A friend of mine showed me a new TShirt that he bought. It had a Christian(ish) message to it, and was made to look like a popular video game. In fact, you’d have to look pretty close to see that it wasn’t the popular video game.
Why do marketers do this? And why do so many people buy these?
This kind of warmed-over, thoughtless bantering of Christian-like “advertizing” is insulting to the Christian faith – if you ask me. Yet there’s a large proliferation of Christian T Shirts and bumper stickers that are unintelligent copy-cat knock-offs of popular themes, logos and icons. Are all Christians this incapable of original thought? Do Christians truly aspire to be an also-ran in the world of iconic self-promotion?
The Psalmist frequently tells us to sing a new song, and Jesus tells us to worship in Spirit and Truth. To do so requires originality, doctrinal correctness and study. I’d be nice if these things were required of people trying to market or display their faith. To that end, allow me to present…
Top Ten Christian TShirts and/or Bumper Stickers
10 ) “Won by One!”
[Depicts a tired, bloody Jesus hanging on a cross, looking up to God].
I saw this a few years ago. Thought it was pretty cool.
9 ) “This T Shirt is illegal in 53 countries”
[Has a brief gospel message and Romans 1:16 printed on the back].
A few guys at our church have this. Thought provoking, especially since that accounts for about 1/4 of all the countries in the world.
(The remaining are TShirts and bumper stickers I’d have to make because I’ve never seen them)
8 ) “Let the dead bury their dead! (Matt 8:22)”
I can’t help but admire the spunk that Someone would have to talk like that. Never seen a TShirt with that message. Of course.
7 ) [On the Front] “If you don’t know Mo…” [On the Back] “..then you don’t know God. (Jn 5:46-47)”
The irony is that I have lots of friends that would probably read such a TShirt and say “Oh – that’s Old Testament. We don’t need to know that.” *sigh*
6 ) “If you won’t believe the Prophets, you wouldn’t believe a zombie. (Lk 16:31)”
[For extra points, have a whimsical Tim Burton-esque depiction of a zombie trying to preach to people who are running away screaming.]
5 ) “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness… (Jn 3:14)”
[Depict a robed man at dusk, holding up a rugged stick with a bronze Texas rattler on it]
Oblique enough to be sublime. I like it.
4 ) “Seriously – you must eat His flesh and drink His blood to live. (Jn 6:53)”
[A well-worn Bible, slice of unleavend bread, and glass of wine]
Spunky like #8
3 ) “Shaking the dust off your sandals is a command, not an curiosity (Matt 10:14-15)”
Preach this one to the choir and they just might lynch you.
2 ) “WWJS? – ‘Have you not read?’ ”
Most people don’t know it, but it’s the #1 phrase used by Jesus, and He used phrases just like it to everyone and every body. Most people think He only talked that way to the religious snobs. Simply not true.
1 ) “Exodus 34:5-8 comes before John 3:16”
Then on the back, I’d have Exod 34:5-8, NIV.
There are several thoughts that feed into this:
* Which verse do you think would be more important: a verse that tells people how to get saved, or a verse where God tells who He is? If you think about it for a few minutes, the latter is far more important. Yet this verse is almost unknown. Something’s not right about that.
* I don’t know what’s worse: that many people would disagree with God’s statement about Himself in this passage, or that most people have no clue that this is the only answer God ever gives when humans ask to see His glory. Which means, if your God doesn’t look like this, you’re not looking at the right God. That’s a bit disconcerting to me.
But those are just my opinions of what would make cool TShirts.
And as you can see, most of them are not original at all – they’re just quotes.
“GOD may not always come when you want Him…but He is always on time”
Thankyou for the insight and bible verses.
Check out some more designs that I have created at http://www.ToolsForChrist.com. I would love to hear what you think. Thanks