Here in Canada we only see some of the much hyped advertisements that run during the Super Bowl. I saw some of the game and some of the ads, but did not see the ads for Jesus.
You may have heard of them. They are part of a larger PR campaign for Jesus that has cost around $100 million dollars. I heard a few numbers for the Super Bowl spots, something like $7 million dollars per ad or approximately $20 million total for advertising during the big game.
The campaign is aimed at young people. The evangelical church, which largely links the various people and organizations funding the ads, has been lamenting the exodus of young people from the church for some time now. The ads are intended to update the image of Jesus to be more accepting, less toxic, less divisive. As I have heard pointed out a number of times, however, it is not so much Jesus who has an image problem as it is the evangelical church. The groups funding the ads, it turns out, tend to also support the restriction of reproductive rights and of LGBTQ+ rights. Some commentators I have read have stated that the young people who are the target of the ads have grown up with a keen sense of when they are being made the target of a marketing campaign. This can then actually backfire in regard to the goal of those who are doing the marketing.
If you have read the gospels you might remember that there are multiple times when Jesus tells people after he has healed them to “not tell anyone.” He is, by the standards of our day, a terrible marketer. A rich young ruler approaches him and asks about following him and, by the end of the brief conversation, the man decides to walk away. Can you imagine a church leader sending away a young rich person who is interested in helping out?
The most recent episode of a podcast which I co-host includes a interview with Professor Mathew Guest from Durham University in the UK. Guest teaches the Sociology of Religion. Last fall he had a book published called, Neo-Liberal Religion: Faith and Power in the 21st Century. The book is an examination of how big ideas that are taken for granted in our culture have become intertwined with religion so much so that we can have a hard time discerning what is faith and what is contemporary and historical culture.
Guest looks at a number of aspects of the dominant ways of seeing in our world, particularly in the world in which the Christianity of the United States has taken root. He speaks of the concept of marketization and shows how church and religious understanding have been impacted by the prevalence of the market in our lives
(Hence “He Gets Us”). My favourite term in Guest’s book, one that I believe he coined himself, is “cosmeticization.” This refers to the desire and intent to make things look slick and impressive in a church setting, even in church services. I have called this tendency “decoration.” While there is a need in the church for actual theological renewal, what is often on offer in “new” churches where God is “doing a new thing” is simply better decoration, better cosmetics - more refined marketing, bigger screens and pastors in casual clothing and expensive sneakers.
I do think that “He Gets Us.” I also do struggle to believe that he would spend $100 million on an ad campaign. The willingness to do this, on the part of those who funded the ads, likely demonstrates the illness of the evangelical church, not the poor public relations of Jesus himself.
Doing PR for Jesus
I don't do Jesus PR unless it's under my breath in exclamation. And that's not always positive. I remember marketing Jesus with bumper stickers when I was a kid..."Use God's Name But Not In Vain." I applied it to an old maroon Rambler we had. A number of years later, my parents sold that rusty Rambler to the next door neighbour who was dying from MS. I'm quite sure he had a kid of his who scraped that sticker off. 'Cause it wasn't long after they took possession of Ruby the Rambler, there was an elongated square of old glue on the bumper and Jesus name nowhere to be found but likely in the garbage in bits and pieces. But Jesus was definitely in that Rambler as it got Mr MS and his wife and kids to the store and the doctor.
I don't think Jesus needs us to market him. Not in bracelets WWJD, or in trying to sell him in a new age bible. There's plenty obvious ways to see Jesus if you look close enough. That old lady making soup for the food bank? She's Jesus in an apron. That fellow who rescues stray animals? He's Jesus, too, with a bag full of kibble over his shoulder. And that girl I met today when I knocked on the door asking, "Is this your dog?" It was in the middle of the road looking for attention. She said, "Hell yes. Did she get out again? I have 8 kids here I'm watching." She was Jesus with kid's snot on her pants and KD stains on her T-shirt.
I took my dog up the mountain for a walk. I didn't want to go. I'm not in the best of health and all I wanted to do was sleep. But Ben dog lay beside my chair with his head on my lap. Eyes looking at me longingly. I got dressed and we drove off to the mountain. Ben is Jesus in a fur coat. The mountain is my Jesus underfoot.
I met Jesus today.
Don't need cheap TV ads.
I wish I could hit the heart more than once like we can clap numerous times on MEDIUM. Thank you for sharing. I believe I’m going to have to read Mr. Guest’s book.