I fall on the other side of this discussion. I own a Christian Clothing Company. Our clothing line empowers the believer to be a better witness for Christ.

We have no clever sayings, just a drop of blood on a spike. We instruct believers to pray before wearing our clothes (trying to involve them in basic Christianity) and ask God to have someone, they come in contact with, ask a question.

As a personal testimony, when I wear the clothes with the logo on them, it helps Me draw closer to God. I am now able to “put on Christ” daily, spiritually and physically. I have had 100’s of conversations about Jesus. These conversations were not started by me, but by someone asking a question. “What is that on your shirt?”

Why would a true believer not support a Christian Clothing company if the companies’ heart was for the lost and not primarily for profit?

Since the fall of Adam, our nakedness must be covered. Why not cover it with something that will lead others to Christ and draw us closer to God?

1. Christian clothing is good because it is a source of encouragement to other believers.

2. Christian clothing is good because it helps identify us as believers, therefore reminding us to be lights in the world.

To reply to the first idea, I would say we need to keep several things in mind. First, while it may be a source of encouragement, not only believers will see us in these shirts. In other words, since clothing is public by nature, it cannot only function to encourage our team, it will always function (even if secondarily) to challenge the beliefs of the opposite team.

Take the example of a Raider’s shirt. If you see someone wearing a Raider’s shirt, you would automatically know he’s making two statements: “Go Raiders” and “Other teams are not as good as the Raiders.” The shirt has both a positive and a negative statement inherent in its design. And the same thing goes for (some, not all) Christian clothing: it both supports the Christian message, and challenges/excludes others. By nature, in other words, Christian clothing is unable to only encourage believers.

Secondly, even if we believe shirts could be a source of encouragement, they would hardly be a good source of encouragement. There are so many other more personal, sincere, intimate, and loving ways to encourage believers (outlined in Scripture), that we simply don’t need tee-shirts.

In fact, there is a danger in viewing tee-shirts as fulfilling our obligation to witness to the world or encourage the Brethren, it can make us apathetic. We could begin to see our obligations as filled through our clothing choices rather than our biblically mandated actions.

To answer your second point, I would point back to John 13:34-35. Christ has already told us exactly how we should identify ourselves to the world. If we want an extra level of scrutiny for our actions, then we should strive to live lives that are so marked by brotherly love that it is evident to all who our Saviour is. In comparison to loving one another, how effective is an item of clothing?

And of course, please remember that I don’t think these issues to be matters of “sin;” I believe this is an issue of “good”/”better”/”best” not “right” vs “wrong.”

“What is the best way to glorify God through our clothing choices?” is the question, not “is it sin to wear cheesy clothing?” (I don’t want to sound legalistic here…)

Thanks again for reading.

-alan

On a separate note, wearing Christian clothing sends the message “I am a Chrisian” and draws an extra level of scrutiny to your actions. I think any negative effects that our branded/messaging clothing may send will be extremely minimal and outweighed by the positive benefits of identifying yourself (and keeping you on your toes).

Very well written and thought out piece, by the way

Well said.

I hear what you’re saying, but I find it interesting that for every criticism of snooty Christian “high” art (and I can’t quite say that I’ve ever encountered this), I’ve seen a hundred criticisms of Christian tees and bumper stickers. I find this to be more than just a coincidence. I think there’s a sort elitist thrill that comes with condescension and I think the fact that common “art” is so common gives a certain appeal to taking the noble high road against such “vulgarity”. And I don’t say this as someone who hasn’t fallen prey to this sort of thing. I just think it might be a mistaken cause.

I agree with you that there’s a question of good-better-best at stake, but I don’t hear you saying that there’s anything good per se about Jesus fish on the back of cars.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually agree with you that the stuff is a trite presentation of the Gospel, but frankly, to me, the crime isn’t that our bumpers and tees are littered with irrational and commercialized discourse about the Gospel. Rather, the most unfortunate aspect of these things seems to be that they comprehend things like clothing to be merely means to ends that only find their value as vehicles of propositions and ideas.

I think a truly Christian approach to fashion (for example) would embrace clothing as a human good, as a sort of glory, given by God. Exploiting the aesthetic for the sake of (evangelistic) campaigning seems to be a much more significant and broader problem.

Just wanted to clarify.

Robert-
I believe that the best way to share the Gospel (particular in the US) is to built intimate relationships with people, demonstrate Christ’s love, and speak honestly about our beliefs. But I don’t want to go down a rabbit trail of discussing various stances on evangelism.

On the issue of Paul, I have to disagree with you when you say that “Paul would use anything he could to get to share Jesus.” Paul only uses a limited number of things to share the Gospel. In addition, he never tells us that we can share the Gospel in any manner that we like.

The verse in 1st Cor is addressing the idea that we should not let our liberty become a stumbling block to others. In other words, if we need to adopt a cultural custom in order to be acceptable in a culture, then we should. But tee-shirts don’t apply here. Paul would have offended the Jews by eating certain meats, but we don’t offend anyone by not wearing Christian tee-shirts. So I don’t think this verse is applicable.

However, Paul’s words in Philippians 1:15-18 do directly apply:

15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

I think this is the proper attitude to have concerning this whole issue. Paul says here that the most important thing is that Christ is proclaimed. Even if the method is flawed or the intentions are wrong, if Christ is proclaimed, praise God! But notice that Paul still criticizes these people. Paul says that they are motivated by envy and rivalry and a desire to hurt him. There is a balance here. Paul can be thankful that Christ is proclaimed while still identifying the inappropriateness of the method. The implication here is that Paul wants these people to continue preaching the Gospel, but to do it in a way that is more appropriate.

In a similar way I think we can be thankful to God that Christ is proclaimed through stickers and shirts, while still calling into question the appropriateness and effectiveness of these methods.

I would also say that only some of these designs are intended as identity markers, and even when they are they serve other purposes as well.

I think that making this a “high” vs. “low” culture issue is a distraction. It sort of insinuates that since they’re both cultures, we cannot make any value judgments about them. It also assumes a firm definition of “high” and “low” culture.

Fundamentally, whenever any one of us refuses to critically and prayerfully consider the appropriateness of the way we display our faith, then we are being selfish and unloving. This selfishness might play out in tacky “low” art, or snooty “high” art. If you believe that shirts and stickers and “low” culture, then you could say that I am calling into question the “low culture expressions of Christian faith,” but that does not mean that I believe “high” culture to be guiltless.

If Seth is correct that these things are actually intended as identity markers, then what some Christians resent about “stickerization” is – before anything else – its basic aesthetic lack. As aesthetic failure typically corresponds to low culture, I wonder if high culture has been baptized as appropriately Christian over against low cultural expressions of Christian faith. If that is the case, then someone is guilty of sinning against his brother.

That story perfectly illustrates the problem of blindly and uncritically proclaiming the Christian message. Thanks.

Way back in the when. Let’s say 1991. I was a senior in high school and not the most circumspect of individuals. I was wearing one of my Vengeance shirts—it featured a tormented face with blood running out of various places and the throne of God in the background and some horribly judgmental lyrics proclaiming the fate of sinners. This girl in my Government class walked up to me, looked at the shirt, and then started in on how deeply offensive she found it. I then realized that I was an ass.

The end.

And it was then that I realized that the Christian-esque messages on clothing can have a very negative influence on one’s ability to be a witness to the testimony of the gospel. There was no love in the shirt and yet it identified me as one as part of a ideology that supposedly champions love. It was right around then that I went back to wearing surf-culture shirts.