Edgy Christian T-shirt slogans grab teens

Youths use clothes
to make both fashion,
public faith statements

United Methodist News Service
If it’s true that clothes send a message, imagine the fashion statements made by wearing T-shirts declaring “Get Stoned Like Paul” and “Satan, You’re Fired!”
Clothes, hats and accessories with edgy Christian slogans or imagery are speaking to a growing market of teenagers and young adults. They want both to carry Jesus in their hearts and wear him on their shirts.
But these fashions tend to be bolder and wittier than the quietly introspective “What Would Jesus do?” style of fashion slogans popular in the 1990s.
Consider some examples:
> A black shirt bearing a skull and crossbones says “Dead & Alive,” explaining “Dead to Sin, Alive to Christ” in the fine print.
> A vivid red shirt proclaims “Heavy Drinker,” and then offers a disclaimer in Jesus’ invitation in John 7:37: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.”
> Another shirt inspired by Romans 12:2 says, “Social Hazard: I will not conform.”
Other shirts bear messages such as, “Friends Don’t Let Friends Go to Hell” and “Arrest Me; I Prayed at School Today.”
Retailers say many shoppers are attracted by a little shock value.
“I think kids are ready for slogans where other people give a double-take when they see the shirt,” said Jason Betten, owner of Be The Message Christian Apparel in Pomeroy, Iowa. “It’s all about modern pop culture stuff that kids and people relate to and how they incorporate that with Christ.”
Christian clothing with softer messages is still popular, too. So are clothes that parody well-known name brands.
Christian retailers say shirts that are biblically sound can be effective evangelism tools.
“The average T-shirt is read over 3,000 times before it is sent to the rag barrel,” Betten said. “When you put on a Christian T-shirt, hat, hoodie, beanie or whatever, you make yourself a walking, talking billboard for Christ.”
Many youths in an age of billboards and commercials view wearing the slogans as merely an extension of their faith.
“I like them because they send a message about me,” said 16-year-old Vanessa Trejo, a member of La Trinidad UMC in San Antonio. “Shirts that you wear should reflect who you are.”
Robert Starkey, also 16, of Ames UMC in Saginaw, Mich., said, “They’re a billboard of our faith.”
But does reducing Jesus or Christianity to a T-shirt slogan water down the gospel message? Does it reflect an attempt to copy superficial marketing techniques?
Devin Mauney, 18, a member of Christ UMC, Tucson, Ariz., never wears shirts that he calls the “semi-clever (ones) you see at Christian bookstores.”
“I feel they’re a really lame attempt at making being a Christian a cool thing, and I don’t think we have to do that,” Mauney said.
His faith is already a cool thing, he said, and he doesn’t need a T-shirt to confirm that.
“Anytime we try to use the same method of competition as clothing brand companies, it just sort of cheapens Christianity,” he said.
But Mauney’s 14-year-old brother, Logan, enjoys wearing a bright red T-shirt that says “Alive!” on front and “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. Jesus” on the back.
The shirt reminds him of a devotion he studied during a mission trip and allows him to share his faith when people inquire.
Besides that, he likes the look.
“They’re cool to wear,” Logan said. “They look good, so might as well.”
Gavin Richardson, youth minister at Hermitage UMC, Nashville, Tenn., has mixed feelings about Christian T-shirts but recognizes that youths today live in a consumer-driven culture.
“For me, it’s not so important I wear a shirt that says my faith,” Richardson said. “It’s more about how I conduct myself that tells my faith.”
A spokesman for Stuph Clothing said the 9-year-old Christian apparel company works hard to develop products to connect with the culture without trivializing Christianity. Most shirts include scriptural references.
“It’s hard sometimes not to be cheesy, but we try not to cross that line of poking fun at Christianity or Jesus,” said Scott Mills, marketing director for the Nashville-based company.
Trejo said people ask her about a Christian shirt if it’s funny, and it “opens the door for conversation, witnessing or just a new friend.” Sometimes friends ask to borrow her “Jesus is My Homeboy” shirt.
The “Jesus is my Homeboy” fashions, worn by entertainment celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Simpson and Ben Affleck, are the most popular style sold by Los Angeles-based Teenage Millionaire. The company didn’t contemplate scripture in creating the slogan.
“We just did it as kind of a happy accident,” said Teenage Millionaire spokesman Chris Brick. “We just tried it, and it worked. In that way, there’s a lot of higher power working in that.”
Some criticize such slogans as disrespectful.
“Just because Britney Spears is wearing a popular T-shirt doesn’t mean that it’s portraying the Christ that the scriptures talk about,” said Kyle Dugan, youth minister at Westside Church of Christ in Beaverton, Ore. “But even though we believe that it’s not portraying the Christ that we read about, it’s an ironic thing that the message is still portrayed. God can use it anyway.”
Dugan said he thinks Christian T-shirts are a good idea that has been abused at times. He cited a shirt designed for evangelism that says “Sinners Burn in Hell” on the front.
“I would throw that into the inappropriate camp,” he said.