After seeing the umpteenth ad from them on Reddit yesterday (which for some reason did not have a report button), I got fed up and decided to look up some articles on them. (Some of this information is already known on this subreddit, but it might be useful to have this all in one place.)
TL;DR: The people behind Hobby Lobby, along with some other wealthy evangelicals, are trying to bring "skeptics" back to the same religion they've left by drawing them in with ads showing a rebranded version of Christianity, believing that said skeptics wish to come to Jesus but are put off by modern Christians. However, they do not truly affirm or address the concerns of the people who are leaving, and are in fact nothing more than the same toxic Christians who are pushing people away. In short, they do not "get us."
So who is behind this whole thing?
One of the main funders is the Green family, which are the folks behind Hobby Lobby. But there's a whole bunch of evangelical folks who've kind of joined them. There's a group called The Signatry, which is a kind of - it's basically a foundation that collects money. But they've tried to be pretty discreet about who's funding it. In part, I think they don't want to turn people off or get people focused on them. They really want to keep people focused on Jesus. [1]
Other donors have kept their identities anonymous. [2]
How did this come about?
Jason Vanderground, the president of the marketing firm doing the campaign, said they did "four or five months" of research in response to the fact that people were leaving churches and religion altogether and basically concluded that Christianity had an image problem - that people liked Jesus, but found Christians off-putting. He asks, "How did the greatest love story become known as a hate group?" They believe they identified the values of the people who are leaving religion and designed a campaign to appeal to them, saying:
We asked them what their values were, and what historical religious figures they felt like represented those values. And Jesus was the one, far and away, that most connected with their values.
There were four specific things that people want for themselves today that they see reflected in Jesus, and the top one is seeking peace. To be able to make peace with yourself and peace with others around you, because the top pain point that people are experiencing now is toxic relationships. Many people used to have a certain way of being civil with with family, friends, sometimes even fellow motorists. But now, we’re so on edge with each other, even on the road. It plays out in every aspect of life.
So people are desperately seeking peace and they see in Jesus an example of someone who was able to create that with himself and with those around him.
But then there are three other values: approachable, compassionate and loving all.. Those three things go together. They see Jesus as very relevant to them. So, even though they are not fully engaged in religious activity or institutional Christianity, that value set that Jesus represents is very relevant to people who are on the fence about what they believe when it comes to faith. [5]
What's the goal?
Well, the audience is sort of what they call spiritually open skeptics, which are people who might be OK with religion but aren't really excited about Christians. And so they're trying to really focus people on here's this Jesus, and he's great, and he's a refugee, and he understands you. And I think part of the idea behind the ad is that people have had bad experiences with Christians, especially in the last few years. And so they want to try and get the focus off Christians and back to Jesus. [1]
[A religion correspondent for NPR] says that the campaign is attempting to appeal to groups that may have felt excluded or repelled by the church in recent years, like members of the LGBTQ community, different races and ethnicities, those who lean more liberal politically, or people who have kept up with scandals of abuse. [2]
How are they going to address the concerns of "skeptics"?
[Vanderground:] The skeptic told us there are three main things they see within the Church and Christianity. One is judgmentalism. That’s great, because we don’t have to judge. That’s totally God’s job to figure out.
The other would be hypocrisy; that we just say one thing, but we do another. That’s human behavior. That happens.
And then third is the discrimination that Christianity has become known for being against women, against minorities, etc. And certainly God said everybody is welcome to come to me, and I think that’s how we’re trying to reframe things. >
So getting back and focusing on Jesus — not on what we’re doing, not telling better stories about how Christianity is impacting the world, but telling the story of God’s design within Jesus, which is what the focus is always supposed to be on. Just refocusing on that, it’s such an appropriate solution for today. [5]
But are they really concerned with the rights of women, LGBTQ+ and marginalized people?
According to research compiled by Jacobin, a left-leaning news outlet, The Servant Foundation [a subsidiary of The Signatry] has donated tens of millions to the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group. The ADF has been involved in several legislative pushes to curtail LGBTQ rights and quash non-discrimination legislation in the Supreme Court. [3]
While donors who support “He Gets Us” can choose to remain anonymous, Hobby Lobby co-founder David Green claims to be a big contributor to the campaign’s multi-million-dollar coffers. Hobby Lobby has famously been at the center of several legal controversies, including the support of anti-LGBTQ legislation and a successful years-long legal fight that eventually led to the Supreme Court allowing companies to deny medical coverage for contraception on the basis of religious beliefs. [3]
CNN asked Vanderground, the representative for He Gets Us, if the campaign supports and affirms LGBTQ Christians.
“The debate over LGBTQ+ issues is a great example of how the real Jesus too often gets lost, overlooked or distorted in debates over political and social issues,” he said. “Our focus is on helping people see and consider Jesus as he is shown in the Bible … He gets us and he loves us, and that includes people on all sides of these issues.” [3]
Are they affiliated with a particular brand of Christianity?
In short, yes, they are affiliated with evangelicals. Their "statement of beliefs" on their website for potential partners outlines:
"Be assured, though, that we’re not “Left” or “Right,” or a political organization of any kind. We’re also not affiliated with any particular church or denomination. We simply want everyone to understand the authentic Jesus as he’s depicted in the Bible — the Jesus of radical forgiveness, compassion, and love."
“He Gets Us has chosen to not have our own separate statement of beliefs. Each participating church/ministry will typically have its own language. Meanwhile, we generally recognize the Lausanne Covenant as reflective of the spirit and intent of this movement and churches that partner with explorers from He Gets Us affirm the Lausanne Covenant.”
Sources:
- NPR short conversation with a religion correspondent
- NPR article discussing the Superbowl ads
- CNN article
- He Gets Us' "About Us" page for potential partners
- Interview with the manager for the ad campaign
