I agree the HeGetsUs ad didn't get the full meaning -- the undermining of the political order and flattening of such hierarchies -- of the foot washing! But, Christ Himself politicizes His message at times, so I can't hold *that* against the ad.
The popular counter-video I linked to didn't understand this. It jumped straight to conversion, which I see as a similarly bad move of watering down Christ's purpose. Conversion is a lived process -- and that the subverting of anti-Christs (like political orders) is part of that process -- rather than a static, "dead" result. The counter-video isn't doing a better job at understanding the anarchist Jesus, and its own message might be as shallow as the one it attempts to criticize.
I was way more intrigued by the HeGetsUs ad than by yet another in a long line of "conversion" messages that misses *how* Christ converts people: by figuratively washing their feet, among other things, and ticking off the more rigidly social-order esteeming folks.
And Christians may like sports in general and the Super Bowl in particular here, though it's clearly not required to do so. Best to be honest about one's preferences, as you are in your comment :-)
Yes, there's a deficiency in both videos. The reason why the counter-video fails as a retort is that it essentially is "talking past" the HeGetsUs ad. A good retort is a dialogue, not merely an alternating monologue (and if you find this description interesting, wait until you read my Feb. 21 post, all about communication :-D ).
Hierarchies aren't always bad, same way that basic politics isn't always bad; they become bad when they're substantively of violence and imposition. David Gornoski asked me specifically about being against *all* forms of hierarchy when I was on his "A Neighbor's Choice" podcast, and I answered that we all have hierarchies of values (and Jesus encourages to have those!), and can observe hierarchies of proprietorship (and Jesus speaks well of stewardship in some parables) and hierarchies of competence that don't deny human dignity; rather, they can reinforce it. I didn't use the example of "man the head of the woman" because I'm not really in agreement with that.
Also, there's a difference between a mere order and a hierarchy. The "first shall be last, and the last shall be first" speaks to the reality that those who accept the trappings of faith by default due to their lineage ("the first") often fail to explore real faith and accept it; meanwhile, those who find faith later can be more genuinely accepting of it. Jesus is warning people against taking things for granted; that being nominally faithful for a long time is no guarantee that you've developed a true virtue of faith.
The politics issue was my second Substack post ever, all the way back in November (I haven't been doing this for very long :-D ).
On Jesus making a "cheap" political messages, I agree that nothing He said is cheap. For an example of Jesus clearly using the political/tribalist prejudices and tendencies of His audience to deliver His message, The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37, cited in the Introduction of my book) is probably the most well-known one. Jesus didn't have to make the hero a member of a looked-down-upon political outgroup, but He did.
The only change I would make for the HeGets Us ad is being more honest about what Jesus is doing. The ad focuses on the washing of the feet as some act of charity, but it's really an act of subversion that happens to include something directly charitable. That's why I wondered if the producers really understood the Last Supper incident. My change would've been subtle.
For the counter-video, I think it was fine for the message it was presenting. My change there would've been not pretending it was a retort to the feet washing.
I prefer sharp to dull, and I prefer deep to shallow. Most pop culture is dull an shallow. Good comedy and good marketing are sharp, but still shallow. Almost nothing is deep. The HeGetsUs ad was sneaky-deep, but not even its producers seemed to know it! That's what intrigued me: It had a chance to be the rare bit of marketing that had some real depth to its thinking. Then again, how many people would've gotten it if it was conspicuously deep? Pop-culture followers are so used to shallow, would they have understood what was happening?
Also, really liked your, "He often used the human ego against itself, to silence His detractors or challenge their security, or understanding." Jesus was masterful at refuting the premise of lousy questions, challenging the very basis for the thinking and beliefs that led to such insufficient queries and statements. When I argue, I usually first attack the premises. Why play a game built on a faulty field?
Hi Domenic! I really enjoyed your podcast with Richard Gornoski, especially when you spoke of dignified defiance. How did you come to that conclusion? I bought your book and it doesn't seem to address this. God bless you!
First, thank you for getting the 'Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen' book! I use the term "dignified defiance" in Chapter 2: Sharing, more specifically in Station 5 – Simon helps carry Jesus’ cross.
I introduce Simon and his predicament of being pressed into service, and call it, "a practice noted by Jesus during a lesson on dignified defiance," and then quote from the Sermon on the Mount.
Hope that helps! It's a phrase I only use once in the book, but it's a core theme throughout.
The three examples from the Sermon on the Mount, that I include in Station 5, are clear evidence of defying the norms of the imposed social order, and doing so by asserting human dignity.
You can see evidence of dignified defiance in the passage I excerpt in Station 9, too. Jesus defies the Pharisees and their mob who want to enforce the punishments contained in the Law of Moses on the woman caught in adultery, and He does so by appealing to their individuality (which is where human dignity is found).
The Beatitudes, which I reference in Station 8, are also dispositions that oppose the dominant culture, especially the declaration "Blessed are the persecuted." What could be more defiant of the imposed, hierarchical social order than calling its victims "blessed"?
Every time you read about Jesus being defiant in the Gospels -- and there are more examples than the ones I've recounted here and in my book -- He does so by asserting human dignity: the innate worth we each have by virtue of being human.
What are some of your favorite Gospel incidents that show Jesus upholding human dignity in spite of the social-order pressures to the contrary? I'd like to hear which ones resonate with you :-)
I agree the HeGetsUs ad didn't get the full meaning -- the undermining of the political order and flattening of such hierarchies -- of the foot washing! But, Christ Himself politicizes His message at times, so I can't hold *that* against the ad.
The popular counter-video I linked to didn't understand this. It jumped straight to conversion, which I see as a similarly bad move of watering down Christ's purpose. Conversion is a lived process -- and that the subverting of anti-Christs (like political orders) is part of that process -- rather than a static, "dead" result. The counter-video isn't doing a better job at understanding the anarchist Jesus, and its own message might be as shallow as the one it attempts to criticize.
I was way more intrigued by the HeGetsUs ad than by yet another in a long line of "conversion" messages that misses *how* Christ converts people: by figuratively washing their feet, among other things, and ticking off the more rigidly social-order esteeming folks.
And Christians may like sports in general and the Super Bowl in particular here, though it's clearly not required to do so. Best to be honest about one's preferences, as you are in your comment :-)
Yes, there's a deficiency in both videos. The reason why the counter-video fails as a retort is that it essentially is "talking past" the HeGetsUs ad. A good retort is a dialogue, not merely an alternating monologue (and if you find this description interesting, wait until you read my Feb. 21 post, all about communication :-D ).
Hierarchies aren't always bad, same way that basic politics isn't always bad; they become bad when they're substantively of violence and imposition. David Gornoski asked me specifically about being against *all* forms of hierarchy when I was on his "A Neighbor's Choice" podcast, and I answered that we all have hierarchies of values (and Jesus encourages to have those!), and can observe hierarchies of proprietorship (and Jesus speaks well of stewardship in some parables) and hierarchies of competence that don't deny human dignity; rather, they can reinforce it. I didn't use the example of "man the head of the woman" because I'm not really in agreement with that.
Also, there's a difference between a mere order and a hierarchy. The "first shall be last, and the last shall be first" speaks to the reality that those who accept the trappings of faith by default due to their lineage ("the first") often fail to explore real faith and accept it; meanwhile, those who find faith later can be more genuinely accepting of it. Jesus is warning people against taking things for granted; that being nominally faithful for a long time is no guarantee that you've developed a true virtue of faith.
The politics issue was my second Substack post ever, all the way back in November (I haven't been doing this for very long :-D ).
On Jesus making a "cheap" political messages, I agree that nothing He said is cheap. For an example of Jesus clearly using the political/tribalist prejudices and tendencies of His audience to deliver His message, The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37, cited in the Introduction of my book) is probably the most well-known one. Jesus didn't have to make the hero a member of a looked-down-upon political outgroup, but He did.
The only change I would make for the HeGets Us ad is being more honest about what Jesus is doing. The ad focuses on the washing of the feet as some act of charity, but it's really an act of subversion that happens to include something directly charitable. That's why I wondered if the producers really understood the Last Supper incident. My change would've been subtle.
For the counter-video, I think it was fine for the message it was presenting. My change there would've been not pretending it was a retort to the feet washing.
I prefer sharp to dull, and I prefer deep to shallow. Most pop culture is dull an shallow. Good comedy and good marketing are sharp, but still shallow. Almost nothing is deep. The HeGetsUs ad was sneaky-deep, but not even its producers seemed to know it! That's what intrigued me: It had a chance to be the rare bit of marketing that had some real depth to its thinking. Then again, how many people would've gotten it if it was conspicuously deep? Pop-culture followers are so used to shallow, would they have understood what was happening?
Also, really liked your, "He often used the human ego against itself, to silence His detractors or challenge their security, or understanding." Jesus was masterful at refuting the premise of lousy questions, challenging the very basis for the thinking and beliefs that led to such insufficient queries and statements. When I argue, I usually first attack the premises. Why play a game built on a faulty field?
Great historical context for Valentines Day.
Let's hope no one's Valentine's Day date goes so badly today that they feel like they're being martyred :-D
Hi Domenic! I really enjoyed your podcast with Richard Gornoski, especially when you spoke of dignified defiance. How did you come to that conclusion? I bought your book and it doesn't seem to address this. God bless you!
Howdy, Kristine!
First, thank you for getting the 'Good Neighbor, Bad Citizen' book! I use the term "dignified defiance" in Chapter 2: Sharing, more specifically in Station 5 – Simon helps carry Jesus’ cross.
I introduce Simon and his predicament of being pressed into service, and call it, "a practice noted by Jesus during a lesson on dignified defiance," and then quote from the Sermon on the Mount.
Hope that helps! It's a phrase I only use once in the book, but it's a core theme throughout.
Also, I'm glad you enjoyed the "A Neighbor's Choice" conversation with me (I did, too!). I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago in this Substack: https://goodneighborbadcitizen.substack.com/p/can-you-resist-utopia-and-escapism
God bless you, too, and thanks for finding my book and blog :-)
I understand what you're saying, but how did you come to your conclusions?
The three examples from the Sermon on the Mount, that I include in Station 5, are clear evidence of defying the norms of the imposed social order, and doing so by asserting human dignity.
You can see evidence of dignified defiance in the passage I excerpt in Station 9, too. Jesus defies the Pharisees and their mob who want to enforce the punishments contained in the Law of Moses on the woman caught in adultery, and He does so by appealing to their individuality (which is where human dignity is found).
The Beatitudes, which I reference in Station 8, are also dispositions that oppose the dominant culture, especially the declaration "Blessed are the persecuted." What could be more defiant of the imposed, hierarchical social order than calling its victims "blessed"?
Every time you read about Jesus being defiant in the Gospels -- and there are more examples than the ones I've recounted here and in my book -- He does so by asserting human dignity: the innate worth we each have by virtue of being human.
What are some of your favorite Gospel incidents that show Jesus upholding human dignity in spite of the social-order pressures to the contrary? I'd like to hear which ones resonate with you :-)