He Gets Us

Kelli Rolland-Adkins (Small Church Steering Committee, Convocation: Central) is a lay leader at St. Philip’s, San Antonio. In this article, she reflects on her response to the “He Gets Us” Campaign and invites us all, this Lent, to consider our own belonging as individuals and church communities.

I am stretched thinly between work, family, community, and church obligations. I surely set time aside for prayer and meditation but I begrudgingly must admit that I do not like that I am left with little time to watch my beloved shows on Netflix, Discovery, Amazon, Peacock, and all the other channels that my husband keeps adding to the lineup.  

Yet, there are gems that I recently discovered while streaming TV programs. Commercials (those under 30 years old refer to them as “ads”!) run by hegetsus.com that have been streaming for a couple of years are nonetheless very new to me. One of my favorite of the “He Gets Us” commercials asks the question, “Is there more to life than more?” This is followed by the responses, “There’s more life than more” and “What if Jesus showed us how to find it?” The commercial ends with the simple statement: “He gets us.”  

Another of these commercials features a newborn laying in her mother’s arms while an array of background voices declare, “Shhh….don’t be afraid, don’t cry but don’t be silent; don’t mess up, but don’t make a scene; don’t try to be a hero; don’t get your hopes up; don’t make problems; don’t forget to plan; don’t get carried away, and don’t you dare let us down.”  

This commercial ends with, “What if the only expectation was love?” and “Jesus doesn’t ask us to earn it.” And finally, “He gets us.”  

I am captivated by the sincerity and simplicity of these ads. A quick Google search indicates that the organization “Come Near” is the engine behind hegetsus.com. It consists of Christian donors and leaders who claim they are “a group of people moved to raise the public conversation about Jesus.” Google goes on to say that the purpose of the campaign is to “reintroduce the ‘Jesus of the Bible’ as a figure of radical forgiveness, compassion, and love, distancing him from negative public perceptions of organized Christianity.”  Perhaps Jesus is woke after all?!?  

The sociologist in me had to do my due diligence by visiting the hegetsus.com site to investigate whether there was some sort of nefarious agenda hidden behind the amazing messages. I could not find any. The website proclaims, “The campaign isn’t from any one denomination, tradition, church, political party, or viewpoint.” The commercials are 30-60 seconds. The images are poignant. The messages are powerful. “He gets us.”    

Throughout the Lenten season, we are called to repent, fast, pray, abstain, and give alms. I implore you during this holy season to reflect on messages of comfort, belonging, and peace that come from the fact that “He Gets Us.”      

• No matter our differences, shortcomings, struggles, “He Gets Us.”

• No matter the sizes of our churches, who we love, or the amounts in our bank accounts, “He Gets Us.”      

• No matter which side of the track we landed on, where we have been, where we are going, “He Gets Us.”

• No matter if we do not get him, “He Gets Us.”

“He Gets Us” because He Is Jesus.