I spent Sunday evening like many other Americans, watching the Super Bowl.
As a lifelong fan of the Chicago Bears, a team that is perpetually awful, I usually don’t care who wins the big game. This year, I would have been equally happy if either Brock Purdy or Taylor Swift’s boyfriend had won. But if I’m really being honest, I watch the game for the commercials.
I’ve been somewhat disappointed in the weak content in recent years. I remember the glory days of the early 2000s. They packed a lot of content into their 30- to 60-second blocks of airtime. I hate to admit it, but my favorite commercials were usually beer commercials. I loved the spots with the frogs and iguanas on the lily pads, the “Real Men of Genius” bits were classic and the “WASSUP!” guys created a regrettable cultural phenomenon that plagued us for years. The only commercials I remember from this year’s Super Bowl are the commercial with the Clydesdales, the stockbroking babies wielding pickleball paddles and a commercial about Jesus.
That Jesus commercial has generated quite a bit of controversy. The most common complaint has appeared in the form of a meme that reads, “If you pay $100 million for Super Bowl ads to convert people to Jesus instead of housing the homeless, you read the wrong book.”
While I can certainly appreciate the importance and urgency of caring for the poor, I have a hard time throwing shade at people who are creating conversation about who Jesus is and what he cares about. Is that not the first step to meaningful service?
I confess, I know fairly little about the organization behind these commercials. I know that over 110 million people were expected to tune into the Super Bowl. Nielsen Analytics reported that 202.4 million watched at least part of the broadcast. I know that the average cost for a 30-second commercial was $7 million. I saw the “He Gets Us”/Jesus commercials four times over the course of the evening. That amounts to $28 million to get the commercials on-air.
In preparing for this article, I learned that the sponsors of the commercials organized a day of service in Las Vegas the day before the Super Bowl. They distributed hot meals and groceries to those in need while NFL players led games and drills for kids. While I don’t know enough to make a ringing endorsement of the group behind these commercials, I must say there’s more about them with which I agree than with which I’d argue. They practiced what they preached and invited 200 million of us to join them in their efforts. I have a hard time seeing that as anything but good.
As I continue to consider the controversy surrounding these commercials, I’m reminded of an incident in Matthew 26. Jesus is sitting at a table when a woman comes and pours an expensive jar of oil on Jesus’s head. The disciples are “indignant” at this perceived waste of resources, which they argue would have been better spent on the poor.
Jesus tells them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Matthew 26:10). Those behind the commercials didn’t prepare Jesus’ body for burial, but they did bring a lot of attention to who he is and to his command to love neighbor as he loves us.
I believe that the commercials about Jesus were a beautiful thing, an honorable offering. They brought attention to the love of God and got people talking about what it means to love neighbor. Rather than seeking to discredit their offering, would we not be better served to heed their call and seek to serve like Jesus in our community?
If those who heard their message would act upon it, perhaps there would be a great return on their investment. Not only would much be made of Jesus on the biggest stage in the world, but the poor would be fed and the homeless housed in our communities as we join our offerings with theirs.
After all, their message was correct. Jesus didn’t teach hate. He did wash feet. He sacrificially served those around him, enemy and friend alike, and he invites us to join him in this holy work.
The Rev. Jeremy Myers is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Seymour. Read his blog at jeremysmyers.com.