The recent scandal involving Herschel Walker, the former football star turned outspoken anti-abortion Senate candidate, who allegedly pressured a former girlfriend to have an abortion, seems to fit how many of those outside the church see Christians — especially after many of his supporters rallied around Walker, despite the scandal.
A He Gets Us campaign advertisement in New York’s Times Square. Photo courtesy of He Gets Us
Ironically, the ideas that Jesus loved all people and warned about religious hypocrisy were seen as very important to engaged Christians and Jesus followers in the research but were not seen as very important to the non-Christians or spiritually open.
Vanderground said Christians see their faith as the greatest love story, but those outside the faith see Christians as a hate group.
“Jesus said people are going to know my followers by the way they love each other and the way they interact with each other,” he said. “I think when we look at American Christianity now, we don’t see nearly as much of that — and that concerns a lot of people.”
Lee said past faith-based campaigns, like the famed “the family that prays together, stays together” series of television ads, were aimed at getting people to go back to church. This campaign takes a more spiritual but not religious approach. Lee said organizers hope the ads inspire people to at least consider that Jesus might be relevant to their lives.
Those who see the ads can contact the campaign and get connected with Bible study resources to check out the story of Jesus for themselves, he said.
Jason Vanderground. Courtesy photo
So far, said Vanderground, 100 million people have been exposed to the campaigns and about 30,000 have signed up for Bible reading plans. Of those, more than half have completed the reading plans. Those reading plans can help people get in touch with the real message of Jesus, he said.
“Our research shows that many people’s only exposure to Jesus is through Christians who reflect him imperfectly, and too often in ways that create a distorted or incomplete picture of his radical compassion and love for others,” said Vanderground. “We believe it’s more important now than ever for the real, authentic Jesus to be represented in the public marketplace as he is in the Bible.”
Vanderground hopes the ideals of Jesus, as portrayed in the ads, might help change American culture if they are more broadly accepted. He also hopes more Christians will begin to live out the teachings of Jesus.
“We believe that investing in efforts to ensure more people consider his life and movement as inspiration for their own will in turn help improve the lives of those listening — and begin to create the kind of cascade of love Jesus himself sought to generate,” he said.
This article originally appeared here.
