Who Are Those People Wearing Christian T-shirts?
You see them in supermarkets pushing shopping carts while taking care of grandchildren who are also wearing Christian T’s, at the beach having fun with friends, working as part of a church mission team determined to take God’s love to others, walking their dogs, sitting in the halls of high schools doing last minute homework, or waiting in line to hear a Christian rock concert. Wherever you see them, take note of those Christian T-shirts, for you have found Believers proud to display evidence of faith searched for and faith found, people whose hearts long after God, who know that to be conscious of God’s presence in their lives is to BE. Their Christian T’s are testimony of a transformation from feeling just so-so to possessing a healthy wholeness of Spirit so marvelous they have chosen to use wearable art to help them pass it on.
In this ultra-secular age of the personal fashion statement, the Christian T-shirt can take on a role of unprecedented importance. Who would deny that we live in appearance-conscious times? In the three minutes or less it takes to make a first impression on someone else, we are what we wear. Choosing a Christian T-shirt tells others from the get-go that we are on a Christian path and our priorities are God-focused. Wearing a Christian T-shirt says that we, or if we are too small for understanding, our families subscribe to Christian values. Yes, Christian T-shirts come in infant and toddler sizes, too.
The T-shirt is a modern fashion phenomenon for good reason and Christian T’s are a part of that phenomenon. They are an idea whose time has come and they will no doubt continue to evolve in design. Low maintenance and lightweight, Christian T’s are good travelers, good to swap with friends, fun to collect, and nice to give as gifts. Teenagers usually opt for darker-colored shirts and sometimes like to wear them as coordinated sets. It’s common to see a short-sleeved Christian T worn over a long-sleeved one. At first glance, it is sometimes hard to distinguish Christian T’s manufactured to promote the Christian rock industry from T-shirts sold to promote hard and punk rock in general, but take a closer look. The difference is there. The important thing is that the young people wearing Christian T’s of any variety are unafraid and unashamed to testify to the presence of God in their lives. They have chosen clothing that reflects a Christian state of mind and heart. We live surrounded by multiple unknowns. Our clothing as much as anything else about us reflects our daily process of self-inquiry. Who are we? Why is life like this? What will sustain us when troubles come? Why me, why here and why now? A teenager in a Christian T-shirt confronts these questions daily, but keeps God close – as close as the next breath, as close as the material next to his skin. A teen believer wearing a Christian T is not walking alone, but giving testimony to the fact that once you have touched the Great Mystery That Is God, your joy cannot be stolen away and the worldly uncertainties that circle like gnats, they fade.
Make no mistake. People who choose to wear Christian T-shirts do not make that choice casually.
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