what I love about He Gets Us—it’s all about Jesus. 

A Golden Opportunity

We’ve all read the statistics: The suicide rate today is the highest it’s been since World War II; anxiety is off the charts. Life is hard for so many. These struggles have prompted an openness to Jesus. As a pastor, the takeaway from this is I want to make a big deal out of Jesus. I want to look for ways to say, “Come and meet this man” or “Come and explore this person” or “Here’s why Jesus is still discussed today.” I want to take people to him. 

I cut my teeth on the seeker-sensitive church movement. We talked about everything but Jesus. We talked about money and marriage. We talked about how to get along with others at work. Those are good things, wonderful things. But this era is a golden opportunity to present Jesus. It’s been teed up for us. We can talk about Jesus and people, Jesus and forgiveness, Jesus and anxiety or depression, Jesus and death. We have an opportunity to explore what Jesus says about these heavy-duty topics. 

Jesus Valued People.

When I seek to befriend my neighbors, I don’t walk into their house and start yelling at them. I extend a hand. I ask who they are. I ask where they’re from and how they met. The He Gets Us movement strikes me as a handshake with society. It’s Human Relations 101: Be nice to people. Be kind. 

When Jesus interacted with society, the religious leaders accused him of a lot, but they never accused him of being standoffish or arrogant, or being holier than thou. (If you think about it, he genuinely was holier than thou. But nobody ever accused our Jesus of being so.) Since we are people in whom he lives and through whom he works, it behooves us to simply be as Jesus was. 

What I love about He Gets Us is we’re simply saying the greatest and kindest human being ever was God on Earth. And he had time to go to a wedding! He didn’t go to perform a miracle because he wasn’t intending to perform a miracle. He didn’t attend the wedding in order to preach a sermon. At least if he did, no one recorded it. The only reason he went to a wedding was because he genuinely cared about people. He loved people. He loved being at parties, and he was likable enough that he made his way onto a wedding guest list. 

I’m not quite sure we as the church could say the same. Is the church today so beloved in our society that everybody would love the church or people from the church to attend their weddings? If we’re not welcome, then I think we need to do a little soul searching. 

He Gets Us is a genuine presentation of a Savior who genuinely cares about people with no agenda, no ulterior motive, no fingers crossed behind the back. It’s just saying, “Here, let me introduce you to somebody who cares deeply about you.” 

The Power of Story

My story is the one of a redeemed drunk. It was a man who preached about Jesus that got my attention. I attended his church in my early twenties out of guilt more than desire. But he just kept telling me about this wonderful person named Jesus.  

I had never heard anybody talk about the Christ who showed up at parties, who stood up for a woman caught in adultery. I missed those stories of Jesus who helped Peter catch more fish and was so winsome that Peter was willing to leave behind a boat full of fish and follow him, even though I’m sure Peter knew he’d make a lot more money if he stuck with that boat full of fish. Stories like that changed me. 

This is a good season for us to ask, “What is unique to the Christian story? What’s unique to our message? What is it that we offer society that a fraternity does not offer, that a sorority does not offer, that the bowling league or the country club or season tickets to a sports team does not offer?” 

What’s absolutely unique to the Christian story is the person and power of Jesus Christ. I always think of The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey, which is an amazing book. The big takeaway for me was that Philip said that he is a Christian because of the person of Jesus, and because he had tried Plan B. That echoes my own sentiments. Unique to the Christian story is not only the way Jesus deeply cared about people, but also the power of Jesus. The fact that he can do things that no other human has ever done. So let’s major in the story of Jesus. That’s our story. 

I tried Plan B, and it doesn’t work. People relate to that fact. Those season tickets are great, but there is nothing there about the significance of life or what happens after we die. 

This is a singular moment in history when we can reintroduce people to the story of Jesus, the person and the power of Jesus. They know that Plan B doesn’t work.  Happy hours do not make us happy. There’s something unique about Jesus, though, that is absolutely compelling, and if we can make him our story, then watch out.

Sow the Seeds.

My neighbors represent a wide spectrum. They include a Hindu family and a very evangelical family. Some are lifelong non-Christians. They aren’t bad people, just non-Christians for whatever reason. I have been to their house. They’ve been to my house. We’ve sat together for meals. Even so, I do not think I would try to cover every single detail of the faith in a five- or 10-minute conversation. I am developing a friendship that would earn me the right to go into more detail about my worldview. There’s something to be said about simply earning the privilege.

There has been some pushback to He Gets Us that says it doesn’t cover everything. Of course, it doesn’t. For me to feel as if I had to cover even the major tenets of the faith in the first 10 minutes of a conversation, that’s just not going to happen. That doesn’t make common sense. That’s not showing respect to that person. I believe there’s a great place for just extending a hand, developing a relationship, listening, extending kindness, showing respect. When I have earned the right to talk to people about such risky topics as sin, salvation and the need for a savior, I’m going to cross that bridge. 

Include Your Congregation.

So where do pastors find the bandwidth and capacity to connect with people who are not likely to visit their church? I get the question of capacity. Most pastors are not sitting around thinking, Well, what can I do with my time today? They’re overloaded. No pastor can do all this alone, but the Holy Spirit is alive and well in the lives of our churchgoers. And I have a hunch that they would rally to the call because the Holy Spirit is prompting them to do so. It’s time for us to deputize. 

What if we shifted our mindset? Could this be a time for the church to reposition itself, not so much as a place where people come to, but as a place from which people are sent out? 

What if the pastor went to the church and said, “I think we have a golden opportunity. Could I get some volunteers? Could I get some people who are willing to have coffee with people who have questions about Jesus? I’m not asking you to solve anything, but would you go and meet these people and hear where they are? Just listen to their hearts. They want to talk to somebody.”

Equip the Saints.

In approaching a campaign like He Gets Us, I first would celebrate that it is happening. I’ve never seen anything like this in my lifetime. I am so amazed at the men and women who dreamed this up. Let’s pause and say, “Wow, can you believe we’re alive while this is happening?” 

Secondly, to equip our folks to go out and talk to others, I would simply urge us to revisit what we love about Jesus. Revelation 12:11 says it’s the blood of the lamb and our testimony that are powerful. So what is our testimony? 

If I have the opportunity—and I pray that I will—when somebody asks me, “Have you seen those He Gets Us ads? Can you tell me what they are about?” then I just want to share my story. I want to tell people, “You know, I’m a redeemed drunk. Before I knelt at the altar of Christ, I knelt at the altar of Coors.” I want to tell them how my life was headed off the rails, and then somebody told me that God loves me and that Jesus could forgive me and that he wanted to give me a fresh start that would turn my life around.

Let’s urge our people to share their story. They just need to remember what Jesus told the man who was healed from the demons: “Tell how much God has done for you” (Luke 8:39). We can all do that. Nothing is more powerful than telling someone not just that Jesus gets us, but that he gets you. That’s a powerful story to tell. 

A Season of Hope

My prayer for leaders and for Christians is that we could enjoy a fresh season of hope. This culture is weary and wounded and worried. We’re weary from the whiplash of the last few years. We’re wounded because of the personal challenges that we’ve all had to face. And we’re worried because we are concerned about what the next generation holds and what our children are going to have to deal with. 

But I’m hopeful that our Lord will grant a season of hope upon his church, unite us like never before, and that the consequence of this will be increasing movements like He Gets Us that will really impact society.

For more information on He Gets Us, visit HeGetsUs.com.

Max Lucado
Max Lucadohttp://maxlucado.com

A prolific author known as a “master storyteller,” Max Lucado has written more than 60 books in 25 years, including his most recent, “Grace: More Than We Deserve. Greater Than We Imagine.” Reader’s Digest named him “America’s Best Preacher” in 2005, and Christianity Today called him “America’s Pastor” in 2004. He serves as minister of preaching at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio Texas.

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